WASHINGTON — A recent carjacking in a Capitol Hill neighborhood has some homeowners concerned about a possible trend involving fender bender crashes.
A DC Police incident reports says that on Aug. 26, a woman was driving a grey Honda CRV when she was struck from behind by another car as she made a stop at the intersection of 6th and G streets, Southeast.
"My wife and I woke up at 6:20 thereabouts. Heard some screaming; it sounded like a little kid. It was a high pitch scream," Jon Sargent told WUSA9 as he recounted the incident.
Investigators say the woman stepped out of her car and asked the striking driver for his insurance. The driver refused to hand over the information and instead snatched her keys and threw the victim on the ground.
"It's counter intuitive to stay in your car when something like that happens. You want to go out and inspect the damage. Exchange insurance potentially," Sargant added.
The carjacker took off in the woman's car while another person drove off with the car that was used to hit the CRV from behind.
The striking vehicle was found abandoned just two blocks away at 4th and G streets, and according to officials, it was also stolen.
The victim's car was found later that same day in Navy Yard, but Sargent said the incident has started chatter among his neighbors who are warning others about a possible trend.
"If you get hit, bumped like that it seems intentional, seems a little weird, don't get out, drive to the police station which is only a block away," Sargent added.
More than 680 drivers have been carjacked in the District so far this year according to the most recent Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) data. That is more than double than the same time last year.
The carjacker in the incident on 6th and G streets did not use a weapon according to the police report, but MPD data shows that 77% of cases this year involve a gun.
The MPD carjacking dashboard shows that so far 98 carjacking arrests have been made so far this year. 65% of the cases are involving juveniles and 74% have D.C. home addresses.
Residents are set to meet with the First District's new police commander Tuesday evening. They told WUSA9 that the recent crime including carjackings will be at the top of their list of concerns.