Video shows victim struggle with armed carjackers during torrential DC rainstorm
WASHINGTON - A Northeast D.C. man is speaking out after he was carjacked at gunpoint during Tuesday night's torrential rainstorm
Patricio Alvarez shared a home surveillance video with FOX 5 showing the moment a gunman approached his car and ordered him to get out.
"He said don't move it or I will shoot you!" Alvarez told FOX 5.
When Alvarez got out of his 2018 Ford EcoSport, another young man approached and held back his arms, as a third young man punched him in the face.
In the video, you can actually see Alvarez fight back, knocking one of the boys to the ground.
"I was in the driver's seat. I saw another guy here and a third guy on the other side and of course they pulled me out from the car and the guy from the back held my back and the other guy started punching my face," Alvarez said. "They were teenagers!"
DC man says he was kidnapped, robbed and attacked during commute home on K Street
A D.C. resident claims he was attacked, kidnapped, and robbed on K Street, during his commute home.
Now, he's driving a rental car and changing his habits.
"If you see something suspicious, just go around, give it another five min drive around and come back," he said.
According to D.C. police, 959 people were carjacked in the District in 2023. That is nearly double the 485 carjacking reports D.C. police took in 2022. And the new year is off to a bad start.
Rise in DC carjackings linked to repeat juvenile offenders, police data shows
Alarming statistics show more than 800 carjackings have occurred so far in 2023, compared to a little over 400 at this same time in 2022.
On Tuesday night, we showed you the video of a woman screaming for help after being robbed at gunpoint in Manor Park.
Alvarez says D.C. law needs to change to keep up with the surging crime rate.
"Just think about if they have the capacity to do this at 16 or maybe 14 years old, just imagine what they will do when they get older," he said.
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U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves has put some of the blame on D.C.'s Youth Rehabilitation Act of 2018, which gave judges leeway to reduce sentences for younger offenders.
Last year, D.C. police reported the majority of people arrested for carjackings were under the age of 18.