District Man Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison for Assaulting Storeowners in Southeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Avon Thompson, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to five years and three months in prison for severely attacking two people with a knife who attempted to prevent him from stealing alcohol from their store in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.

            Thompson pled guilty in January 2018, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with significant bodily injury.  He was sentenced by the Honorable José M. López. Following his prison term, Thompson will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on the afternoon of Nov. 15, 2017, Thompson entered a store in the 2400 block of Martin Luther King Jr., Avenue SE.  After looking around the store, he took a bottle of liquor, put it in his pants and attempted to leave without paying.  The first victim, the storeowner, attempted to confront Thompson and call the police to report the theft.  However, Thompson turned irate and began striking the victim several times – first with his fist, then with a knife.  The second victim, the wife of the storeowner, came out to help defend her husband, but was assaulted as well. 

            During the assault, Thompson knocked both victims to the floor and continued attacking them.  The storeowner had multiple lacerations to his head and had to undergo multiple dental surgeries to repair damaged and missing teeth.  The wife of the storeowner also had to have surgery to insert a metal rod in her arm to repair her broken wrist.

            Thompson was arrested soon after the attack and has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). She also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Diana Lim and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emile C. Thompson, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.