A fight between two potential riders and their limo driver escalated into a stabbing around 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the entrance to the Washington Harbour retail-condo complex on K Street. Two young persons were allegedly stabbed by a for-hire limo driver.
According to the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service, the incident occurred in the 3000 block of K Street, NW. The Secret Service police were nearby — as part of its regular patrols to protect embassies — and made the arrest, while the Metropolitan Police arrived to assist.
The two attacked with a knife were taken to the hospital. According to WJLA, the driver for the car service who was arrested is Yohannes Deresse. He is charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
One self-described eyewitness told the Georgetowner that the young men were beating up the driver who subsequently pulled out a knife. “They were hitting him hard,” he said. “Then, blood everywhere.” The crime, seen by passers-by at the riverside complex which attracts sightseers and restaurant-goers, occurred within the Washington Harbour traffic circle at K and Thomas Jefferson Street and was over in less than five minutes.
Police have not said what provoked the attacks.
UPDATE, 5:38 p.m.: the Secret Service called the Georgetowner to clarify whom and what it protects, besides the president and those in the Executive Branch. It is not assigned to protect those in the U.S. Congress. (The original Georgetowner story mentioned that House minority leader Nancy Pelosi lives near the scene of the Sept. 8 incident. U.S. Capitol Police would be assigned to protect her.)
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- Nora Birch
