[PR] District Man Sentenced to 8 1/2 Year Prison Term for String of Robberies Targeting Women in Columbia Heights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 16, 2020

WASHINGTON – Thadduse Hartridge, 19, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced on September 16, 2020 by the Honorable Judge Judith A. Smith of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia to 102 months’ (8 ½ years’) incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Hartridge previously pled guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia to one count of Carjacking for an offense that occurred on January 17, 2019, one count of Robbery for an offense that occurred on January 16, 2019, and one count of Assault with Intent to Commit Robbery for an offense that occurred on December 12, 2018. 

            In each of the three offenses, Hartridge, along with his co-defendant, Kaveyon Andrews, targeted female victims during the day while they were walking alone near alleyways in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. In each offense, the defendants used gratuitous force and violence to rob the victims of their property. The defendants used weapons, including a metal baton, a knife, and a brick to assault the victims, causing serious physical injuries, including compound fractures, lacerations, and head injuries. After the offense on January 17, 2019, Hartridge and his co-defendant were identified from high resolution security footage depicting the carjacking offense that was broadcasted over news media outlets by MPD. The co-defendant turned himself in and provided a statement to law enforcement, in which he acknowledged his role in the three offenses. In addition, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) footage and metro card data showed that both defendants travelled from Anacostia metro station to the Columbia Heights metro station just before each of the offenses, and there was additional security footage obtained capturing a portion of the January 16, 2019 offense.

            The co-defendant, Kaveyon Andrews, is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Smith on the same counts on November 10, 2020.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, and MPD Chief Newsham commended the work of those law enforcement officers, including the Metro Transit Police Department officers, who assisted in the investigation of the cases. They also cited the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren B. Goddard, who investigated and prosecuted the cases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also thanked Paralegal Specialist Antoinette M. Sakamsa.