'The city is on fire': 7News On Your Side presses DC leaders to see if car theft suspects can be held until trial after stolen ambulance chase

WASHINGTON (7News) — A week after learning the suspect in the stolen ambulance chase and crashes across the DMV was previously arrested in D.C. for car theft in April and released just two days later, 7News is On Your Side pressing city leaders to see if there is any consideration to add that crime to the list of other offenses for which judges can hold suspects in jail until their trial.

Last week, Darell Caldwell was arrested for stealing a truck and ambulance, leading police on a high-speed chase across Northern Virginia and D.C., and crashing into several vehicles along the way that sent victims to the hospital.

That chaotic sequence of events sounded familiar to Ronda Adams.

She spoke with 7News the day after the stolen ambulance chase last week, after we obtained a police report showing Caldwell was arrested for stealing her family's SUV and ramming it into other cars at their Northeast D.C. home in April.

"This is where it hit right here and caused damage to the front end of the car," Adams said while showing the damage to her family's car that's still visible four months later.

Caldwell was released just two days after that April incident on a personal recognizance bond.

A D.C. Courts official told 7News a judge has no authority to hold a car theft suspect in jail until their trial begins under the current criminal code.

"I think that there is a link missing to the system," Adams told 7News last week.

Over the past few months, D.C. leaders have turned their focus to surging crime spikes.

Total crime has increased by more than 30 %, with violent crime up more than 38 %, compared to the same time last year.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has introduced her "Safer Stronger DC" bill, which could be taken up for discussion when D.C. Council reconvenes in the fall after summer recess.

That bill, among other measures, would expand the list of crimes for which judges can hold suspects in jail until their trial.

Last month, the D.C. Council passed an emergency public safety bill that includes a similar measure. Since that is an emergency bill, it is only in effect for 90 days after the mayor signs it into law. Mayor Bowser signed the emergency public safety bill July 20, meaning it expires October 18. The council will have to take further action to make it a permanent law.

Both bills add carjacking to that list of crimes, but not car theft, even though there have been 4,623 car thefts compared to 631 carjackings so far this year - or more than seven times more car thefts than carjackings.

7News is On Your Side, asking Mayor Bowser and D.C. councilmembers if they are considering adding car thefts to this list of crimes that can hold suspects in jail until trial.

A spokesperson for Councilmember Brooke Pinto - who is the chair of the council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, which is the committee that takes up bills related to the city's crime response before passing it to the full council - said she was not available for an interview after multiple attempts by 7News the past week.

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah provided the following statement:

In May, as part of her Safer Stronger Amendment Act of 2023, Mayor Bowser proposed greater discretion for the Courts to determine who should be held pre-trial, including defendants previously convicted of a violent crime while they await trial for a new violent crime. In July, Council passed, 12-1, Councilmember Pinto’s Prioritizing Public Safety Emergency Amendment Act of 2023, which built upon Mayor Bowser’s proposal by expanding the presumption of detention to all charged with a crime of violence.

However, that statement never addressed the original question asking if there was any consideration to add car theft to the list of crimes to hold suspects until trial in either of the two bills that could be up for discussion in the fall.

7News is On Your Side, and sent a follow-up question asking this again, but nobody has provided a response.

During an unrelated story this week, 7News asked Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker.

"Those negotiations are ongoing. I don't want to get ahead of my colleague Brooke Pinto," Parker said. "I don't want to get out ahead of the conversations the council plans to have in the fall. What I will say is we plan to take up the emergency legislation we've already passed, looking to make a permanent bill to address public safety, but it takes a whole of government approach to turn around things."

Parker continued: "What I imagine is that all things will be on the table as we discuss what can be done legislatively to help turn around things."

Car thefts have surged more than any other crime in the District this year.

That specific crime has more than doubled this year, from 2,149 cases at this point last year to 4,623 cases so far this year.

Victims like Adams said she hopes there are changes so suspects like Caldwell don't slip through the cracks.

"I guess as far as the law is concerned, they can't do much to him. They had to let him go. Thank god he didn’t kill anybody this time, but now that he has done something serious enough, I think the judge or whomever has to deal with him would be reckless to let him go now," Adams said.

Meanwhile, Parker said it will take more than just the D.C. Council to wrap their arms around the crime problem in the city.

"The city is on fire in many respects," Parker said. "We need a more comprehensive strategy around how we're addressing public safety. Yes, the council needs to act, and we will pass legislation, but when we talk about who has authority over our public safety apparatus and what is the plan to keep residents safe it begs the question around how we're going to get those resources on the ground in communities that need it most."