District Man Found Guilty of First Degree Burglary and Other Charges in Home Invasion in Northwest Washington

           WASHINGTON – Tremaine McDowell, 37, Washington, D.C., was found guilty by a jury yesterday of burglarizing an apartment in Northwest Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu.

           McDowell was found guilty of one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of theft. The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. McDowell will remain in custody pending his sentencing on August 20, 2019, by the Honorable Judge Robert Okun.

           According to the government’s evidence, on September 26, 2018, McDowell entered an apartment located at 3003 Van Ness Street NW at approximately 3:45 a.m. McDowell was in the apartment for 45 minutes while the victims, a married couple and their 2-year-old child, were asleep in a back bedroom. The victims were unaware of the burglary until they viewed footage from their home security camera two days later. The security footage showed McDowell entering the apartment from the front door. McDowell then proceeded to search a desk, which was located next to the front door and then moved to the kitchen area. He used a flashlight to search the kitchen area and as he went through the victim’s purse. After McDowell left the kitchen, he went to the living room, which was out of the security camera’s view. When McDowell returned to the kitchen area, he was seen carrying an item. He left the apartment through the front door, and it was later determined that McDowell had stolen a laptop and an I-Phone 6Plus.

           In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. She also applauded the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Forman and Colleen Kukowski who investigated and prosecuted the case.