Safety Tips Shared By Arlington Police As Carjackings Increase In DC Area

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County Police shared information with residents Wednesday on how to avoid becoming a carjacking victim as carjacking incidents increase in the county and elsewhere in the Washington, D.C., area.

So far in 2023, the Arlington County Police Department said it has investigated five reports of carjackings in the county. The five incidents, all of which occurred in January, compare to no reports of carjackings in Arlington in January 2022. In all of 2022, a total of 14 carjackings were reported in the county, according to police data.

Three of the five Arlington carjackings reported in January occurred in Crystal City, and another carjacking was reported in Pentagon City.

Each of these four carjackings involved suspects who did not know the victims. In a fifth carjacking, reported in January in the Columbia Forest neighborhood of Arlington, a man was arrested and charged with carjacking after getting into an argument with an acquaintance, assaulting her and fleeing in her vehicle, according to police.

Arlington County Police said they are deploying increased resources in Crystal City and surrounding neighborhoods in response to the increase in carjackings and other crimes in the area.

“As part of our ongoing investigative efforts into these incidents, detectives are working collaboratively with regional law enforcement partners to identify trends, apprehend suspects and hold them accountable for their actions,” Arlington Police said in a news release Wednesday.

The police explained that a carjacking refers to the stealing of a victim's vehicle by force, threat or intimidation.

In recent carjackings in Arlington, suspects have generally approached victims as they were inside their idling parked vehicles, brandished a firearm and demanded the victim’s keys, police said.

Suspects also have approached victims by pulling alongside them in a vehicle that was later determined to be stolen. Carjacking incidents in Arlington have generally involved multiple suspects, according to police.

The increase in carjackings in the D.C. area over the past three years has caused residents to take special precautions.

Karl Racine, who declined to seek a third term as attorney general for the District of Columbia in 2022, recently told The Washington Post that he takes special measures to prevent his family from getting carjacked.

On his way home, Racine makes a point of stopping at a gas station to fill up the car so that his partner does not have to stop at a gas station with their children in the car.

“I don’t want [my partner] or anyone I know to be at the wrong gas station at the wrong time,” Racine told the newspaper. “We’re afraid like everyone else.”

Violent carjackings in D.C. have increased more than 200 percent since 2019, The Washington Post reported, and are now spreading to Arlington and other parts of the metropolitan area.

In Arlington, police suggest people keep their doors locked and windows up when inside a vehicle. The public also should be aware of their surroundings when entering or getting out of their vehicles, and head to their destination promptly after parking, police said.

Drivers should limit their use of devices that may distract them, such as cell phones and headphones. The police also strongly recommend against leaving items unattended or visible in a vehicle.

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• Crystal City Carjacking Under Investigation By Arlington Police