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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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PAUL closes in Western Market
By Ella Mitchell, Staff Writer • April 22, 2024

Man wields crowbar, attempts bizarre escape near GW Hospital

A man made a bizarre escape after an attempted crime went wrong just off campus last month.

Two construction workers reported a 6-foot-tall bearded man allegedly stole a crowbar from their truck and began attempting to pry open the driver’s side door of the white 2004 Chevrolet on Nov. 27, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report. The construction workers approached the man who began “swinging the prybar,” then fled on foot through an alley near 24th and I streets near GW Hospital, according to the police report

As he ran, the man pulled a knife out and lunged at one of the construction workers, and a “brief physical altercation” ensued. Then he ran northwest, at which point Metropolitan Police located him and chased him into Rock Creek Park at 23rd and P streets, the police report states. The man then allegedly “jumped into the creek and began to wade his way south down the creek in an event to evade capture,” according to the report.

The Washington Post reported that an officer from the D.C. police harbor unit wearing a dry suit retrieved him from the waist-deep water.

He was transported to GW Hospital for possible hypothermia. According to the report he also injured his palm on a bottle that fell out of his jacket pocket.

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