2 separate armed assaults in Northwest DC stopped by good Samaritans minutes apart, police say - WTOP News
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2 separate armed assaults in Northwest DC stopped by good Samaritans minutes apart, police say

Two separate armed assaults allegedly occurred just minutes apart and within a mile of each other on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest D.C. last Thursday. In both instances, police said, the violence stopped when the suspects were confronted by good Samaritans.

The first incident was a reported attempted robbery at around 8:40 p.m. on Jan. 11.

A man was standing in his driveway outside of a parked car in the 2700 block of Connecticut Avenue NW when five suspects, all carrying handguns, approached him demanding money, a police spokeswoman told WTOP.

Police said the suspects began to pull on the man as one of them was yelling, “Give me your money, give me your money.” Another suspect struck the victim in the head with a handgun, according to a police report.

That’s when another man yelled at the suspects from across the street, causing them to flee, police said.

The good Samaritan went over to help the victim when an unidentified suspect returned to the scene and pointed a gun at him. The person ducked behind the victim’s car and the suspect departed the scene.

Not even 20 minutes later, and less than a mile away in the 2800 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, another man was walking home when he was approached by two suspects who got out of a dark-colored SUV, according to another police report.

The suspects pushed him to the ground and pointed a gun at him, police said. That’s when a second good Samaritan who was across the street intervened.

He reportedly approached the two suspects and told them to “get out of here.”

The suspects briefly pointed their weapons at the good Samaritan before fleeing in a gray SUV heading north on Connecticut Avenue, police said.

Officers haven’t determined if both incidents involved the same suspect.

In these reported instances, no suspect made off with either victim’s belongings.

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Grace Newton

Grace Newton is an Associate Producer at WTOP. She also works as an associate producer for NPR Newscast. Grace was born and raised in North Carolina but has lived in D.C. since 2018. Grace graduated from American University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and minor in art history in 2022.

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