Police Report: April 28-May 4

The Mount Rainier Police Department’s weekly report is not intended to be a listing of every incident or call for service handled by the police department, but merely a general summary of incidents that may be of interest to the community. Some reports may be outside the date parameters due to extended investigations or other circumstances. Some cases are not included at all due to ongoing investigations.

May 4^th:

3200 block of Queens Chapel Road: Warrant service – 3:05am. Officers we called to check on a group of suspicious individuals wearing masks inside a minivan. The officers learned that the masks were small party masks that they received at a club they had just left. The officers also learned that one of the individuals had an open arrest warrant through Prince George’s County for failing to appear in court on a theft charge. He was arrested on the warrant and delivered to the custody of DOC in Hyattsville.

4000 block of 37^th Street: Trespassing – 4:20pm. Officers responded for the report of two individuals inside an abandoned house. When the officers arrived they did not locate the individuals but were told by witnesses that they saw two black males leave the house just prior to the officers’ arrival. The house is under construction and has been broken into several times. Officers were unable to contact the home owner.

4000 block of 36^th Street: Residential burglary – 5:15pm. The homeowner told officers that sometime between 12 noon and 4:45pm someone tried to break into her home. She had been gone from home for a few hours and when she returned she discovered that someone had removed several screens from her windows in an attempt to find an open window. The suspects also tried unsuccessfully to force open the back door. The victim then checked a separate self-contained dwelling located in the back yard and discovered that someone had kicked open the front door and ransacked the interior. The victim did not discover anything missing while the officers were on the scene.

3300 block of Chillum Road: Theft – 7:25pm. A store employee told officers that a black male wearing a black shirt with black pants in his 20’s came into the store and stole four sandwiches. The subject fled the store on foot towards Queens Chapel and Chillum.

May 3^rd:

4200 block of 28^th Street: House fire – 9:20am. Officers responded for the report of an active house fire. Once the fire was extinguished fire/rescue personnel determined that it started in an upstairs closet. All occupants of the residents were safely evacuated and there were no injuries. The fire department found no evidence of arson or suspicious activity related to the fire.

3200 block of Varnum Street: Property damage – 10pm. At about 9pm officers responded for the report of a fight in progress. When the officers arrived no one present would admit that a fight had occurred or otherwise cooperate and provide information. At about 10pm officers were called back to the scene where the owner of a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer reported that his vehicle was damaged when a subject got slammed onto the hood during the fight that didn’t happen.

May 2^nd:

4300 block of 30^th Street: Theft – 11:40am. The victim told officers that back on April 18^th she had a physical altercation with her niece. After the altercation the victim went down to North Carolina leaving several items of her personal property behind in her bedroom. When she returned today she discovered that her personal property had been stolen.

3300 block of 30^th Street: Lost property – 12:30pm. Officers spoke with a gentleman who said that he lost one of his credit cards while using the ATM machine at the 7-11 on Chillum Road. Officers documented the loss for the man’s credit card company.

3300 block of Chillum Road: Theft – 10:40pm. A store clerk told officers that two black males came into the store and stole six cases of soda. No further description of the men was provided.

May 1^st:

2700 block of Upshur Street: Theft from auto – 6:45pm. The owner of a 2011 Lexus told officers that sometime between 7am this morning and the time she called police someone stole the Maryland temporary license tag off her vehicle.

4000 block of 36^th Street: Residential burglary – 9:15pm. Officers spoke with the homeowner who said that she left her residence at about 8:45pm and when she returned about a half hour later she discovered that someone had broken in through the back door. Once inside the thieves went through the home and stole several personal electronics items before fleeing the area in an unknown direction.

April 30^th:

3300 block of Buchanan Street: Vehicle impound – 8:15am. Officers patrolling with a mobile license plate reader were alerted to a 1992 Toyota that had an MSP pick-up order for the tags. The tags had been suspended for a compulsory insurance violation. The tags were seized for return to MVA and the vehicle was impounded.

3100 block of Queens Chapel Road: Trespassing – 2:30pm. Officers responded for the report of a trespasser inside the Family Dollar store. When the officers arrived they learned that a 17-year-old juvenile entered the store and removed a flyer that had been posted to identify him to employees as a shoplifter and barred from the store. The manger told the subject to leave whereupon he slammed the door shut in the mangers face, striking her hand in the process. The juvenile threatened the manager that he would come back and shoot the store up if his picture was put back up. Officers are in the process of filing criminal charges against the juvenile. His picture was put back up.

3300 block of Otis Street: Residential burglary – 4:30pm. The resident told officers that she left her residence at about 8:30am this morning. When she returned home at about 12:10pm she noticed that a window air conditioner was lying on a bed in one of the bedrooms. She also discovered that several items of jewelry and an iPad had been stolen.

April 29^th:

2500 block of Queens Chapel Road: Vehicle impound – 1:30pm. Officers impounded a 2002 Buick Park Avenue for displaying tags that expired in September of 2012.

2300 block of Varnum Street (7-11): Theft – 2:45pm. Officers responded for the report of a 911 hang-up that turned out to be a shoplifting that had just occurred. A store employee told the officers that two black males came into the store. The two split up with one engaging the employee in conversation to distract him while the second placed numerous items in his pockets. Once the store employee figured out what was going on, both subjects fled the store in an unknown direction. 

3400 block of Rhode Island Avenue: Strong arm robbery – 10:30pm. Officers were patrolling the area of 35^th and Perry Streets when they were flagged down by a citizen who said that she had just been robbed. She said that she was in the 3400 block of Rhode Island Ave waiting for the bus when a man approached her from behind and physically took her phone out of her hand. When she turned around to see who took her phone a second subject approached from the front and took her purse from her. Both of the suspects then fled on foot down the 3700 block of 35^th Street towards Otis Street and then unknown. The victim described both of her assailants as dark skin black males in their 20’s wearing gray sweatshirts.

April 28^th:

3500 block of Bunker Hill Road: Traffic/CDS/hit and run collision – 1am. Officers stopped a 2002 Dodge Durango for a traffic violation. As the officers approached the vehicle to speak with the driver the vehicle suddenly accelerated and fled the scene. The officers pursued the vehicle but lost sight of it at Shepherd Street near Cedar Lane Alley. The vehicle was located a short time later at 34^th Street and Windom Road where it was again stopped. The driver and passenger both refused to obey the officers’ commands to get out of the vehicle and had to be forcibly removed. The passenger became violent and officers were forced to deploy an electronic control device to get her under control and under arrest. Further investigation revealed that both individuals we in possession of CDS and CDS paraphernalia. The officers also discovered that the driver had struck a parked vehicle in the 4100 block of 34^th Street as she was fleeing from the officers’ original traffic stop.  Both subjects were issued criminal citations for CDS possession and possession of CDS paraphernalia. The driver was issued five State traffic citations and her vehicle was impounded.

4100 block of 32^nd Street: Residential burglary – 9:45am. The owner of the residence told officers that he and his wife returned from out of town business to discover that their X-Box had been stolen. During their investigation the officers spoke with a relative who is a downstairs border and learned that between 10:45am and 11am on April 25^th she heard someone walking around upstairs. Thinking it was her relatives she did not immediately investigate. When she went upstairs at about Noon she discovered that someone had broken into the home through the back door.

4600 block of 30^th Street: Miscellaneous incident (MIR) – 5:15pm. Officers responded for the report of an unresponsive male lying in the street. The officers located the man who was obviously in medical distress. Fire/rescue personnel responded and transported the man to Washington Adventist Hospital for treatment. Officer learned from witnesses that the man lived in the Queens Manor Apartments. They were able to contact the man’s father to advise him of his son’s condition and where he was taken for treatment. The man’s condition was not considered life threatening.

4600 block of 30^th Street: Assault on a police officer – 8:40pm. Officers responded for the report of a woman needing assistance. When the officers arrived they recognized the woman from numerous previous encounters. She was attempting to get her brother and another man home, both of whom had obviously had too much to drink. Officers also recognized these two from previous encounters. As the officers were trying to get the two men under control one of them became verbally abusive and combative. He assaulted the officer and a brief struggle ensued. Officers were forced to deploy an electronic control device to try and get him under control and under arrest. The ECD deployment had no effect on the man who fled the scene towards Eastern Avenue and made good his escape. Officers obtained an arrest warrant for the man charging him with assaulting an officer and other crimes.

Citizens are reminded to PLEASE call and report suspicious activity. Even if you choose not to provide your name or other personal information, we still need your help as extra eyes and ears in the community.

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