Tywan J. Cummings, a 44-year-old resident of Washington D.C., has been sentenced to 204 months in federal prison for an armed carjacking spree that occurred in May 2020. The spree included a car chase with police, firing shots at officers, and breaking into an occupied residence where he was eventually apprehended.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Cummings pleaded guilty on August 18, 2023, in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to charges including carjacking; using, possessing, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence; and assaulting, resisting, or interfering with a police officer with a dangerous weapon. In addition to his prison term, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Cummings to serve five years of supervised release.
According to evidence presented by the government, on May 17, 2020, Cummings used an AR-style rifle to carjack a BMW 325i from a man who was inflating his tire on Raum Street in Northeast Washington D.C. He then drove the stolen vehicle into Maryland where he carjacked another vehicle from a nurse outside a hospital in Prince George’s County.
In the early hours of May 18, multiple law enforcement agencies pursued Cummings—now driving a stolen Honda Ridgeline—into Southeast Washington D.C. At Pennsylvania Avenue SE and Alabama Avenue SE intersection, Cummings crashed the Honda into another vehicle near a gas station. While fleeing on foot from pursuing officers from Maryland and MPD, he fired multiple shots at them with a handgun.
Shortly after 2 a.m., Cummings broke into an occupied residence on Pennsylvania Avenue SE and hid inside an upstairs bedroom. A barricade situation was declared at 2:28 a.m., leading to his arrest by members of MPD’s Emergency Response Team. Officers recovered several firearms and over 100 rounds of ammunition during his arrest.
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force and the Metropolitan Police Department with assistance from Bowie Police Department, Montgomery County Police Department, and Prince George’s County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Emory V. Cole and Paul V. Courtney prosecuted the matter.