Man Pleads Guilty in Assault of 69-Year-Old Man in Eastern Market Metro Station — Elijah Smith, a 19-year-old who was arrested in May after punching a 69-year-old man in the face inside the Eastern Market Metro station, pleaded guilty to simple assault. [Washington Post]
Five People Hospitalized After Apparent Synthetic Marijuana Overdoses — D.C. Fire and EMS Department officials believe that five people who were hospitalized on Friday afternoon near Eastern Market overdosed on K2, a brand of synthetic marijuana. [CBS DC]
Southwest Business Improvement District Plans Street Cleaning, Ambassador Team — The Southwest Business Improvement District on Friday announced plans to hire street cleaners and local ambassadors for the growing neighborhood. [Washington Business Journal]
Two Boys Arrested in Connection With Robberies Wednesday in and Near NoMa — Police on Thursday arrested two juveniles in connection with a string of assaults and robberies Wednesday afternoon on the 200 block of Florida Avenue NE, the 200 block of K Street NW and in Shaw. [WJLA]
D.C. officials are targeting Capitol Hill-area homeless shelters in a new synthetic drug education campaign.
Representatives of the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office and the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health will provide information about synthetic drug hazards during presentations at the Community for Creative Nonviolence, Central Union Mission and D.C. General homeless shelters over the next two weeks.
The discussions are “tailored to equip the homeless population with important information about the dangers of using substances such as K-2 and Spice, as well as the current state of the law enforcement efforts related to the use and sale of the substances,” according to a new release. Staff with the Department of Behavioral Health also will be available to help people who need treatment.
The first presentation is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today at D.C. General (1900 Massachusetts Ave. SE). The discussion at Central Union Mission (65 Massachusetts Ave. NW) is slated for 6 p.m. on Aug. 11. The final session is scheduled for Community for Creative Nonviolence (425 2nd St. NW) on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.
The meetings come after several people appeared to overdose on a synthetic drug and an unknown substance at the Community for Creative Nonviolence this summer.
At least seven people overdosed on synthetic marijuana at the shelter in early June. Later that month, four people were hospitalized after they apparently overdosed on an unknown substance.
“Despite innocent-sounding names like Spice and Scooby Snax, synthetic cannabinoids threaten public health and safety,” Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen Jr. said in a statement. “While we are committed to enforcing criminal laws, we also have a responsibility to educate the public. As evidenced by recent overdoses of homeless individuals, we need to reach out to all segments of our community to get the message out that synthetic cannabinoids are far from harmless.”
Photo via Wikimedia/U.S. Marine Corps
All Time High — Capitol Hill police and paramedics are treating more patients for synthetic cannabinoids, which are fake drugs sold under names like K2, Spice and Scooby Snax. District officials report that synthetic drug use reached an all-time high last month. Before May, less than 30 cases were reported per month. Last month, 439 cases were reported. [Washington Post]
Stabbing Suspect Summoned — The suspect in a fatal stabbing on a Metro train on July 4 faced court Friday for a previous assault charge. Jasper Spires, 18, was charged with assaulting a man in Friendship Heights with a wine bottle two days before the stabbing aboard a train at the NoMa-Gallaudet University Metro station. [NBC Washington]
You’re Out! — Friday night’s Nationals baseball game was suspended after the stadium lights went dark three times. A Nationals spokesperson said the failure was caused by a faulty circuit breaker. The game resumed on Saturday afternoon. [WTOP]
No Average Lemonade Stand — The Metropolitan Wellness Center on Barracks Row is selling cannabis-infused pomegranate lemonade. It costs $32 per 12-ounce bottle and a prescription is required. [Washington City Paper]
(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) Four people at a Capitol Hill homeless shelter were hospitalized this afternoon after they apparently overdosed on an unknown substance.
D.C. Fire and EMS Department units arrived at the Community for Creative Nonviolence Homeless Shelter at 425 2nd St. NW about 3 p.m. and left with four people about an hour later, a fire and EMS spokesman said.
The incident came less than two weeks after at least seven people overdosed on synthetic marijuana at the shelter. A fire and EMS representative told NBC Washington that the suspected overdoses today appeared similar to the overdoses earlier this month. NBC Washington was the first to report on today’s suspected overdoses.
Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday announced new drug enforcement strategy intended to give law enforcement enhanced authorities to crack down on the sale of synthetic drugs.
Photo via Facebook/Community for Creative Nonviolence Homeless Shelter
Crackdown — Later this morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser will announce a new drug enforcement strategy at Sasha Bruce Youthwork at 1022 Maryland Ave. NE. She will announce legislation that gives law enforcement enhanced authorities to crack down on the sale of synthetic drugs. [Office of the Mayor]
Animal Hospital — The Banfield Pet Hospital, located on 4th and Tingey streets SE in Navy Yard, is now open to the public. The center will host a grand opening “perhaps in late July,” according to Jacqueline Dupree. [JD Land]
Foo Fighters and Transportation Logistics! — Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at RFK, Events DC, WMATA, and other DC agency officials will meet with members of the Hill East community to discuss transportation logistics around the Foo Fighters’ July 4th show at the stadium. [The Hill is Home]
The Week Ahead — An overview of the week’s meetings for ANC 6A and ANC 6B, with a DC Streetcar update headlining. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Bon Anniversaire — The Pursuit Wine Bar on H Street NE is celebrating its first birthday with a week of drink specials. [Frozen Tropics]
A half-dozen members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were honored last night for their roles in a major drug raid in the Greenleaf Gardens public housing complex last month.
MPD First District detectives David Adams, Michael Murphy and Shayne O’Bannon, along with officers Ryan Orgel and Michael Kasco and ATF special agent Susan Whitlock, received “Officer of the Month” awards for helping secure the arrests last month of nine suspected members of a drug ring.
First District Commander Jeff Brown presented the certificates and said they were a “small token of our appreciation.”
“These officers did an outstanding job,” he said.
MPD, ATF and Drug Enforcement Administration officials raided a home on the 200 block of N Street SW on April 15, finding drugs and three semi-automatic handguns.
Authorities also seized $4,191 in cash, $400 in counterfeit bills, liquid codeine and 45 small bags of cocaine, court documents show. Ammunition, several smartphones, digital scales and drug packaging materials were discovered as well.
Surveillance cameras recorded members of the alleged crime ring entering the CVS on the 1100 block of 4th St. SW and stealing bottles of the antihistamine promethazine, which contains codeine.
Officers said they recognized two of the suspects on the video as members of the Greenleaf Crew, a group that operates out of Greenleaf Gardens.
(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) Nine people were arrested in the Greenleaf Gardens public housing complex this week in a major drug raid by police and Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives agents.
Officials raided a home on the 200 block of N Street SW — a block south of the Waterfront Metro station –about 7 p.m. Wednesday and found drugs and three semi-automatic handguns, the Metropolitan Police Department said last night.
Authorities seized liquid codeine and 45 small bags of cocaine, The Washington Post reported. Ammunition, $400 in counterfeit money, $4,191 in cash, several smartphones, digital scales and drug packaging materials also were found.
Surveillance cameras recorded members of the alleged crime ring entering the CVS on the 1100 block of 4th St. SW and stealing bottles of the antihistamine promethazine, which contains codeine, the Post reported.
Promethazine is used to relieve allergies and nausea but can also be used as a recreational drug, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Officers said they recognized two of the suspects on the video as members of a group called the Greenleaf Crew, which operates out of the Greenleaf Gardens.
Bertwone Copeland, 19; Bartholomew Copeland, 20; and Keith Boykins, 38, were arrested Wednesday and charged with robbery and drug possession with intent to distribute while armed, police said.
Leroy Frye, 24; Cornelius Jones, 18; Arnay Chase, 18; Archie Coles, 22; Johnny Coles, 18; and a juvenile male also were arrested and face drug possession with intent to distribute while armed charges.
Photo via D.C. Housing Authority
A city organization created to aid sex workers and drug users will open a new drop-in center in Ward 6.
The nonprofit HIPS is planning to move from Brookland to H Street NE in January, executive director Cyndee Clay said. The group that conducts outreach to sex workers on health, safety and housing will add drug treatment and mental health services to its offerings at 906 H St. NE.
Clay said her staff is looking forward to addressing reports of “street-based sex work” and drug use on H Street NE.
“Those are things that we help with,” she said. “It means a referrals to HIPS is just around the corner.”
HIPS was founded in 1993 to serve “individuals and communities impacted by sexual exchange and/or drug use due to choice, coercion or circumstance.” They serve 75 to 100 people of all ages per week.
HIPS, which signed a five-year lease in the two-level, 6,500-square-foot building, plans to reach out to ANC 6A and 6C in the coming months, Clay said.
“I bet we can relieve a lot of problems we see on H Street, rather than contribute to them,” she said.
