Capitol Police Files

Editor’s note: Capitol Police Files is a new regular feature in which The Hill’s Jordy Yager combs through stacks of U.S. Capitol Police reports to bring to light the most noteworthy incidences of crime that occur on and around Capitol Hill.

• Possession of cocaine and marijuana: Oct. 9, 2009 — At 10:30 a.m., a Capitol Police officer posted at the entrance to the tunnel running from the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol conducted a standard security search on a 60-year-old man in blue pants and a pink shirt attempting to gain access to the Capitol. During the search the officer found in the man’s bag what appeared to be “a rolled cigarette with a green leafy substance.” The officer continued to search the bag and also found a folded piece of paper that had a “white powdery substance” in it. Another officer conducted a drug field test at the scene, and the results came back positive for marijuana and cocaine. The drugs were heat-sealed in an evidence bag in front of the man, who was then arrested and transported to Capitol Police headquarters for processing.

• Theft: Dec. 30, 2009 — A Capitol Police officer posted at the Dirksen Senate Office Building subway entrance was approached by a man who said he had witnessed another man stealing something from the Senate Gift Shop. The witness said he saw the man go into the gift shop and take a blue jacket embroidered with the U.S. Senate seal off of its hanger and place it in a plastic bag. The man then left the gift shop without paying for the jacket. The witness followed the man to a nearby men’s restroom. While the suspect was in the bathroom, the witness returned with the Capitol Police officer, relayed his observations to the officer and positively identified the 47-year-old suspect. The officer questioned the suspect and found the jacket without a receipt. He placed the man under arrest and took him to Capitol Police headquarters for processing.

• Assault: Jan. 1, 2010 — The new year was only three hours old when a motorist flagged down an officer on routine patrol near the Capitol to tell him of an assault in progress. The officer followed the complainant to a parked car nearby, where he witnessed the vehicle rocking and shaking and saw two individuals inside it fighting. They were placed under arrest and transported to Capitol Police headquarters for processing. They were charged with a misdemeanor for assault.

• Possession of cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia: Jan. 16, 2010 — Two officers conducted a routine traffic stop on a Red Volkswagen Jetta several blocks from the Capitol on E Street NE. During the stop, one officer detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the driver, a 34-year-old man. The driver failed a field sobriety test, and the officers placed him under arrest and searched him and the car for weapons and drugs. The officers found a small plastic bag filled with marijuana in the man’s back pocket. The officers discovered in the man’s wallet two 2-inch black straws with cocaine residue on them. The police arrested the man and transported him to Capitol Police headquarters for processing. He was charged with a misdemeanor.
While the first officer was with the car’s driver, the second officer — adhering to police-safety protocol — was observing the car’s female passenger. The officer witnessed the 34-year-old woman attempt to “conceal an unknown object under the passenger seat.” The officer then searched her makeup bag and found a sandwich bag filled with marijuana, two other small plastic bags containing marijuana, a metal grinder with marijuana residue in it, unopened Dutchmaster cigars and 82 small empty plastic bags. The woman was transported to Capitol Police headquarters for processing. She was charged with three misdemeanors.