District Man Found Guilty of Aggravated Assault While Armed Following Near Fatal Car Crash

            WASHINGTON – Shaquille Taylor, 27, of Washington D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of the May 2022 aggravated assault of a man at the intersection of 12^th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Michael Buck of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division and Acting Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.  The verdict was returned late today.  The Honorable Jason Park scheduled sentencing for January 16, 2024. 

            Taylor was found guilty at trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of aggravated assault while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, fleeing a law enforcement officer, and malicious destruction of property.  The defendant was acquitted of unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, and lesser firearms offenses. 

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 2:00 AM on May 6, 2022, a United States Secret Service police officer attempted a traffic stop on a black Nissan Altima driven by the defendant in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and 17th Street NW.  After partially exiting the vehicle, the defendant got back in the car and fled at a high rate of speed.  At the intersection of 12^th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, the defendant ran the red light and crashed the Altima into a green Jaguar being operated by another motorist, causing near fatal injuries.  An analysis of computer equipment from the Altima showed that the vehicle was traveling just under 100 MPH in the seconds before the crash.  A firearm was recovered from the front passenger floorboard of the vehicle driven by the defendant.

            The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division and the Metropolitan Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by AUSAs Kathryn Bartz and Benjamin Helfand of the Major Crimes Unit of the USAO.