D.C. police say they’ve arrested a teenager in connection with a string of armed robberies that targeted Latino communities in Northwest.
Kwesi Pyne, 18, of Takoma Park, was arrested Thursday morning, Cmdr. James Boteler said at a news conference.
With the help of a community tip suggesting there was someone who possibly had a gun, Boteler said officers responded to the 3100 block of 16th Street. As an officer approached Pyne, he fled and tried to get rid of a handgun, police said.
Just before 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Pyne was arrested in the 1300 block of Taylor Street Northwest. Police were able to find the gun.
“What we’ve come to see is that the suspects that repeatedly terrorize neighborhoods and are released back into the community tend to commit the same type of offenses and rob not just their victims, but also the community of the sense of safety in that neighborhood,” Boteler said Friday.
Pyne, police said, has been linked to an armed carjacking that happened Oct. 30 and seven robberies targeting specific neighborhoods. He’s accused of targeting neighborhoods in Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant and the 16th Street corridor, which Boteler described as “predominantly Latino communities.”
The most recent armed robbery happened Monday near Columbia Heights, police said.
Once police identified the pattern of the crimes, Boteler said officers reached out to community members and groups “just to educate them on the threat of victims being targeted, potentially for their heritage.”
Police don’t know why Boteler may have been targeting a specific group of people.
Pyne is being charged with carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of unregistered ammunition, and possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device.
He also faces an armed carjacking charge stemming from the October incident and several armed robbery charges, including assault with intent to rob while armed, connected to a Feb. 7 incident.
“It goes to show that one person can do a lot of damage within our community if allowed to be out on the streets,” Boteler said. “Especially if this person is somebody that is a recidivist that continues to show nefarious behaviors toward the community members by victimizing them.”
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