DISTRICT BRIEFING

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

METRO

Auditions Are Set For Performers

Get out the fiddles. Tune up the vocal chords. Metro is holding auditions next week for District-based performers to showcase their talents at select Metrorail station entrances this year.

Auditions for season two of MetroPerforms! will take place May 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. and May 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Metro Headquarters, 600 Fifth St. NW. The program began last year at stations in the District and in Prince George's and Montgomery counties. Local arts councils and Metro selected the performers, who received a stipend. Selected artists will perform at District stations from late spring to late fall and again during the holiday season.

Individuals and groups interested in auditioning should bring a photograph and one-page biography or résumé. Auditions are first-come, first-served. Information on auditions and performances in other jurisdictions will be announced later.

-- Lena H. Sun

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Student's Assault Charges Dropped

The U.S. Attorney's Office has decided not to pursue the case against a Georgetown University student accused last fall of assaulting another student.

The victim alleged that his attacker used anti-gay slurs and punched him repeatedly when he was attacked in the 1400 block of 36th Street NW in September. The case was investigated by police as a potential hate crime.

Sophomore Philip Cooney, 20, was charged with assault in the incident after the victim identified Cooney as his attacker from Cooney's profile on Facebook, an online social networking site. His trial was to begin yesterday at D.C. Superior Court, but prosecutors decided late last week not to prosecute Cooney, citing lack of evidence.

"Philip was always completely innocent of the charges against him, and the dismissal of the case has vindicated him entirely," said Danny Onorato, Cooney's attorney.

-- Keith L. Alexander

CRIME

Two Men Found Dead, One in NE, One in NW

A D.C. man was found dead yesterday morning in Northwest Washington, police said.

Ronald Thompson, 18, was found with apparent stab wounds in a stairwell in the 1200 block of North Capitol Street NW, police said. Thompson, who lived in the 1100 block of Penn Street NE, was pronounced dead at the D.C. medical examiner's office.

Another man was discovered dead Sunday night near the CSX train tracks in Northeast Washington, police said. They said the death is being investigated as an apparent homicide, although the cause of death will be determined through an autopsy by the D.C. medical examiner's officer.

The man, whom police identified as George Douglas, 18, of the 3100 block of 35th Street NW, was found about 11:45 p.m. in the 2700 block of 26th Street NE. He had suffered some type of trauma, police said.

-- Allison Klein

SE Man Is Charged In Fatal Shooting

A Southeast Washington man was arrested yesterday and charged with second-degree murder in a March 28 fatal shooting, D.C. police reported.

William L. Legrand, 24, of the 4900 block of Ayers Place SE, was charged in the death of Dolmi Bonilla, 26, who was found with several gunshot wounds in the alley behind the unit block of 49th Street NE. He was pronounced dead at Prince George's Hospital Center.

Legrand is to be arraigned today in D.C. Superior Court, authorities said.

-- Elissa Silverman

Police Identify NE Stabbing Victim

A 72-year-old man who was fatally stabbed Sunday night was identified yesterday as James A. Germany, D.C. police said.

Germany, whom police initially misidentified as a woman, was discovered in his home in the 1500 block of Isherwood Street NE. Police were investigating whether his killing was related to a domestic dispute but had not made any arrests as of last night.

-- Allison Klein

WHITE HOUSE

Suspicious Package Causes Street Closings

A suspicious package found on the northeast grounds of the White House caused nearby streets to be closed for hours yesterday afternoon.

The package was discovered near 16th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue about 2:50 p.m. and was declared safe about 5:20 p.m., police said.

-- Allison Klein