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Carjackings in Washington, D.C., have shot up nearly 74% in 2021 compared to last year.
There have been 186 carjackings since January to July 12 of this year, according to D.C. police data, compared to 107 during the same timeframe in 2020.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has not responded to multiple requests for comment on the crimes and inquiries on how to combat them, but D.C. police revealed they launched a carjacking task force using "bait cars" to catch suspects in the city.
"We do deploy bait cars at times. Most recently at the 2nd District they use it but we want to make sure that the tactic certainly works for the specific crime we happen to be targeting at that particular time," D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said Tuesday.
The move comes after a string of violent carjackings in the city, with suspects and perpetrators often being teenaged D.C. residents.
3 TEENS INVOLVED IN ARMED DC CARJACKING, ONLY 1 IS BEING CHARGED AS INCIDENTS SOAR
Just last week in the city, officers arrested three young girls - aged 12, 14 and 16 - for a botched carjacking attempt where they allegedly used a Taser on the victim.
Charges, however, were dropped against two of the young girls, with only one girl now facing charges of attempted carjacking. Police are still searching for a fourth suspect.
D.C.’s carjacking problem also grabbed the nation’s attention in March when teenaged girls were arrested in the murder of an Uber Eats driver during an attempted carjacking that was caught on video.
BOTCHED DC CARJACKING VICTIM FLUNG FROM CAR TO HIS DEATH, TEENS CHARGED WITH HIS MURDER: POLICE
The driver, Mohammad Anwar, died after he was flung from his moving vehicle during the violent crime committed by a 13-year-old and 15-year-old.
Neither of the girls in the case were charged as adults, raising questions on why such a vicious crime did not bring harsher consequences.
"The 15-year-old would not be charged as an adult. You know, obviously, this is a tragic case and, you know, charging this person as an adult [who’s] a juvenile … does not bring back the lost loved one in this case," Contee said in March when asked if he felt at least the 15-year-old in this case should be tried as an adult.
"And certainly, again, the 15-year-old would not be eligible as a Title 16 case. You know, and it’s not really pointing fingers at anyone – the courts or anyone," he added.
The girls were sentenced to juvenile detention until they turn 21.
Carjackings have also spilled into areas surrounding D.C., with two teenagers charged in June after allegedly carjacking a vehicle from a gas station parking lot in Maryland with a 2-year-old child inside.
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Other violent crimes in the city have also increased between January and July of this year when compared to 2020. Homicides, for example, currently sit at 101 for this year, compared to 99 during the same time period last year, police data show. Robberies also increased from 900 in 2020 to 912 in 2021.
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