D.C. authorities are bracing for a summer of teen takeovers of public spaces in the absence of an emergency juvenile curfew law, as federal prosecutors consider charging the parents of criminal youths.
Swarms of teenagers repeatedly wreaked havoc this spring in neighborhoods such as Navy Yard. The incidents resulted in arrests connected with robberies, assaults and at least one shooting, as well as calls for more policing, focused restrictions and parental responsibility.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said she intends to make parents account for their children’s crimes. She cited a teen-fueled melee last weekend inside a Chipotle restaurant where viral video footage showed a father shielding his small children from the chaos.
“That infuriated me, and it should infuriate every one of you,” Ms. Pirro said this week. “These [juveniles] feel that they can do this, and that they can destroy the property of others and victimize other human beings. People are petrified, and we’re going to put an end to this.”
The father, Air Force veteran Rafael Jauregui, said he was dining with his seven children after the family left a Washington Nationals-Baltimore Orioles game that ended Saturday evening.
Police said the fight broke out at about 8:40 p.m. after one group of youths entered the restaurant and confronted another group inside.
Mr. Jauregui described the scene as an “ambush.” He had his children huddle around him to keep them safe. Although the family was not physically harmed, Mr. Jauregui said the fight left its scars.
“My son said on the way home, ’Papa, I can’t unsee that,’” Mr. Jauregui told WJLA-TV. He said his children are now talking about never wanting to return to that Chipotle location.
Authorities released still images of four people connected to the fight. All four are dark-skinned males and were last seen wearing black athletic pants and black hoodies.
No arrests have been made in the brawl, which has become a talking point in the city’s competitive Democratic mayoral primary.
Former D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie campaigned Tuesday outside the Chipotle to lambaste his chief rival, Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George, for not supporting an emergency juvenile curfew order.
The temporary measure would allow the Metropolitan Police to declare “curfew zones” in certain parts of the city so they can turn away groups of nine or more juveniles before the crowd swells into a criminal takeover.
Police typically announce curfew zones a day before they take effect, and the curfew in those specific locations kicks in at 8 p.m.
The citywide juvenile curfew begins at 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends. All D.C. curfews expire at 6 a.m.
Authorities will ask juveniles caught inside a curfew zone to disperse, which police said they usually do. Those who do not can be taken to the city’s juvenile jail, where a parent must pick them up.
Neighborhoods such as Chinatown, the Wharf and the U Street Corridor, along with Navy Yard, are frequently designated as curfew zones because of their popularity with underage residents and visitors.
Interim Metropolitan Police Chief Jeffrey Carroll said the curfew often works best at protecting minors. He noted that the assault and robbery victims during teen takeovers have been other youths, and said the curfew deters offenders from going after their peers.
“The safety of our young people is the most important thing to me as chief of police and members of the Metropolitan Police Department,” Chief Carroll said late last month.
The council passed up the chance to renew the emergency curfew last month, leaving the city without a tool that police, Ms. Pirro and Mayor Muriel Bowser have asked to be restored.
“When you ask people to delay, when you don’t put an emergency in place a month ago before the curfew expired, you invite this sort of intervention from federal agencies where D.C. doesn’t do its job. What we saw from Janeese Lewis George is a failure to act,” Mr. McDuffie said outside the restaurant.
Ms. Lewis George, who is leading the mayoral race in the latest polling, shot back that Mr. McDuffie changed his stance when it became politically convenient.
She said Mr. McDuffie was a curfew skeptic when he sat on the council last year and supported defunding the police in 2020.
Ms. Lewis George said the juveniles’ behavior inside Chipotle is grounds for their arrest and that a curfew is not needed to hold them accountable.
Still, the council member did not support changes to the permanent curfew statute that lawmakers pushed through earlier this month either.
The D.C. Council voted in favor of allowing the Metropolitan Police Department to set up curfew zones under a new version of the citywide curfew law.
However, because every D.C. law must undergo a 30-day congressional review period, the beefed-up curfew ordinance is unlikely to take effect until July.
Ms. Bowser said the council’s decision to allow the District to go without curfew zones in the interim is ill-advised.
“The DC Council routinely passes emergency legislation along with the permanent version of the bill so that the measure goes into effect immediately,” Ms. Bowser posted on X. “They twice punted on passing an Emergency Curfew bill that would have prevented a lapse. They should fix this asap!”
In the meantime, Ms. Pirro said parents of children who violate curfew could face a $500 fine each time their child is caught by police.
If those children are linked to any criminal behavior, she said, the parents could be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. A conviction for that offense could result in a parent serving a six-month sentence.
“I am not shy about looking for jail time,” Ms. Pirro said.
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