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Two men arrested in connection to attack on former DOGE staffer
Two men behind bars in connection with the attempted carjacking and assault on former DOGE staffer Edward Cortisine. FOX 5 Chief Legal Correspondent Katie Barlow has the details.
WASHINGTON - Two men behind bars in connection with the attempted carjacking and assault on former DOGE staffer Edward Cortisine.
Laurence Cotton Powell, 19, and Anthony Taylor, 18, have been charged in connection with the Aug. 3 attempted unarmed carjacking and assault on Cortisine.
The backstory:
According to court documents, Powell and Taylor can be seen on video surveillance footage participating in a separate assault at a gas station near U Street just minutes before heading toward 14th and Swann, where the assault on Cortisine took place.
Powell and Taylor have been charged in connection with both incidents.
An MPD officer on patrol in the area says they witnessed a group assaulting Cortisine. When the group spotted the officer, they fled.
Two 15-year-olds were arrested shortly afterward and charged in family court by the D.C. attorney general. They were sentenced to probation last week.
Dig deeper:
On Monday, D.C. U.S. Attorney General Jeanine Pirro homed in on Powell's criminal history.
In April, Powell was sentenced for felony attempted robbery and he was ordered released by D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean, an Obama appointee.
Prosecutors had asked that he serve jail time but were denied. Powell then violated his probation within 31 days and was rearrested for simple assault in May.
Pirro's office then asked for probation to be revoked, but it was not.
Powell was then sentenced on a misdemeanor where prosecutors asked for jail time.
Another judge suspended the sentence and put him on probation in July — eight days before the incidents on Aug. 3.
What they're saying:
"Everyone in this room knows the amount of times we have rearrested the same individuals over and over and over again. Today's message is not new. Of course, it's frustrating for my police officers. Every day the expectation is that they go out and police, right? And then when they keep arresting individuals over and over and over again, it's offensive to me," D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith said.
Powell is now facing multiple charges, including first-degree robbery, for which he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Pirro also said there remains individuals who were part of the group that assaulted Cortisine that night. She says she expects there will be more identified and arrested.