Retired MRPD Chief's Discussion

February 25th : 3500 block of 37th Street : At about 8:30 am officers took a report of a commercial burglary. A representative of the business told the officers that someone forced entry into the business through a roof door. Once inside the thieves stole a quantity of US currency and several electronics items. The officers processed the scene for evidence with negative results. They also learned that the business has working surveillance cameras; however the person who operates the system was not available. The representative will attempt to provide a copy of the surveillance. The case is open pending follow up. 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 10:30 am the fire department responded to a working apartment fire. The majority of the fire was confined to two apartments and is believed to have started in the floor/ceiling space between the two. All other apartments in the building sustained some damage either as a direct result of fire or because of smoke or firefighting e

February 22nd: 2300 block of Varnum Street : At about 7:15 am officers took a theft report. The store clerk told the officers that a man entered the store, removed a can of red Bull energy drink and left without paying for it. 3300 block of Queens Chapel Road : At about 11:30 am officers responded for a domestic dispute. The officers discovered that a man and a woman has a verbal argument that was settled when the man voluntarily left the apartment. Neither party sustained any injuries and the female half was advised of her options with a District Court Commissioner. 3200 block of Perry Street : At about 5:10 pm officers took a report of a residential burglary. The victim/resident told the officers that sometime between noon and 4 pm someone broke into his residence and stole several items of personal property. The house was searched for evidence including a point of entry with negative results. 3700 block of 35th Street : At about 10:30 pm officers investigated a suspicious ve

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Metropolitan Area (including District of Columbia) from 8:00 PM this evening until 9:00 PM Thursday. A mix of rain and snow will develop late this afternoon and early this evening. Precipitation will become all snow late this evening and will continue through early Friday morning. Accumulation could reach 1 to 3 inches of snow.

February 19 th : 4100 block of 32 nd Street : At about 11 am officers took a fraud report. The victim told the officers that someone had stolen her identity and uttered over $1,000 in bad checks to various businesses during the month of December 2009. The victim notified her bank and an internal investigation was initiated. 4700 block of 27 th Street : At about 3:30 pm officers took a report of a citizen robbery. The victim, a delivery person for the Golden China carryout in Hyattsville, was robbed at gunpoint by a man described as a 20 something black male wearing a red bandana over his mouth and armed with a black handgun. The man stole the victim’s cash and other personal belongings in addition to the food he was called to deliver. After taking the victim’s property the suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction. The victim continued on his delivery route and did not report the crime to police until he returned to the restaurant sometime later. Due to the delay in r

2700 block of Allison Street : At about 9:45 am officers received a call for a possible stolen vehicle. When they arrived they discovered an unoccupied 1996 Honda Accord with damage to it. It was stolen out of Arlington, Virginia. It was impounded for safekeeping and the owner was notified of the recovery.

4200 block of 34 th Street: At about 3:30 pm officers were notified by PGPD that a vehicle stolen from the 4200 block of 34 th Street on January 27 th was recovered in the 4500 block of Saint Barnabas Road. It was released to the victim/owner at the scene of the recovery.    3400 block of Rhode Island Avenue: At about 8 pm officers took a report of a theft from auto. Upon arrival the officers were met by the victim/owner who told them that sometime between 5:30 pm and the time of the report someone broke out the passenger window of his Honda and stole an in-dash DVD player. The officers’ investigation cast some doubt as to whether or not the crime actually occurred in the City or elsewhere.

Nothing significant to report.

Friday February 12th : 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 11:50 pm officers impounded a vehicle that was double parked, unoccupied, unregistered and displaying tags issued to another vehicle. Saturday February 13th : 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 3:15 am officers impounded an unattended burgundy Ford Taurus and an unattended block Toyota Sion that were blocking State Highway Administration snow removal contractors clearing snow along Rhode Island Avenue. 3400 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 8:45 pm officers on patrol observed two individuals consuming alcohol beverages near the bus stop. Both individuals were issued criminal citations for open container. One of them was found to have two open arrest warrants through Montgomery County for (you may not believe this) open container . He was arrested on the open warrants and delivered to the custody of DOC in Hyattsville. Sunday February 14th : 3100 block of Buchanan Street : At about 5 am offic

Nothing significant to report.

February 10th : No significant incidents to report. The police department is continuing its efforts to keep show emergency routes and other City streets clear of illegally parked and disabled vehicles so that snow crews can continue their snow removal efforts. Snow Removal Update from City Manager Jeannelle Wallace We had a list of 10 critical areas (mostly hills) that were to be a priority last night and unfortunately we did not get to all 10. Right now we have complaints about Webster Street (in Kaywood), 29th Street, Taylor Street, and 32nd and Varnum. We also had additional problems with the county plowing of RI Avenue and they blocked in Perry Street from the 33rd and 34th Street entrances which had to be re-cleared. Contractors and Luther Smith were here all night. While we made some really good progress in some areas, needless to say others are just almost impassable. Kaywood at Russell is blocked with vehicles. We have another vehicle blocking 34th and Bunker Hill Road.

February 9th : 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 9 p.m. officers impounded a 2000 Lexus SUV for parking on the emergency route. 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 11:15 p.m. officers impounded a 1999 Buick sedan for parking on the emergency route. 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 10:30 p.m. officers impounded a 1995 GMC 3500 work van for parking on the emergency route. February 10th (early morning): 3400 block of Eastern Avenue : At about 1 a.m. officers responded for a domestic dispute. Upon their arrival they discovered a husband and wife engaged in an argument. Further investigation revealed that the wife had been physically assaulted by her husband. He was arrested, charged with domestic assault and delivered to the custody of DOC in Upper Marlboro.

Yesterday we experienced two incidents of vandalism, one on the front side of the Eastern Star building and one on a disabled PW truck on Bunker Hill Road near 38th Street. Additional investigation by our Brentwood officer revealed more vandalism at several locations from the 3200 to the 4300 blocks of Rhode Island Avenue. The Sunoco and Lowest Price Gas stations were the hardest hit. The tagging does not appear to be gang related, rather the work of a group of skaters that hang out in the 3200 block of Perry Street.

February 8th : 4200 block of 28th Place : At about 11:55 a.m. officers observed a 1997 Buick and a 2000 Honda blocking the roadway so that vehicles could not pass. Both cars were impounded. 4300 block of 28th Place : At about 7 p.m. officers responded for a 911 hang-up. The officers learned that the hang-up stemmed from a domestic argument. They were able to settle the dispute by getting the parties to agree to a voluntary separation. Both parties were advised of their options with a District Court commissioner. 3200 block of Queenstown Drive : At about 8 p.m. officers took a death report. The officers learned that a female hospice patient had passed away from natural causes. The officers made the necessary notifications and assisted the family in making arrangements. February 9th (early morning): 2500 block of Arundel Road : At about 1 a.m. officers impounded a vehicle that had been parked on the snow emergency route for several hours. Efforts to locate the vehicle’s owner p

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning effective noon tomorrow to 7PM Wednesday for another winter storm. The storm is currently forecast to arrive around 2-3PM Tuesday, and will last through Wednesday late afternoon. The updated forecast now calls for 10-20” of snow. The NWS Storm Prediction Center currently shows a 10-40% chance of the storm generating over 12". The D.C. Metro area is close to the south edge of this storm, so to some degree the storm totals will depend on the exact path of the storm. Temperatures will start near freezing, but will drop into the mid-upper 20's during the storm. Wednesday high is 33-36. Winds will be 15-25 MPH with higher gusts. Please get emergency supplies before the storm strikes, as driving will become even more hazardous after the storm begins. Please also secure all loose objects on your property.

There was only one significant incident over the weekend and that occurred about 7 p.m. Friday night. A man was the victim of a strong armed robbery on Queens Chapel Road. He was able to provide a description of the four individuals who attacked and robbed him. We initiated a search and apprehended all of them, 3 juveniles and 1 adult, on Arundel Road at 32nd Street. They were interviewed by PGPD robbery detectives and one of the juveniles confessed to participating in this robbery and at least two others in the area. He also implicated his three accomplices in the other robberies. Hopefully these arrests will put a stop to the group robberies we have been experiencing along Queens Chapel Road. Captain Stoots and I toured the City this morning, and all things considered, it was better than I expected. It looks like our biggest problems are on 31st, 32nd and 33rd Streets and Shepherd Street behind the old fire house. We need additional plowing to get those roads more passable. I talke

As of about 12:30 p.m. today we have seen approximately 27" of snow fall and are expecting several more inches before the storm subsides. Public Works snow crews have made the snow emergency routes through the City passable, but far from clear of snow accumulation. MRPD officers have been working to clear these routes of disabled and illegally parked vehicles so that PW has a clear path to plow snow. At this time we are unable to get tow trucks to respond due to the amount of snow that has fallen. At least one of our PW trucks dedicated to snow plowing has broken down and is out of service. Our backup snow removal contractor notified us early this morning that their equipment is also out of service. We have engaged a second contractor who is responding and will be on site in about 4-5 hours. We estimate that it will be between 24-48 hours before crews are able to make side streets passable. Residents who experience utility outages and need temporary shelter can call the poli

3600 block of Eastern Avenue : At about 10:25 a.m. officers took a misdemeanor theft report. The victim told the officers that her boyfriend stole her cell phone and was threatening to damage it. 3700 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 5:30 p.m. officers took a report of a lost Maryland license plate. The reporting person told the officers that while driving down Rhode Island Avenue his rear registration plate (MD 5FTT96) fell off his vehicle. He was provided the necessary information to get a new set of tags from MVA.

The DC government has declared a snow emergency in effect beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning February 5th. Residents are reminded that the City of Mount Rainier follows the DC government regarding the declaration of snow emergencies. During a snow emergency there is no parking allowed on City streets designated as snow emergency routes. Owners of vehicles parked on a snow emergency route during a snow emergency are subject to a $100 fine and/or having their vehicle towed.

February 2nd : Nothing significant to report. February 3rd : 34th and Taylor Streets : At about 6:50 a.m. officers received a call for a hit and run motor vehicle collision. The officers’ investigation revealed only that an unidentified vehicle struck a parked vehicle and left the scene without stopping. No evidence was found that would help identify the striking vehicle. 4600 block of 30th Street : At about 5:30 p.m. officers received a call for damage to a parked vehicle. The victim/owner told the officers that on February 3rd sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. an unknown person/object struck her vehicle causing damage to the rear bumper/light. No evidence was found that would help identify the person(s) responsible. 1 Municipal Place : At about 3:50 p.m. officers took a report of damage to a City owned vehicle. The officers learned that sometime between 5 p.m. on January 29th and 8 a.m. on February 1st someone damaged the rear bumper of a Code Enforcement vehicle. Th

3700 block of Perry Street : At about 11:20 a.m. stopped a vehicle for exceeding the posted speed limit. Further investigation revealed that the driver was not licensed to drive in Maryland and falsified his personal information in an attempt to hide this fact from the officers. He was arrested and charged with driving without a license and giving false information to a police officer. He was delivered to the custody of DOC in Hyattsville and his vehicle was impounded 3249 Rhode Island Avenue : At about 3:30 p.m. a man came into the police station to report that he had lost his immigration work permit. He told the reporting officer that on or about December 9th he was walking between City Hall and the 4500 block of 38th Street and when he got to his destination he realized that his work permit was missing. 3500 block of Newton Place : At about 4:30 p.m. officers took a report of a theft from auto. The victim told the officers that on January 31st around 10 p.m. she was cleaning out

Friday, January 29th : Nothing significant to report. Saturday, January 30th : 3400 block of Rhode Island Avenue : At about 12:10 p.m. officers issued a criminal citation to a man for disorderly conduct. He was sent on his way without further incident 4200 block of Russell Avenue : At about 9:15 p.m. officers investigated an attempted armed carjacking. The victim told the officers that she was sitting in her talking on her cell phone when a small built black male wearing a black hat and a ski mask approached her car and demanded that she get out. The suspect tried to open the car’s locked door and pointed what the victim thought was a handgun at her. At that point the victim put the vehicle in drive and drove away. She stopped at the 7-11 on Chillum Road where she was able to regain her composure and call police. A search of the area for the suspect was negative. Buchanan Street at Queens Chapel Road : At about 3:10 p.m. officers investigated a citizen strong armed robbery. T