Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

WASHINGTON – Kevin Hammond, 26, of Suitland, Md., pled guilty today to charges stemming from an armed carjacking in the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast Washington in which he pistol-whipped the victim so violently that the gun broke into two pieces. He then fled from police before being captured a short time later at a construction site.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division, Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Henry P. Stawinski III, Chief of the Prince George’s County, Md. Police Department.

Hammond pled guilty in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia to one count of federal carjacking, one count of the federal offense of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of the federal offense of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle. He also pled guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon, and leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, both District of Columbia offenses. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the charges carry an estimated 16 to 18 years in prison. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date before the Honorable James E. Boasberg. 

According to the government’s evidence, at about 6 a.m. on Monday, Aug.  14, 2017, Hammond brandished a firearm and stole a van from a handyman who was getting ready for work in New Carrollton, in Prince George’s County, Md.  Hammond then drove the van into Washington, D.C. and to the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast Washington.

The van was equipped with a GPS system, and officers with the Prince George’s County Police Department and MPD were able to track and locate the vehicle.  At about 7 a.m., as officers tried to stop the stolen vehicle that Hammond was driving, he fled the van and ran, jumping over a fence and running down an alleyway.  Hammond then encountered another man in the 1900 block of Fairview Street NE who was parking his car to go to work. Hammond brandished a firearm to carjack this man’s vehicle. After grabbing the keys, Hammond pistol-whipped the man, striking him repeatedly in the face and head with the firearm, until the gun broke into two pieces.  He then drove the stolen car down New York Avenue NE in rush-hour traffic with the police in pursuit; finally, he crashed into another car and fled on foot.  Hammond was apprehended a short distance away, hiding in a construction site near Fourth Street and New York Avenue NE.  He has remained in custody since his arrest.

Hammond still faces charges in Prince George’s County, and he is presumed innocent of those charges until, and unless, proven guilty.

In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge Cekada, Chief Newsham, and Chief Stawinski commended the work of the detectives and patrol officers of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District, the officers of the Prince George’s County Police Department, the crime scene officers from the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences, and agents and DNA lab personnel from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  They also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Trigoso, Paralegal Specialist Jeannette Litz, and Victim/Witness Advocates Yvonne Bryant and Tonya Jones.  Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dineen A. Baker and Anthony Scarpelli, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

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