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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was carjacked at gunpoint Monday night near his Washington home, according to his chief of staff.
According to Jacob Hochberg, Cuellar’s chief of staff, three individuals wearing knit caps and ski masks, who were armed, stole the congressman’s car while he was parking. The car in question was a white Toyota crossover. Thankfully, Cuellar remained unharmed during the incident, and eventually, law enforcement managed to recover the stolen vehicle.
Hochberg expressed gratitude to the Metro PD and Capitol Police for their prompt response and successful retrieval of the Congressman’s vehicle.
According to the spokesperson of the U.S. Capitol Police, the investigation of the case is being conducted in collaboration with the city’s Metropolitan Police Department. The suspects are still being pursued by investigators.
Cuellar’s electronics and other valuable items, along with his cell phone, were retrieved by law enforcement after being left in the car. Additionally, a sushi dinner that he had obtained from a nearby Whole Foods was also left behind in his vehicle.
“What really got me upset was they took my sushi, but anyway, that’s something else,” Cuellar told CNN. He later told the Dallas Morning News that the police recovered his sushi.
The incident took place in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, which is a well-liked area for congressional pied-a-terres and is located just a few blocks south of the Capitol.
Crime in Washington has become a growing concern since the pandemic, with carjackings in the area increasing dramatically in recent years. While there were only roughly 200 carjackings in the District and its inner-ring suburbs in 2018, there were more than 1,000 in 2022, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Conservative members of Congress have used the increasing crime rates as a focal point, opposing Washington’s home rule by obstructing the city’s attempt to revise its criminal code earlier this year. The suggested revision aimed to remove many minimum sentences and reduce maximum penalties for various crimes, such as carjacking.
The revised criminal code faced opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, who utilized their seldom-used veto power on District matters to effectively reject the proposal. Their argument was that the revised code was too lenient on crime. Cuellar, in line with this stance, voted against the relaxation of penalties. Ultimately, President Joe Biden did not intervene, allowing the revised code to perish.
