Melvin Dykes, a 61-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., has been indicted by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on one count of felony second-degree theft. This indictment is related to events on February 23, 2024.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced this development. Dykes is scheduled to be arraigned on April 30, 2024, in a hearing before a Superior Court judge.
Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Credits: Wikipedia)
The government’s evidence suggests that on February 23, 2024, Dykes allegedly took merchandise from the CVS store in Northwest Washington, D.C., without paying for it. Following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department, Dykes was located and subsequently arrested.
Due to Dykes having two or more prior theft convictions, although not from the same occasion, he faces enhanced penalties for this alleged theft. These penalties may include a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail for each count of robbery for which he is indicted.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has indicted 39 cases since September 1, 2023, involving a felony second-degree theft charge based on a defendant’s multiple prior theft convictions, not from the same occasion.
District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Credits: Michael Marshall Design)
The Metropolitan Police Department conducted the investigation into this case in collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Cotter is handling the prosecution.
It’s important to note that an indictment is merely a formal accusation of a violation of criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
