2 teens arrested for robbery that left DC DJ dead

WASHINGTON — DC Police have arrested two teenage boys in connection to a robbery that left a man dead. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith announced the arrest of a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old on Friday. The boys are not facing murder charges at this time. 

The arrest come a few days after well-known DJ, barber and stylist Bryan Smith died from his injuries following an attack and robbery on Oct. 26.

Assistant Chief Ramey Kyle explained what happened. According to Kyle, officers found Bryan Smith in the 500 block of T Street Northwest and determined he had been attacked and robbed. Video footage of the suspects was found near where Bryan Smith was located unconscious. The two suspects were also linked to three other robberies that happened shortly after Bryan Smith was discovered, Kyle said. 

The first was an assault with intent to commit robbery that occurred around 5:50 a.m. in the 1900 block of 14th Street Northwest where suspects approached multiple victims, assaulted them but fled without obtaining any property. The assaults were caught on camera, according to Kyle.

Minutes later, 5:55 a.m. in the 1800 block of Vermont Avenue Northwest, the suspects robbed another person and left in a vehicle. The victim was not hurt, according to police. 

The third robbery offense happened around 7:22 a.m. in the 900 block of Rhode Island Avenue Northeast. There, the boys robbed someone else, and took off in their vehicle. 

"For the last two weeks, our detectives have worked around the clock investigating these cases. They canvassed a wide area around each offense, uncovering video footage critical to identifying the suspects. We were also able to track cell phones taken in the robberies and monitor transactions made on stolen credit cards. All those efforts paid off early Thursday morning when our investigators closed in on a 14-year-old suspect," Kyle said. 

Police said the 14-year-old was arrested without incident after being found asleep in a stolen car. Police also arrested the 16-year-old on Thursday. 

Both suspects are charged with three counts of robbery and one count of assault with intent to commit robbery. They face additional charges for unlawful use of a vehicle, fraud, receiving stolen property and unlawful possession of ammunition.

While Bryan Smith died from injuries sustained in the October assault, police have yet to charge either boy with murder, although more charges may be brought, police said. 

"We are here to send a very clear message today. If you commit violence in our city, we will find you and we will hold you accountable," Chief Smith said. 

Chief Smith said cameras played a major role in making the arrests, and urged community business owners to register their security cameras with CameraConnectDC. 

She was quick to point out that the crime is not being investigate as a hate crime, and is not connected to the brutal beating of Thomas Lascarro that occurred around the same time on 14th and U. An arrest has been made in that case, but police are still looking for other suspects.