Glover Park has experienced eight violent crimes in the past couple of months. This is a disturbing and unusual number considering there were 10 violent crimes in all of 2023, and only 4 in 2022. As it turns out, the majority seem to have been perpetrated by the same man. Seven of the eight robberies involved the brandishing of a gun or a knife. An arrest warrant was issued on January 22nd for Roberto McBean of Maryland, and on the 26th, he was arrested in DC and linked with five of the eight Glover Park robberies, and four additional robberies close by in Georgetown.
The FBI, in cooperation with the DC Metropolitan Police Department, nabbed him and charged him with four federal felony crimes, oddly under the Hobbs Act, which covers robbery affecting interstate commerce. According to the Justice Department website, Hobbs was enacted to combat racketeering in labor-management disputes, but also is used with violent criminals. The indictment lays out nine robberies committed by McBean from August 2023 to January 8th 2024. He hit the Sunoco gas station with hammer in hand and the then the Georgetown Exxon with a gun, the Glover Park Market on 37th Street four times (!) with a gun and he knocked over Georgetown Wine and Spirits twice as well as Sara’s Market on Q Street with a gun and a knife, depending on his mood I guess. Thankfully, no one was physically hurt it seems.
The nine robberies netted him about $3000 in total, plus a bunch of alcohol, and maybe some Twinkies, I don’t know they are kind of tempting when you are standing at the counter. Seems when he found out Sara’s Market was cashless, he decided not to return there to try again. Officers interviewed victims, tracked down the suspect’s mother who ID'd him in a video, found the getaway car he used, which was registered to a relative whom they found and interviewed, scoured his Facebook page and reviewed CCTV footage from the establishments. This investigation led to the arrest. Note to criminals – take down your Facebook page before going on a crime spree.
McBean appeared in US District Court (federal) for the District of Columbia on January 29th and was assigned Elizabeth Mullin as his federal public defender while Ryan Lipes with the U.S. Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case for the USA. McBean is being held under temporary detention pending a detention hearing on February 1st. Attorney Mullin requested the court records to be sealed and Judge G. Michael Harvey obliged. As always, defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law even if the video evidence seems overwhelming (see Youtube below). Well, hopefully this would mean violent crime will go down in Glover Park now that the serial robber is off the streets, yet there were three other robberies with a gun recently, two in particular on the 3900 block of Davis Place. Let’s be careful out there, said Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues.
Chris Jones
Update: The judge ruled that the defendant will be detained without bond in a federal facility until trial and the plaintiff's motion to release was denied. The judge asserted that no condition of release could ensure the safety of the community considering the circumstances of the 9 armed robberies and the fact that the gun was not recovered. The defendant faces up to 20 years for each of four charges under the Hobbs Act and could serve a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison if found guilty. The prosecution has submitted 850 pieces of evidence in their discovery filing.
Thanks for keeping us up to date. Man, this guy didn't look like he was even trying to hide his identity. Glad he's off the streets. Yesterday afternoon, about 4 p.m., in Dupont Circle at Connecticut and Q, I guy got shot in his car. The car from which he was shot sped away. Cops are looking. It truly seems lately that the criminals feel they can act with impunity. And perhaps they are right . . . the crime report you shared suggests that arrest rates are low and prosecutions are lower and sentences are lower still.
Thank you Penny, I appreciate it.
Thank you for everything you do. I really appreciate it. You're really very good at this. We are most impressed.