MoCo Crime Beat 5-15
By Amalia Chua Halikias
As the weather heats up, we're staring down the barrel of the impending Crime Season. Statistics show that both household property crimes and violent crimes significantly increase in the summer.
That's a trend already visible with the uptick in thefts of and from vehicles — these thefts have soared in April and thus far in May compared to prior months. The question is whether violent crime will follow suit.
In addition to a spate of armed carjackings, here are some recent highlights:
- In Bethesda on April 30th, two males committed a strong-arm robbery against a younger man, assaulting the juvenile victim and taking his money and property.
- On May 1st, in a commercial building on Wisconsin Ave. in Chevy Chase, a man brandished a knife at a woman, pushed her against the wall, threatened to kill her, and stole her wallet. The Montgomery County Police have released his photo, and are offering $10,000 for information that can lead to his arrest.
- The Learner building in Bethesda was burglarized on May 1st, as was a construction site in Wheaton
- On May 2nd, there was an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven in Silver Spring
- An office building located in the 900 block of Silver Spring was burglarized on May 3rd
- A Montgomery Village residence was burglarized on May 3rd. The suspect was arrested.
- On May 5th, an aggravated assault occurred in Bethesda. The suspect displayed a weapon and assaulted the adult male victim. The suspect was arrested.
- On May 8th, two 30-year-old suspects were arrested and charged with armed robberies
Some remain hopeful that this summer will not bring as much crime as years past. As you can see from the highlights above, there is little reason for optimism thus far.
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Amalia Chua Halikias grew up in Chevy Chase, has worked on nearly a dozen campaigns, and serves as Government Relations Director at The Heritage Foundation. She's a member of the Montgomery Republican Party Communications committee and can be reached at [email protected]