Of 28 crimes, officials link one person to 12, a second to 11, and third to five.
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Version 0 of 1. Police often say that many of the problems in a community are the work of a relatively small number of individuals, and in the past few days law enforcement officials in the Washington region have seemed to support that assertion by linking a total of 28 offenses to just three people. Last week, the FBI said it was looking for a man in connection with 12 bank robberies in the region. On Monday, D.C. police said they had charged a teenager in 11 other robberies, and on the same day said they had charged a man in five burglaries. The suspected serial bank robber has been dubbed “the American League bandit,” according to the Baltimore office of the FBI. The name stems from the baseball caps he has worn. Sometimes it has been a Baltimore Orioles hat, the FBI said, and sometimes a New York Yankees hat. In each case, they said, he demanded money. No weapon was reported. In the District, police said the 11 robberies in which the teenager was charged all occurred in the Congress Heights neighborhood, starting May 6. About 10:30 a.m. that day, police said, two robbers, one with a gun, took property from two victims in the 2900 block of Seventh Street SE. On Saturday, police said, they arrested the teenager, who is 16, and charged him with armed robbery in that holdup. Then, they said, as a result of an investigation by detectives, they charged the youth with 10 other robberies. Most were street robberies, in which the items taken included cash, keys and clothing, as well as sneakers and cellphones. A knife was shown in at least two robberies, and some of the victims were beaten, police said. They said they are still investigating. Also Monday, D.C. police reported the arrest of a man in connection with five burglaries in Southeast and Southwest Washington. The most recent burglary occurred Sunday night. A television was taken from a school in the 3400 block of Wheeler Road SE, police said. They said officers who went to the scene made an arrest. Police said Howard Dent, 49, of Temple Hills, Md., was charged with second-degree burglary in that offense and in four others, two at schools. In each of the three school burglaries, they said a television set was taken. In one school burglary, police said, in the 1500 block of Mississippi Avenue SE, a radio also was taken. |