Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

WASHINGTON — Jordan Tyler Alexander, 20, of Washington, pleaded guilty today to illegal possession of a firearm, a charge that resulted after police discovered a Glock 27 in a stolen car that had crashed following a high-speed chase in a vehicle that the defendant was driving. The plea agreement was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department, Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department and Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Alexander, a previously convicted felon, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to a count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of over one year. The sentencing date is pending. Alexander also faces trial for armed robbery and weapons counts in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

According to court documents, a Prince George’s County police officer was on patrol at 2 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2023, when he watched a white Honda Accord pull into the parking lot of a convenience store in Suitland, and then immediately leave. The officer suspected that the vehicle drove away after spotting his marked police cruiser. The police officer later saw the Honda pull into the parking lot of a tobacco store. The officer ran the vehicle’s license plate number and learned the car had been stolen in an armed robbery on July 24, 2023, in Southeast Washington.

The officer followed the white Honda and witnessed it run a red light. The officer switched on his flashers and siren. The white Honda sped off. The officer received authorization to pursue the Honda and followed it into Washington at speeds that reached 100 m.p.h. before the white Honda crashed into a guardrail at I-295 Northbound near the exit for Minnesota Ave., NE.

Alexander jumped out of the driver’s side door and began running down I-295 as cars drove past him.  A second individual, who was sitting in the front passenger side of the vehicle jumped out as well and ran away from the highway and into the grass. The officer exited the vehicle and began chasing the defendant. As the defendant was running, he ran towards a vehicle on I-295 and attempted to enter the vehicle. The operator of that vehicle was an off-duty law enforcement agent who was still in uniform. The defendant then continued running down the street. As the police officer ran past the agent’s vehicle, the agent offered to help and the officer jumped into the front passenger seat of the vehicle. The agent caught up to the fleeing Alexander and maneuvered in front of him. The officer exited the vehicle and Alexander subsequently gave up and was arrested.

Inside the crashed white Honda, investigators discovered, in plain view, a Glock 27, 40 caliber handgun with an extended magazine on the driver’s side floorboard. Next to the firearm was a cell phone. On the front passenger seat, there was an additional black Glock 22, 47 caliber handgun lying in plain view. The Glock on the floorboard was loaded with 17 bullets and had one in the chamber.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Alexander has been held since Aug. 10, 2023.

This case was investigated by the Prince George’s County Police Department, ATF's Washington Field Division, and the Metropolitan Police Department as part of Project Safe Neighborhood.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar with valuable help provided by paralegal Karla Nunez.

###