D.C.’s violent crime victims rail against lax prosecutions at Capitol Hill hearing

The surveillance video shows an irate DoorDash driver pulling a gun and pushing a pub owner toward a table where his young son is sitting. A desperate tussle ensues before the pub owner disarms the man and aids in his arrest.

The June incident at the Valor Brewpub in Southeast has left unseen scars, pub owner Gaynor Jablonski testified Thursday before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on violent crime in the District of Columbia.

“My 5-year-old tells me when I drop him off at school every day to ‘be safe,’” Mr. Jablonski said. “In the last two to three years, the brazenness of the violent acts that are going on in the city … have gotten to the point where it’s just ridiculous.”

He said “as horrific as that video is, what happened after was even worse.”

Mr. Jablonski said the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which prosecutes major crimes in the city, offered the gunman a plea deal that would keep him behind bars for two years at most. He would be allowed out of jail until his sentencing date.

When his court date arrived, the assailant was sentenced to eight months in prison.

D.C. resident Mitchell Sobolevsky said a robber put a gun to his head and stole his belongings in 2020, and a judge handed down a two-year sentence with one year suspended.

Mr. Sobolevsky testified that the thief robbed two more people at gunpoint after he was released.

Myisha Richards, a paramedic with the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, testified that two women assaulted her in 2020 while she was on a call east of the Anacostia River. The attack left her with a concussion and a need for stitches above her eye. Prosecutors later told Ms. Richards that her attackers wouldn’t be jailed.

The lack of consequences for violent crime was a consistent theme that House Republican subcommittee members sought to tie to Democrats.

“We need prosecutors who will enforce the laws. We need judges who will follow the laws and enforce the rules. It is that simple,” said Rep. Laurel Lee, Florida Republican. “[This] is the entirely predictable outcome of the reckless and irresponsible rhetoric and policies of the Democrat Party, who are undermining the men and women of law enforcement and the rule of law in America.”

Homicides, carjackings and robberies have increased sharply in the District this year, but federal data for fiscal 2022 shows that D.C. prosecutors refused to try two-thirds of the cases brought to them.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, California Republican, asked Heritage Foundation legal fellow Charles Stimson how the prosecutors’ 66% declination rate in the past year compares with other jurisdictions around the country.

Mr. Stimson said the district attorney’s office for San Diego, which has jurisdiction over a county with more than 3 million people, has declined to pursue roughly 23% of its cases in the past 20 years.

“San Diego doesn’t have a crime problem,” Mr. Stimson testified.

The Heritage fellow suggested that the attorney general’s office for the District of Columbia be stripped of its responsibility to prosecute juvenile criminals and hand over those duties to the U.S. attorney’s office. Juveniles are driving many of the armed car thefts and muggings in the city.

Lindsey Appiah, the District’s deputy mayor for public safety, said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves told her that prosecutions have increased this fiscal year. Data on the prosecution rate is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Ms. Appiah said the 11 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, which can be filled only by presidential appointments and congressional approval, are hindering the District’s ability to process cases.

Gregg Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. Police Union, said D.C. Council legislation to rein in police misconduct has contributed to the Metropolitan Police Department’s 50-year-low in roster numbers.

He said the head count earlier this month was just over 3,000 officers, a net loss of more than 600 since the beginning of 2020.

“Members of Congress are being assaulted and carjacked. Their congressional staff members are being robbed and stabbed. Tourists and visitors — your constituents — are being targeted and attacked,” Mr. Pemberton testified. “Yet the D.C. Council fails to admit that their policies have played a significant role in this outcome.”

House Democrats sought to address the illegal flow of guns into the city as a leading cause of the 36% year-over-year increase in homicides.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, pressed Ms. Appiah to work with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to halt gun trafficking from states such as Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina. Ms. Lee also pressed Ms. Appiah to work with the city to address the spike in carjackings — up 108% over this point last year.

Mr. Jablonski, the Valor Brewpub bar owner, sounded less optimistic.

“We could have 1,000 new gun laws. We could have 1,000 new police officers. You could throw millions at this [prosecutor’s] office,” he said. “If nobody’s going to do their job and prosecute and hold people accountable, what’s the point?”