Community App Proves Its Worth: Suspect Arrested

The CVS at 2819 M St. NW had an unwelcome shopper Aug. 11, and the store manager knew it. She went to the local Georgetown Business GroupMe app — an online community that shares information or photos on suspicious shoppers, among other things — on her smartphone and asked for a “walk through” of the store by an officer of the Metropolitan Police Department. A policeman quickly arrived and checked out the suspect, who was with friends.

The suspect had taken off his ankle monitor and held an H&M shopping bag (now, for store employees, a well-known clue that a person may be looking to shoplift). The MPD officer struggled with the suspect and injured his (the officer’s) foot. The suspect was handcuffed and sat down on the sidewalk as about 15 MPD officers arrived on the scene. While grabbing the attention of passersby, the scene was quickly taken care of by MPD, the D.C. Fire Department and EMS, with both officer and suspect taken away in ambulances for a hospital checkup.