McFadden’s Closed After 5 Stabbed; 1 Stabbed at Zanzibar Club
By • January 16, 2015 0 1130
Stabbings at late-night bars in the last 10 days have occurred on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and in the West End — adding to the recent uptick in violent crimes for the District of Columbia.
A Dec. 27 stabbing of five persons in McFadden’s has resulted in the restaurant’s closing by the Metropolitan Police Department with a Jan. 9 hearing with the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage and Control Board, which also suspended its license and said the restaurant “presents an imminent danger to the health and safety of the public.”
Located at 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, three blocks from Georgetown, McFadden’s is popular with college students, especially those from nearby George Washington University.
None of the stabbing victims — who did not have life-threatening injuries — were identified as college students. The MPD has made no arrests or found the knife supposedly used by “a black man in a trench coat.”
At the time of the crime, neither security guards nor victims were said to be fully cooperative with the police.
According to the Washington Post, “no weapon was recovered, and two witnesses saw a bar-back ‘mopping up blood’ instead of preserving the crime scene. The manager admitted there were ‘about 215 patrons’ at McFadden’s, when the maximum capacity is 136. And though McFadden’s has a settlement agreement with neighbors that requires it to have a reimbursable detail, or officers assigned to monitor the location, police say McFadden’s hasn’t paid for one since June.”
A week after the McFadden’s stabbings and five blocks away, police arrested a man for stabbing and critically injuring another man in Zanzibar Night Club at 1901 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (its entrance is on 19th Street) on Jan. 3.
From the MPD: “The investigation revealed the stabbing occurred following a verbal dispute between two males. The victim was transported to a local hospital. The suspect 35-year-old Joseph Ricardo Johnson of Northeast, D.C. was arrested and charged with Assault with Intent to Kill.”
Like McFadden’s, Zanzibar is shut down and will face alcoholic beverage regulators on any other future issues.
Meanwhile, the MPD is looking for two persons of interest concerning the Dec. 27 incident at McFadden’s. It offers descriptions of the subjects as follows:
“Subject one: pictured below is a black male, approximately 28 years-old, approximately 5-feet-11-inches tall, with a slim build, medium complexion, and goatee. He was wearing a mid-length coat with a belt, a hat or hood.
“Subject two: pictured below is a black male, approximately 25 to 30 years-old, 5-feet-8-inches to 5-feet-10-inches tall, with a medium build and medium complexion. He was wearing a white shirt, dark jacket with a faux fur collar and trim, and light colored jeans.
“Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411. The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted for any assault committed in the District of Columbia.”
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