City Desk provides weekly updates on crimes throughout the District.

Pronounced Dead: The number of homicides in D.C. in 2009 may have been the lowest since 1966, but the last days of the year proved deadly. On Dec. 30, Tavon Michael Borum, of the 1200 block of Brentwood Road NE, was fatally shot in a Popeyes parking lot at 5200 Georgia Avenue NW. Police say the 23-year-old sustained multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Two assailants fled on foot through an alley toward 13th Street NW.

At around 12:45 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, police rushed to the 200 block of Webster Street NE to investigate a shooting. Their probe led them to the rear of the 200 block of Hawaii Avenue NE, where they found 19-year-old Emmanuel Durant, Jr.—a resident of Webster Street—shot. Durant was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

At 2:13 p.m., a police officer in the 3000 block of Park Drive SE saw something strange: a man lying in a wooded area. The officer found Carnell William Bolden, 36, unconscious, suffering from a gunshot wound. The Medical Examiner’s office pronounced Bolden dead at the scene.

At 5:34 p.m., police responded to a possible assault in the 900 block of Bellevue Street SE. Officers found an adult male suffering from what appeared to be multiple stab wounds. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim’s name hasn’t been released.

At 11:25 p.m., an employee of D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services flagged down a police officer in the 4800 block of North Capitol Street NE regarding a shooting. The officer found a man fatally shot. The victim, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1—making him the final homicide victim of 2009.

Annie Oakley on a Huffy: A female bicycle cop faced down a large group of armed assailants. At around 10:00 p.m. on Dec. 30, off-duty officer Tandeira Green spotted a large group of males walking behind a single male pedestrian heading north in the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue NW. When the pedestrian turned a corner to head westbound on Otis Place NW, Green saw the group run after him. Sprinting around the corner, she noticed several of the males holding guns as they rifled through the victim’s pockets. Green identified herself and the alleged criminals fled, as she pursued them. As police describe it: “Officer Green was then able to grab one of them by the book bag but he slipped out of the book bag and dropped his handgun on the ground which subsequently was seized by MPD.” Green got a good look at the suspect and recognized him from her neighborhood beat. She found and arrested him the next day.

Cab Capers: D.C. police are on the lookout for a serial mugger of cab drivers in the area of 14th and Irving Streets NW. Police say that, on Dec. 16, 18, 22, and 29—at times of day ranging from about 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m., the suspect “entered the cab either alone or with a second suspect and requested to be taken to a location. Once at the drop off location, all of which are located within the Fifth District, the suspect(s) implied that he/they had a handgun and demanded money, car keys, and cellular phone from the victim.”  The suspect made off with the goods on foot.

Extra: A suspect wanted more than extra pepperoni from a Pizza Hut in the 1700 block of Columbia Road NW. At approximately 11:05 p.m. on Dec. 29 a man who had hidden in the store until closing time popped out and demanded money from the restaurant’s manager. The employees fled through the back door. The suspect took money from the register and escaped through the same exit.

Slaying the Dragon: On Dec. 30, police arrested Nelson Privado in the 1300 block of 11th Street NW for allegedly killing his 15-year-old son’s pet Bearded Dragon lizard back on Oct. 9. Privado told the Washington Post he hurled the animal across the street because it bit him. He has been charged with animal cruelty.

Sitting Around: Police say two males in an idling car around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 30 in the unit block of Gallatin Street NW were robbed by four male suspects armed with three handguns and a knife. The alleged robbers took the victims’ wallets.

Source: MPD District listservs, public releases