Thierno Barry, a 23-year-old resident of Queens, New York, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to several charges related to incidents that occurred in Washington, D.C., in March 2025. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Barry admitted guilt to one count each of carjacking, interstate transport of a stolen vehicle, and making false alarms and reports before Judge Reggie B. Walton.
According to information presented by the government, Barry was pursued by Virginia State Police around midnight on March 31, 2025. He entered the District of Columbia and abandoned his vehicle behind the 4300 block of Reno Road NW. Metropolitan Police officers responded at approximately 12:21 a.m., recovered the vehicle, but did not locate Barry at that time.
At about 1:30 a.m., Barry called emergency services and falsely reported that his ex-husband had shot his wife at an address on Brandywine Street NW. Authorities determined this report was fabricated.
Metropolitan Police Department officers went to the reported location and found the residents unharmed and asleep when they arrived.
Barry stayed nearby until around 2:30 a.m., then took a bus to Union Station. At approximately 3:37 a.m., he approached an elderly couple—an 88-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman—who were stopped in their Buick sedan outside the station.
He approached from the driver’s side window, opened the door, and ordered them out while threatening violence. “Get out of the car! If you don’t, I’m gonna kill you,” Barry said during the incident. He claimed he had a gun and kept his hand in his sweatshirt pocket as if armed.
Despite being told by the victims they were en route to a hospital, Barry continued with threats and demands for their car. He physically removed the driver from the vehicle before taking control of it himself; images later captured by speed cameras documented part of his escape route toward Greenbelt, Maryland.
Barry was apprehended after driving until suffering a flat tire near Greenbelt; he initially gave police an alias upon arrest.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), FBI Washington Field Office, and Greenbelt Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan M. Horan is prosecuting the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office with detail from United States Capitol Police.
