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Brawl breaks out at new DC youth curfew zone an hour before it takes effect

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Brawl breaks out at new DC youth curfew zone an hour before it takes effect


About an hour before D.C.’s youth curfew kicked in Friday evening, in a neighborhood just added to the list of curfew zones for this holiday weekend, a huge brawl broke out, and a teenager was arrested for brandishing a knife, police said.

Dozens of teenagers got involved in the fight near the Banneker Rec Center in Northwest – one of five high-traffic areas where people under 18 are not allowed to gather in groups of nine or more in public or in businesses after 8 p.m. this weekend.

One of the teens waved a knife around but didn’t hurt anyone, police said. He was injured, however, and taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was in police custody Friday evening.

Not an hour later, at the other end of the same curfew area, dozens of young people gathered together in and around the McDonald’s restaurant. Police told them if they were under 18, they were not allowed to gather there in groups. Eventually, they complied and left the area.

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D.C.’s chief of police and mayor have said youth curfew zones prevent teens from swarming nightlife areas, causing trouble and sometimes violence. Mayor Muriel Bowser wanted the D.C. Council to extend the chief’s authority to establish the zones for another three months, but it voted this week to delay that vote until the current order expires April 15.

“It was a decision by the Council as a whole,” Bowser said earlier this week. “The chairman moved for postponement, and all of the councilmembers agreed. And that is, in essence, killing the youth curfew.”
“So, the Council will say, Oh, we drove crime down, so let’s start going back to soft-on-crime policies,” the mayor said.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson worries the mayor’s remarks will be used by Republicans who want to overturn home rule in the District or to encourage President Donald Trump to federalize the police department again.

“The mayor’s remarks can be used as ammunition against a District by Republicans in Congress who’ve done that before,” he said. “That’s a problem. And the mayor’s remarks can offend some councilmembers, and we need those councilmembers to get to yes.”

This weekend, the chief designated youth curfews in four other neighborhoods, as well: Navy Yard, U Street corridor, Chinatown and the Southwest Waterfront.

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The citywide curfew starts at 11 p.m.



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100 mph driver found not guilty of murder in deadly Rock Creek Parkway crash

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100 mph driver found not guilty of murder in deadly Rock Creek Parkway crash


A driver who fled a traffic stop on D.C.’s Rock Creek Parkway and crashed into a Lyft car, killing all three men inside in 2023, was found not guilty of second-degree murder.

Nakita Walker was found guilty on Monday morning of three counts of involuntary manslaughter, fleeing a law enforcement officer and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Walker was driving 100 mph when she crashed into a Honda at about 1:30 a.m. March 15, 2023, an expert witness testified.

The crash victims were Mohamed Kamara, 42; Olvin Torres Velasquez, 22; and Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23. Kamara was driving for Lyft to send money home to his family in Sierra Leone. His two passengers were on their way home to Arlington after a night out in D.C.

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Walker had no visible reaction in court as the verdict was announced. The victims’ families were not in the courtroom.

News4 has covered the crash since it happened and the court case since Walker was charged with murder.

Walker pleaded not guilty to three counts of second-degree murder. She was accused of being drunk behind the wheel and had three previous DUI convictions.

Nakita Walker was traveling 100 miles per hour on Rock Creek Parkway for 10 seconds before the March 2023 crash that claimed the lives of three men, according to new testimony from the District’s chief medical examiner. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.

‘Is there a reason you’re driving like 80 miles an hour?’

Police body camera video shows the moments before and after the tragedy. An officer pulled over Walker near the Kennedy Center and asked why she was speeding.

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“Is there a reason you’re driving like 80 miles an hour, blowing red lights?” an officer asks.

Walker was behind the wheel and Donnell Thomas, who was not charged, was in the passenger seat, prosecutors said. Walker told the officer she was rushing to get home to her son, who she said was 10 years old and alone.

Thomas can be seen on video pouring out of the window what was revealed in testimony to be liquor out of a cup before the officer noticed what appeared to be marijuana in his pocket. The officer informed him he couldn’t have marijuana on federal property and confiscated it.

A few seconds later, the video shows Walker speed off.

A short time after Walker fled the traffic stop, she slammed into the Lyft car, killing all three men inside.

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A U.S. Park Police officer’s body camera showed him arriving at the crash scene. Walker is seen on the ground.

Body camera video from a D.C. officer responding to the crash captured the moment he realized all three men were dead.

Prosecutors said Walker had a blood alcohol content of 0.10, which is 0.02 above the legal limit.

Thomas testified under a grant of immunity, saying he had been concerned with Walker’s behavior that night. Thomas told the court he told Walker at least twice that he should drive but she insisted.

On the witness stand, Thomas testified that Walker sped off because the officer was harassing him for having liquor in a cup and marijuana in his pocket.

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Thomas testified that he pulled Walker out of the car after the crash. A man who came upon the crash scene before police arrived testified that he pulled her out.

The D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles and D.C. Superior Court are pointing fingers to explain why the license of a woman with three prior DUIs was not suspended at the time she allegedly caused a deadly wrong-way crash. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.

D.C.’s chief medical examiner told jurors the men all died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries. As the jury was shown autopsy photos of the victims, Walker never looked up from her seat at the defense table.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

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US Secret Service investigates reports of gunfire near White House

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US Secret Service investigates reports of gunfire near White House


Officers responded to reports of gunfire in the area around Washington DC’s Lafayette Park just after midnight local time (04:00 GMT) and conducted a search of the park, just north of the president’s residence, and the surrounding area, the agency said.



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Secret Service investigating overnight gunfire near White House

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Secret Service investigating overnight gunfire near White House


Washington — The Secret Service said it is investigating overnight gunfire near the White House on Sunday.

Officers responded shortly after midnight on Sunday to reports of gunfire in the vicinity of Lafayette Park, the Secret Service said in a statement. No injuries were reported, according to the statement, and a search of the park and surrounding area was conducted. A suspect was not located. 

Lafayette Park is located directly north of the White House. 

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President Trump is in Washington and is hosting a family Easter dinner at the White House on Sunday. White House operations remain normal, though a heightened security posture is in place, the Secret Service said. 

Road closures were initially in effect adjacent to the park. Chief of Communications for the Secret Service Anthony Guglielmi said in a post on X after 8 a.m. that the closures had been lifted. 

The investigation remained active Sunday morning. The Secret Service said it’s seeking a possible vehicle and a person of interest, while coordinating with U.S. Park Police and Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. 

Officials encouraged members of the public with information to call D.C. Police at 202-727-9099 or text 50411.

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