Judge Holds Four Defendants During Initial Hearings

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 2, 2020
Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

A DC Superior Court judge held four defendants in jail and released 11 during initial hearings on Dec. 1.

Eleasin Dewhitt, 19, is being charged with armed robbery for an offense that occurred on Nov. 30 on the 3000 block of New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Dewhitt and two other suspects are accused of beating a man at the Petworth Metro Station in Northwest DC and stealing his cell phone before fleeing the scene on a train.

According to court documents, the victim told police officers that one of the men had a knife at the time and was pressing it against his body, although it never broke through his clothes or skin.

In addition, the victim could not identify Dewhitt as one of the men who participated in the robbery.

However, Judge Errol Arthur found probable cause because the police believed his face is clearly visible in camera footage taken outside the train station. Judge Arthur denied Dewhitt’s release given the serious nature of the offense.

Davon Monk, 23, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. The offense occurred on Nov. 30 at Union Station in which Monk, along with another suspect, are accused of stealing a backpack from a victim and fleeing the scene before being arrested by an Amtrak police officer.

The judge decided to hold Monk, given his criminal history.

Perry White, 26, is charged with simple assault, assault on a police officer and obstruction of justice.

According to court documents, the offense occurred on Dec. 1 on the 400 block of 8th Street, SE in which the suspect allegedly approached a Starbucks worker and asked for a free cup of coffee. After being denied, he repeatedly punched the victim in the body and face.

Judge Arthur found White a danger to the community given the physical violence of the alleged incident and decided to hold him at DC Jail until his next hearing.

Brandon Bishop is  charged with being a fugitive from justice in the Commonwealth of Virginia for contempt of court and second-degree theft in a separate, DC case.

Bishop, 33, was also brought before the court on two bench warrants for failing to appear at probation hearings. The underlying convictions in his probation cases are second-degree theft and lewd, indecent or obscene acts. 

Judge Arthur released Bishop on his new charges of second-degree theft and being a fugitive from justice, however, he held him on two outstanding bench warrants for noncompliance with probation and failure to appear in court.

Bishop implored Judge Arthur to release him, saying he was “burying [his] grandfather” on the court dates he missed.

Even though the judge heard him out, he maintained his decision for the hold.

Of the 11 defendants released by Judge Arthur, four of them are charged with misdemeanors. The charges of the defendants include unlawful entry of public property, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, receiving stolen property, destruction of property and lewd, indecent or obscene acts. Two of the defendants were given stay-away orders while all were ordered to report to the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA).

Judge Arthur released two defendants who are charged with felonies. The charges were carrying a pistol without a license, second-degree burglary and second-degree theft. The judge ordered one of the defendants to not possess any firearms and the other to wear a GPS monitoring device and stay-away from the location of the alleged incident.

Three defendants charged as fugitives from justice were also released. They were all ordered to turn themselves in to authorities in either Virginia or Maryland as soon as possible in order to deal with their warrants.

Judge Arthur released one defendant charged in a domestic violence case and one defendant charged with a traffic offense. The domestic violence defendant was ordered not to harass, assault, threaten or stalk (HATS) two alleged victims.

Six defendants had their charges dropped by the prosecution.