Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked near the U.S. Capitol on Monday night and has since confirmed that he was not harmed in the incident.
The incident occurred on October 2 around 9:30 p.m. in Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., and reportedly involved three men with weapons.
“I looked at one with a gun, another with a gun, and I felt one behind me,” said Cuellar (R-TX), per The Associated Press.
“They said they wanted my car, and I said, ‘Sure.’ You got to keep calm under those situations, and they took off.”
U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that Cuellar told them “the suspects were 5’10” black males who may have been around the age of 16 due to their build.”
Cuellar’s chief of staff, Jacob Hochberg, released a statement that “he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement,” per the AP.
Officers began to canvass the area and recovered Cuellar’s phone and his car shortly after the incident, according to Capitol Police.
Cuellar joked that he was glad to have both his phone and car back, but “what really got me upset is they took my sushi,” according to the AP.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in the statement that the department has “a number of leads,” and that “investigators are focused, determined and working around the clock.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the incident during a Tuesday briefing and said President Biden has already been in contact with Cuellar.
“[T]he reporting that we saw happen to the congressman, obviously was unacceptable. The president did have an opportunity to speak with the congressman today and we will always continue to speak out against any sort of violence, and we’ve been consistent here in this administration,” she said, per ABC News.
“We are certainly grateful and relieved that the congressman was unharmed, and we are thankful to the law enforcement to have reacted so quickly.”
Carjackings are an unfortunately common occurrence. For instance, closer to home, motor vehicle thefts in Dallas have increased by 39.6% when compared to crime rates in 2022, according to the Dallas crime analytics data updated on October 2.
Exacerbating matters is that the Dallas Police Department is presently short-staffed. A City report indicates that 4,000 officers are required to adequately manage crime in a city the size of Dallas. Despite the report, there are roughly 3,200 officers currently sworn in.
