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Federal prosecutors said on Saturday they had not prosecuted criminal charges filed by Columbia police against four men who were arrested at a residence where authorities found Pablo, a puppy that had been taken from his owner with a weapon.
As a result, the men, aged 18 to 31, were released on Friday, the same day police said in a press conference that they had broken into an apartment Thursday night in Northeast Washington and found the dog, firearms and drugs.
The status of the charges against three minors, men aged 14, 15 and 17, who were also arrested in the apartment, cannot be determined. The prosecutor’s office of the State Prosecution, which prosecutes juvenile delinquents, did not respond to a request for comment.
Police have accused people found in the apartment at block 1200 on 18th Place NE of possessing stolen property – the dog – and said their investigation continued into a series of armed robberies and shootings that took place within an hour on Wednesday afternoon in the northwest part and northeastern Washington.
Washington Police Arrest Seven People Found with Dog Taken in Armed Robbery
Two dogs were taken in two of the gun robberies – Pablo, an 11-week-old Australian Shepherd at Shaw, and Bruno, a 1-year-old French Bulldog in Brightwood Park. Bruno was not in the apartment where the police found Pablo and is unknown.
Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the county, did not explain why the charges were dropped. “The investigation is ongoing and we have no further comment,” Miller said in a statement issued Saturday.
Prosecutors choose not to pursue cases for a variety of reasons, including seeking more substantial evidence and linking specific actions to individuals. Men are unlikely to be detained, even if they are charged with possession of stolen property.
DC Assistant Chief of Police Morgan K. Kane said Saturday that “it is our intention to investigate further and rebut the allegations.” … We will not close it and move on. “
Kane said Friday that police found more than 100 rounds of ammunition, a .45-caliber pistol and an AK-47-like assault weapon in an apartment at the northern end of Carver-Langston.
Kane said police were gathering evidence to link firearms, drugs and robberies to specific people. There may also be additional wanted people who were not in the apartment at the time of the attack. Kane said police learned of the apartment after discovering a silver Audi, believed to have been used in all of Wednesday’s attacks. But they did not have enough evidence to accuse anyone of robbery or link them to the firearms found in the apartment.
“It’s too early in the investigation,” Kane said Friday.
Abby Sevchik, who owns Pablo and her boyfriend and joined police at a news conference on Friday, said on Saturday that the couple was grateful that their pet had been returned and did not want to discuss the investigation.
Efforts to reach the four men arrested by police were unsuccessful on Saturday. People in the apartment, where police said Pablo had been detained for about 30 hours, declined to answer questions and did not open their door to a visiting reporter.
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