10 Charged in Major Carjacking Indictment in D.C. and Maryland

Half of the defendants were juveniles at the time of the crimes, marking a significant rise in carjackings in the region since 2018.

Ten individuals have been charged in a sweeping indictment for a series of carjackings and attempted carjackings in Washington D.C. and parts of Maryland, marking the largest federal carjacking arrest in D.C. this year.
Half of the defendants were under 18 at the time of their alleged crimes and have been charged as adults.
Carjackings in the D.C. region have been on the rise since 2018, with more than 930 reported so far in 2023, up from 451 in the same period last year.
The defendants allegedly referred to themselves as GTAIRL, an abbreviation for Grand Theft Auto In Real Life, in a social media chat where they discussed the carjackings and sold the stolen vehicles.
The U.S. attorney for the District, Matthew M. Graves, has criticized the Youth Rehabilitation Act, a D.C. law that allows judges to sentence youths who were ages 15 to 24 at the time of their offenses to shorter prison sentences, and called for its update.