Four DC men charged with 76 counts for armed carjacking conspiracy

A press release by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia revealed that 19-year-olds Cedae Hardy, Landrell Jordan III, Keyonte Rice, and 20-year-old Milik Norman "conspired to carjack victims of their vehicles at gunpoint around the District of Columbia and Maryland and to sell the carjacked vehicles for profit or use them in future carjackings."

Authorities noted that the charges build on a previous 33-count indictment for Hardy, Jordan III, and Norman that resulted in 11 carjackings. Rice was added to the conspiracy after he allegedly participated in a failed carjacking attempt in January 2023 that left one man dead, according to WTOP News.

In that incident, a 39-year-old man was shot and killed in Hyattsville, Maryland. The vehicle used at the time of the killing was allegedly stolen in another carjacking and was set on fire a short time later.

Hardy was also charged with attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury after he allegedly shot a rideshare driver in an April 2023 incident.

The team was charged with "conspiracy to commit carjacking; carjacking; attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury; brandishing a firearm during and about a crime of violence; conspiracy to commit arson; aiding and abetting; interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle; and possession, sale, or receipt of a stolen vehicle."

In 2023, motor vehicle theft increased 82 percent from 2022 with 6,829 instances compared to 3,756. The DC Metropolitan Police have reported that motor vehicle theft is down 30 percent so far in 2024 over the same period last year with 1,393 incidents compared to 1,988.

Overall crime is down in the nation's Capital by 14 percent compared to the same time last year. However, in 2023 crime rose by 26 percent from the year prior.