Defendant Arrested Weeks Later After Stand-off With Police; Later Assaulted Corrections Officer at Jail
WASHINGTON - Warren Stevenson, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a 15-year prison term for taking part in a robbery and carjacking at a towing company parking lot in Northeast Washington, as well as an additional four months of incarceration for later assaulting a corrections officer at the District of Columbia Jail, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Stevenson pled guilty in March 2018, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count each of carjacking, armed robbery, and simple assault. The plea, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a sentence between 15 and 18 years. The Honorable Judith Bartnoff accepted the plea and sentenced the defendant accordingly. Following his prison term, Stevenson will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 12, 2015, at approximately 1 a.m., Stevenson and three co-conspirators ambushed four victims at District Towing, a business in the 900 block of Franklin Street NE. One victim was at the premises with his son to pick up his son’s car, which a tow truck driver had towed earlier that evening. Also on the premises were two District Towing employees who were awaiting service calls in a tow truck.
Stevenson and his accomplices rushed into the tow lot brandishing handguns and began their assault on the four victims. As Stevenson pointed a gun at the father and demanded the money on his person and any money in the car, another accomplice robbed the tow truck driver of his cell phone and money at gunpoint. The father offered Stevenson the keys to his Jaguar and then, fearing for his life, began to grapple with Stevenson for control of the gun.
In the midst of the robberies, the other two assailants approached the tow truck and began banging on the truck’s windows with the butts of their firearms, demanding that the District Towing employees open the doors. Frightened, one of the employees slammed on the gas and attempted to drive out of the lot. As the truck pulled away, the assailants began shooting at the truck. One employee was shot in his left arm and chest and the other was hit in the right cheek. The assailants, including Stevenson, then escaped in the carjacked Jaguar.
Stevenson was identified as being at the scene via GPS, and escaped from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) when officers tracked him to a house in Northeast Washington later that morning. He was ultimately arrested on the evening of Dec. 9, 2015, at an acquaintance’s house in the 1400 block of Oglethorpe Road NW. The arrest followed a seven-hour barricade and stand-off with members of MPD. While watching the news broadcast of the barricade, the owner of the carjacked Jaguar recognized Stevenson as the carjacker. Stevenson has remained in custody since his arrest. No other arrests have been made to date in the case.
The carjacking and robbery charges stemmed from the incident at the towing company lot. Additionally, the simple assault charge stemmed from an incident on Feb. 10, 2018 at the District of Columbia Jail. During a fight between two other inmates at the jail, Stevenson pulled pepper spray away from a corrections officer who responded to the trouble. Stevenson discharged it, with some of the spray hitting the officer.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They also expressed appreciation for those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Coleman; Information Technology Specialist Leif Hickling; Paralegal Specialist Lashaune Briggs, and Intern Natasha Harnwell-Davis.
Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth M. Gilmore, Kamil E. Shields, and Melissa Price, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
