Preppy Bar George Awaits Another ABC Board Hearing
• June 18, 2013

No late night shots for DC’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. It has put Prospect Street’s 20-something party spot, George, on its March 23 list of meetings, according to the Glover Park Gazette, to answer charges that it violated its voluntary agreement. Specific charges cite a March 2010 fight at George. During a Feb. 9 ABC board hearing, the bar petitioned to drop its voluntary agreement – which limits capacity to 99 and restricts noise – to make end’s meat. George, situated where Georgetown Billiards once was, is on the inside ground level of Georgetown Court, the complex which includes condos, offices, Cafe Milano, Peacock Cafe, Neyla and Morton’s. At the recent hearing, co-owner Ki Jun Sung defended George’s kitchen, which consists of a microwave (special events provide their own catered food) and its private list-only parties on the weekends which are announced in e-mails to thousands who can get on the list. Other George co-owners Hunter Campbell and Reed Landry have also bought into Glover Park’s Gin & Tonic with its co-founder Fritz Brogan. Predicting more bad behavior on the sidewalks and noise around the complex, the Georgetown ANC and Citizens Association have stated their opposition to George’s request to break its voluntary agreement.

Martins Tavern, Tony & Joe’s Employee Killed on Key Bridge
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Drunk driving contributed to a hit-and-run death on the Key Bridge, Feb. 27, as well as a second incident where a Metropolitan Police Department officer from the Second District, putting down road flares, was hit shortly thereafter. The officer landed on the car’s windshield, injuring his head, according to the MPD (The second driver stayed on the scene and was charged with DUI). Eliester Elizardo Pineda-Medrano was found unconscious in the Virginia-bound lanes of the bridge shortly before 10:30 p.m., police said. He was pushing his scooter, which had broken down in the right lane. The alleged hit-and-run driver was arrested in Maryland. Pineda, who worked at Martin’s Tavern and Tony & Joe’s, was the father of a two-year-old. Martin’s Tavern has set up a memorial fund for Pineda to return his body to Guatemala. The police officer is recovering and expected to be okay, the MPD said.

Cop Impersonator Fails to Rob Smart Student
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Another weird crime on Prospect Street: According to Georgetown University’s Department of Public Safety, a student reported that at 12:45 a.m., March 1, he was walking from Loyola Dormitory toward Prospect Street when one of four Hispanic males in a black sedan flashed a badge, demanded that the student empty his pockets, and announced that he was under arrest. Realizing that the four suspects were not police, the student pulled out his cell phone and called the MPD. The four suspects then sped away in the sedan. D.C. police searched the area but did not locate the suspects.

DPS can be reached at 202-687-4343.

Early Morning Attack Along C&O Canal
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U.S. Park Police reported that at approximately 4:20 a.m., March 18, a man was attacked and stabbed on the towpath of the C&O Canal near Key Bridge, according to WUSA. Police said “the attacker was a homeless man who asked the victim for money and then punched and stabbed him with a sharp object, maybe a screwdriver,” the news station reported. “The man was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Park Police say they are looking for a white man in his 60s with a gray beard, who may hang out at a homeless encampment near Fletcher’s Boat House.”

Georgetown Co-ed Sexually Assaulted on 35th Street
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The Georgetown University Department of Public Safety reports the following: On Saturday, March 19, a student came to the DPS station and reported that she was sexually assaulted as she was about to enter her residence at 2 a.m. As the student was retrieving her keys from her purse, an unknown male approached and sexually assaulted her. The student fended off the attacker, who was last seen fleeing north on 36th Street. The Metropolitan Police and the sex crimes unit were notified. The investigation will continue under the direction of MPD. The Department of Public Safety is requesting that anyone who has information regarding this or any other incidents, or who noticed any suspects before or after the incident(s), contact them immediately at 202 687 4343.

Hoyas Rebuff: ‘We’ve Been Here Since 1789. How About You?’
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Declaring that parties are not a crime, Georgetown University students have counterpunched with StopCrimeNotParties.com. The website “will give students the opportunity to report encounters with local residents, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Public Safety, and the Student Neighbor Assistance Program,” according to the Georgetown Voice news blog. The new website will document any instances of “questionable behavior” observed by students during those encounters—especially in the wake of an amended disorderly conduct law that outlaws any loud noise between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. that could be considered “likely to disturb one or more persons in their residence.”

The noise law prompted the students’ creation of the website, which distributes a Hoya blue lawn sign—in contrast to the residents’ red signs—for students or student sympathizers to post.

Q Street Gas Station Fire Destroys Garage, Snarls Traffic
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The service garage of the gas station on Q Street—known both as the Washingtonian Auto Shop and Georgetown Auto Service—went up in flames March 15. The fire started around 8 a.m. DC Fire & EMS spokesman Pete Piringer said it took firefighters 15 to 20 minutes to extinguish the fire at the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and Q St., NW. An Exxon gas and service station sits across the avenue.

“The fire caused significant damage to the building, a car inside the building and one car outside the building,” DC Fire said. Nearby restaurant Los Cuates also suffered damage from the fire. Piringer reported that fire investigators believe it was an accident: mechanics were working on a gas tank in a car with a space heater nearby and the fumes from the space heater ignited gasoline fumes. Three workers were examined, one for smoke inhalation, but all three refused transport to a hospital.

Wisconsin Avenue was blocked from Reservoir Road to P Street with about 11 fire vehicles—even a Navy foam unit had been called because of concern about a possible explosion, though it was not used. Damage is being assessed by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Bobby Gonzalez, owner of Georgetown Auto Service, owns another repair shop in Alexandria and is offering to drive to his Georgetown clients, pick up their car and return it when work is complete.

It Takes 39th Street Resident Tom Strike to Catch a Thief
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Driving near his home on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, Thomas Strike observed a suspicious character on 37th Street, who then walked up to a house and took a delivered package off its porch. Strike got out of his car and shouted at the man: “Sir, is this your box?” The suspect threw the parcel at Strike and ran. Strike then tackled the perpetrator, who had other stolen items on his person, and held him until Metropolitan Police arrived. Strike lives on 39th Street with his wife Sarah and their three children. The neighbor got his package back, and residents are calling Strike a neighborhood hero. “The suspect is going to be charged with assault (on me), theft and trespassing,” Strike said. Yes, we’d call that the Luck o’ the Irish and a Lucky Strike, too.

Lululemon Murder Suspect Worked at M Street Store
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Brittany Norwood, alleged murderer of fellow Bethesda Luluemon Athletica employee Jayna Murray, was held without bond by Montgomery County, March 21. WTOP reports that it “has learned police were told that Norwood was transferred from the Georgetown Lululemon store to the Bethesda location because of concerns she was stealing merchandise. The company is not commenting, and it is not clear when the transfer happened or if it was proven Norwood had taken anything.” WTOP added that Montgomery County Police were investigating whether Norwood had been accused of stealing merchandise from the store before she allegedly killed Murray on March 11. (There was no other independent source for WTOP’s report at press time.)
Norwood’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for April. Norwood had also worked at the Willard International, according to WUSA.

Mayor Gray, DDOT Launch PotHolePalooza 2011
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Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Interim Director Terry Bellamy today launched PotHolePalooza, the District’s annual campaign to aggressively repair damaged roadways across the city, which runs through April 21.

How to Report a Pothole: Residents and commuters can notify DDOT in a variety of ways: 1.) call the Mayor’s Call Center at 311, 2.) use the online Service Request Center at 311.dc.gov, 3.) text message or Tweet to twitter.com/DDOTDC, or 4.) e-mail to PotHolePalooza@dc.gov. Callers must identify the location including the correct quadrant (NW, NE, SE, SW) in the city and as much detail as possible about the hazard, including the approximate size and depth of the pothole. DDOT crews will also be out and about proactively identifying potholes.

DDOT will be posting numbers and overall totals of potholes filled. This information will be updated daily and can be found at ddot.dc.gov/potholes.