The surveillance video footage 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 in which 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.”
But “as horrific as that video is, what happened after was even worse,” the pub owner testified.
Mr. Jablonski said the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, which prosecutes major crimes in the city, offered the would-be gunman a plea deal that would keep him behind bars for two years at most. The suspect also would be allowed out of jail until his sentencing date.
When his court date arrived, the convicted assailant was given eight months in prison.
Mr. Jablonski wasn’t alone in expressing dissatisfaction in the District’s justice system in congressional testimony on Thursday.
D.C. resident Mitchell Sobolevsky said a robber put a gun to his head and stole his belongings in 2020. But a judge gave the robber a two-year sentence, with one year suspended, he said.
Mr. Sobolevsky testified the thief would go on to rob two more people at gunpoint after he was released.
Myisha Richards, a paramedic with D.C. Fire and EMS, testified that she was assaulted by two women in 2020 while on a call east of the Anacostia River. The attack left her with a concussion and the 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 during the hearing — one that House Republican committee members sought to tie to their Democratic colleagues.
“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.”
This year has seen a sharp increase in homicides, carjackings and robberies in the District. But federal data for fiscal 2022 shows that D.C. prosecutors have 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 District’s prosecutors’ 66% declination rate in the past year compares with other jurisdictions around the country.
Mr. Stimson said the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, which has jurisdiction over a county with more than 3 million people, has only 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 also suggested that the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia be stripped of its responsibility to prosecute juvenile criminals — who are driving many of the armed car thefts and muggings in the city — and instead those duties be given to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
However, Lindsey Appiah, the District’s deputy mayor for public safety, testified during Thursday’s hearing that 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 also said that the 11 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, which can only be filled by presidential appointments and congressional approval, are hindering the District’s ability to process cases.
Meanwhile, Gregg Pemberton, chairman of the D.C. Police Union, said that legislation passed by the D.C. Council to rein in police misconduct has contributed to the Metropolitan Police Department’s 50-year-low in roster numbers.
He said the head count taken earlier this month is at just over 3,000 officers — a net loss of more than 600 officers 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 Thursday. “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 for a 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, Firearms, Tobacco 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 large spike in carjackings — up 108% over this point last year.
But 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?”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.