Congressman carjacked in D.C. said assailants pointed guns at him

U.S. Capitol police, the lead investigating agency, said no arrests had been made as of early Tuesday afternoon. In a statement, the agency described the assailants as wearing dark clothing, ski masks and knit caps, and appeared to be teenagers around the ages of 16.

“We have a number of leads,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement, noting D.C. police and the FBI are assisting. “Our investigators are focused, determined and working around the clock.”

Capitol Police said Cuellar’s cell phone was found in the 2000 block of 14th Street SE, in Anacostia, and his white 2019 Toyota Crossover, with Texas license plates, was found abandoned about a mile away on Douglass Street SE. Cuellar said police tracked the vehicle and his phone, which had been in his vehicle. He said his sushi dinner was recovered in the vehicle.

D.C. police said that a carjacking occurred about 9:30 p.m. Monday at New Jersey Avenue and K Street SE, about a mile south of the Capitol in a heavily redeveloped area. The intersection includes a hotel and an apartment building.

Dozens of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, live in the apartment and condominium buildings within a block of Monday night’s attack. An aide to Cuellar said that as the congressman was parking, “three armed assailants approached and stole” the vehicle. The congressman was unharmed, the aide said.

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It was not clear whether the car’s Texas license plate identified the owner as a member of Congress.

In a statement, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said “there is no higher priority than the safety of our residents and those who work in and visit D.C.”

Carjackings in the city are up about 109 percent compared to the same time last year, police data shows. In June, the city recorded 140 of such attacks — the highest number in a single month in at least five years. Violent crime is up nearly 40 percent in D.C. compared to this same time in 2022.

Bowser said authorities “are using every tool available to reduce crime and support those tasked with enforcing the law and holding those accountable who break it.”

Cuellar is serving his 10th term in the House, representing a South Texas district that includes Laredo and San Antonio. Earlier this year, he joined Republicans in blocking D.C.’s criminal code revision legislation.

The House vote occurred the same day, Feb. 9, that Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) was assaulted in the elevator of her D.C. apartment in the Union Station area of Northeast D.C., also near the Capitol. She fought off her attacker by tossing hot coffee at him in an incident that her office said did not appear to be politically motivated.

Michael Brice-Saddler and Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.