Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar fell victim to armed carjacking at gunpoint Monday evening in Washington, DC, according to multiple reports.

According to DC’s Metropolitan Police Department and the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, the carjacking occurred around 9:30 PM in the Navy Yard neighbourhood at the intersection of K Street and New Jersey Avenue Southeast. The 68-year-old lawmaker has been confirmed to be unharmed.

The US Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department came to the crime scene. They closed off the entire block as an investigation was launched.

Authorities are actively seeking three suspects connected to the carjacking, as described in an MPD crime alert. These individuals were identified as Black men dressed entirely in black clothing and drove off with the congressman’s car. The stolen white Honda CHR with Texas tags has since been recovered in the Anacostia neighbourhood.

Cuellar’s Chief of Staff, Jacob Hochberg, released a statement in response to the incident. He explained that while Congressman Cuellar was parking his car on Monday night, three armed individuals approached him, pointed a gun at him, and forcibly took his vehicle.

“Thank you to Metro PD and Capitol Police for their swift action and for recovering the Congressman’s vehicle,” the statement read.

A series of violent crimes

Cuellar’s carjacking is the latest incident in a series of violent crimes against members of Congress and their staff in DC this year.

In February, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) faced an assault by a homeless man with a criminal history in her northeast DC apartment building’s elevator. She defended herself using her hot coffee to escape the attack, but not without bruises.

The next month, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Phillip Todd, endured a brutal daylight assault by a knife-wielding assailant on the same street where Craig was attacked. Todd sustained severe injuries, including multiple stab wounds to the head and chest.

In June, a staffer for Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) was held at gunpoint near Nationals Park shortly after the Congressional Baseball Game concluded. This happened in the same neighbourhood where Cuellar was carjacked a few days ago.

Carjacking, vehicle theft, and how to avoid them

There have been 750 reported carjackings in DC this year, and 75 percent of these incidents involved the use of firearms. This figure marks a 115 percent jump in carjacking cases compared to this point last year, as per statistics provided by the DC police.

Nationwide, data from the Council on Criminal Justice reveal a 59 percent increase in motor thefts, including carjacking, from 2019 to 2022. Around 37,560 more vehicles were stolen in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, in the UK, there were 130,389 vehicle thefts in the past year, a rise from the 104,435 reported in the preceding year. Theft from vehicles also saw a 9.9 percent increase, affecting 212,900 individuals who had their belongings stolen from their cars.

In a blog post, the Met Police shared some tips for preventing vehicle theft. These include locking your vehicle, ensuring the safekeeping of your keys, being vigilant about carjackers, practising responsible parking habits, installing effective in-car security locks, and double-checking electronic locking mechanisms.

You can also hire security agencies like Marengo to find the right solutions to keep your car and yourself safe. Employing close protection officers can provide extra protection in case of armed carjacking situations.