Posted Oct. 26, 11:40 a.m.
Police from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department located Sue Marcum’s stolen Jeep and arrested the driver, Deandrew Hamlin, an 18-year-old male who lives in Northwest D.C., around 11:30 p.m. Monday.
A license plate recognition sensor detected the Jeep’s license plate on the 2800 block of Benning Road, NE, just before 11:30 p.m., according to MPD Public Information Officer Isgmania Bonilla.
The MPD command information center alerted MPD officers of the plate detection.
After a short pursuit, Hamlin crashed the Jeep into a crosswalk signpost at the corner of New York Avenue and M Street, NW, where police arrested him.
He was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and felony fleeing, pending other additional charges.
Hamlin complained of neck and back pain and was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to Bonilla.
The acquisition of the car and driver are key steps in detectives’ investigation of Marcum’s death, according to Montgomery County Police Captain Paul Starks.
“We want to find out how he came into possession of this vehicle and ... what does he know, if anything, about the entry into her home and her death,” Starks said.
An autopsy will be performed on Marcum’s body at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, and detectives from the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division continue to investigate the case, according to the press release.
There was significant trauma to Marcum’s body and signs of a struggle inside her house at 6206 Massachusetts Ave., NW in Bethesda, Md. There were also signs of forced entry into Marcum’s home, leading Montgomery County Police to investigate her death as a potential homicide, according to Daniel Friz, a Montgomery County Police public information officer.
A friend originally found Marcum on Monday morning on the lower level of her home and reported it to the police, who responded at approximately 10:52 a.m. and found Marcum dead inside.
Marcum’s neighbor reported seeing her 1999 beige Jeep Cherokee driven from the house before 10 a.m. Monday morning.
More on this story as it develops.
mfowler@theeagleonline.com
