Cuellar OK, in good spirits after carjacking at gunpoint in Washington
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar was in surprisingly good spirits Tuesday morning after his car was stolen at gunpoint outside of his D.C. residence the night before.
Police were able to track down the car, as well as his ipad and cellphone, the congressman told Hearst Newspapers. His dinner, on the other hand, was a lost cause.
“What really pissed me off was that they stole my sushi,” Cuellar said.
The Laredo Democrat said he was parking his car in front of his Capitol Hill-area residence after leaving the Capitol on Monday evening when three men approached. Cuellar, a black belt in karate, quickly assessed the situation and decided not to test his fighting skills.
“You have three guys, two of them have guns for sure,” Cuellar said. “They asked for my car, I said, ‘Sure, take it.’”
Carjackings have soared in Washington in recent years. More than 1,000 were reported in the D.C. area by the end of last year, compared with just 200 in 2018, according to a Washington Post analysis.
In March, Congress voted to block an overhaul of D.C.’S criminal code that did away with mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes and reduced the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking and robbery.
Cuellar, a moderate Democrat who has campaigned in support of law enforcement and whose brother is the sheriff of Webb County, was one of 31 Democrats who voted in favor of the congressional override. President Joe Biden later signed it.
Cuellar said he mentioned the vote to a police officer who was working the case Monday night.
“I said, ‘This is one of the reasons I did it. You cannot lower penalties for carjackings and for other things. You cannot do that, and that’s one of the reasons,’” he said.