Federal indictments against two men accused of detonating explosives at four different businesses around the D.C. region last summer have been unsealed after one of the men was extradited to D.C. this week.
Three D.C. businesses — a bank in Northeast’s Brentwood neighborhood, a Nike store on H Street in Northeast, and a Safeway just off Benning Road Northeast — were firebombed in the early morning hours of July 2, 2023. All three of those attacks happened between 4:30 a.m. and 4:44 a.m. that day.
But court documents said the first attack occurred at a bank on Silver Hill Road in District Heights, Maryland, at 3:53 a.m.
The documents said 23-year-old Cahlyl Rollins of Northeast D.C. was the one who detonated the devices, which were placed in front of glass windows and entranceways to cause the most damage. Authorities estimated the damage to the three D.C. businesses totaled about $60,000.
However, nothing was taken from any of the businesses and no motive for the attacks has been identified. Seamus Hughes of Courtwatch was the first to report on the unsealed indictment.
The vehicle used in the bombings hasn’t been seen since that morning. Federal prosecutors said the license plate used in the attack was provided by the state of Maryland to a private titling company but was never registered to another vehicle.
It has, however, been seen on other vehicles involved with additional crimes, including the robbery of 7-11 stores in Crofton and Hyattsville.
Rollins and 33-year-old Garrett Bragg, whose listed address is in Norfolk, Virginia, were arrested in September at a home in Southeast D.C.
Inside the home, authorities said they found weapons, a bag of key fobs and a device used to reprogram key fobs, as well as “burglary tools.” Police also said they found 38 license plates, including some that law enforcement said were involved in other crimes.
Rollins has been in custody since then, but Bragg broke his leg trying to flee and had to be hospitalized, according to police.
At some point, he was released by the hospital and disappeared for months, until he was tracked down to a home in Temple Hills, Maryland, where he was hiding in the attic, police said. He was arrested in mid-December and was held in Maryland on a burglary charge he’s also facing in St. Mary’s County. Bragg was returned to D.C. on Wednesday.
Both Bragg and Rollins remain held without bond. No further hearings for the case have been scheduled yet.
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