Metro Briefs

DISTRICT

Officer injured in NE motel fire

A police officer received minor injuries Sunday while trying to rescue guests from a burning Northeast motel, according to the D.C. fire department.

A department spokesman said the midday fire started in a second-floor room of the Downtown Motel, in the 1300 block of Fourth Street. He also said that the officer was in the area and that he was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation.

Two rooms were damaged, but the motel reopened. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Man arrested in armed robbery

A D.C. man has been arrested over the weekend in connection with an armed robbery in the U Street corridor and possible others in Northwest, the Metropolitan Police Department said Sunday.

Curtis Lee, 25, of Northeast, was arrested Friday night after two men reported that a man demanded money from them at gunpoint in the 2200 block of 12th Street Northwest.

Mr. Lee was found attempting to hide in the restroom of a business at the 1100 block of U Street Northwest.

The arrest came as the police department increased patrols in nearby Adams Morgan, after a recent string of robberies.

Chief Cathy L. Lanier and other city leaders say that in the past month, there have been nearly a dozen street robberies in the area, known for its nightlife. They said groups of young people are attacking victims who walk alone at night.

Chief Lanier also said people who leave bars at 2 or 3 a.m. and who’ve had too much to drink create opportunities for criminals.

She said drunken rowdiness, which can spill onto streets, diverts police from protecting people against robberies.

Some residents and businesses are concerned that the beefed-up police presence will be short term and fail to prevent crime from seeping back into the area.

Shooting leaves woman dead

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