By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 12, 2008

Two people were robbed at gunpoint in separate incidents Friday night in a quiet part of upper Northwest Washington. In a third incident, a suspect was arrested in the U Street corridor after another street robbery, D.C. police said.

In one of the incidents in the Tenleytown area of upper Northwest, a woman was held up in the 3800 block of Albemarle Street about 11:45 p.m. by two robbers, one with a gun and the other with a knife, police said. They tried to force her into their vehicle, but she refused to go and they fled with $40, police said.

The other Tenleytown incident occurred about five minutes earlier and about a half-mile away in the 3700 block of Van Ness Street. A man on a bike was accosted by two robbers, one with a gun and one with a knife. The man emptied his pockets, and the robbers fled with three dollars, police said.

The getaway vehicle in both cases was described as a sport-utility vehicle.

In the third incident, two men were robbed at gunpoint about 8:40 p.m. Friday as they were walking in the 2200 block of 12th Street NW, police said.

Police said they found a man "attempting to hide in the restroom" of a business in the 1100 block of U Street. The area is home to many bars and restaurants, but the business was not named. Police said Curtis Lee, 25, of Northeast Washington was arrested and charged with robbery. No street address was given.

Police said they are trying to see whether the incident is linked to other recent robberies in the U Street and Adams Morgan areas.