District Man Sentenced To Six Years In Prison For Pair Of Violent Crimes In Northeast WashingtonDefendant Assaulted Man At Bus Stop; Weeks Later, He Forced His Way Into An Apartment At Gunpoint

     WASHINGTON – Steven Warren, 20, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges stemming from an assault that took place in June 2013 and a home invasion that occurred several weeks later, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     Warren pled guilty in September 2013, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to first-degree burglary, carrying a pistol outside the home or place of business, and assault with significant bodily injury. He was sentenced on Nov. 15, 2013 by the Honorable Patricia A. Broderick. Following his prison term, Warren will be placed on five years of supervised release.

     According to the government’s evidence, the first crime took place about 3:20 a.m. on June 9, 2013, when Warren and two other men assaulted two people who were waiting at a bus stop in the 1900 block of West Virginia Avenue NE.  While the assault was taking place, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) entered the block, and Warren and the others fled on foot. The officers caught Warren about a block away. Warren punched one of the victims during the attack. The victim suffered a fracture of the left orbital bone of his eye.

     Following his arrest, Warren was placed on high-intensity release pending further court proceedings. He was on release on Aug. 1, 2013, when he staged the home invasion. That day, at about 10:30 a.m., Warren attacked a man as he was leaving an apartment in the 1600 block of Montello Avenue NE. The man had been visiting another man, still inside the apartment.

     Warren, who was standing in the foyer with a handgun by his waist, ordered the man back into the apartment. Once inside, he pointed the gun at the man’s face, and demanded money. The man handed over some cash, but Warren demanded more.

     At that point, Warren forced the man into a bedroom. The second victim, meanwhile, had been hiding in this room, and he had managed to call 911 to report the break-in. Warren encountered this man in the bedroom, and he forced both of the victims to sit on the bed. Warren’s cellphone then rang and the victims heard Warren talking to an unknown individual about the fact that the police were surrounding the premises. Warren put the gun in the waist of his pants and went out of the back door, only to be arrested by quick-responding officers from the MPD. He has been in custody ever since.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen recognized the outstanding efforts of the detectives and officers from the Metropolitan Police Department who investigated the case, as in both instances the quick actions of the first arriving officers were critical.  He also acknowledged the efforts of Paralegal Specialist Todd McClelland.  Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney James Ewing, who prosecuted the case.