Bus-ted: Last week, in two unrelated cases, two Metro bus drivers found themselves in trouble with police. On April 2, driver Dwayne Adamson allegedly flashed a knife after getting into a traffic dispute with a motorist. He was arrested.

And on March 4, while operating the D12 bus, driver Shawn Todd allegedly stopped to solicit a prostitute. Todd waved over someone he believed to be a sex worker and offered her money for sexual favors, it’s alleged. But what appeared to be a prostitute was really an undercover police officer, and he was arrested.

Hey You, Why Are You Jingling?: In Bethesda and Silver Spring, Montgomery County cops say, 69 parking meters have been plundered. The thefts took place between March 28 and April 1. Police say thieves are using a heavy object to smash the outer casing of the meters and get at the coins. Police are asking citizens to look out for suspicious activity near parking meters and anyone “with unexplained large amounts of coins.”
Mugging Marathon: On April 1, multiple masked men went on a robbing spree in parts of D.C.’s 3rd and 4th police districts. Police say the muggers committed nine robberies within several hours. According toWTOP, some of their victims were Howard University students, and the muggers pounced on the unsuspecting students while they were inside Howard’s engineering building.

Cops say the suspects used “a variety of weapons” to carry out the robberies and that some of the victims were beaten—while others were threatened with being shot. Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes says that during one robbery the suspects were armed with a crowbar.

Red Berets: Due to so some violent happenings in the Gallery Place area, D.C. Guardian Angel John Ayala says his crime-stopping group is patrolling there. “There have been a lot of fights in china town/Gallery Place and on the train Saturday nights,” Ayala writes in an email. “So now we are meeting every Saturday at 7th and H street, NW to patrol China town and Metro.”

On one such patrol on March 31, riding the Metro from “Gallery Place Green line to L’Enfant Plaza to Congress Height back to Gallery Place,” the Guardian Angels assisted a young woman in distress, but missed out on getting the bad guy. The DC Guardian Angels Web site says: “At the L’Enfant Plaza train station platform a young female gets the attention of the Guardian Angels and informs us that she was hit by a man while riding on the metro and quickly ran out of the train. We searched the area with assistance from the victim but were unable to find him.”

Source: MPD District listservs and public releases, Montgomery County Police Department public releases