Three women robbed in Capitol Hill area by groups of teens, police say

Two women were robbed in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington. (Video: WUSA9)

A woman was robbed in the heart of Capitol Hill on Sunday afternoon by youths who grabbed her around the neck and took her purse, D.C. police said.

A second woman was robbed after dark within a block of where the first incident took place, police said, and a similar robbery was reported Friday about a half-mile away.

In the first incident, the woman was grabbed about 1 p.m. while on foot near Seventh and A streets NE. According to police, several male teenagers took part in the robbery and fled in a minivan.

About 8 p.m., a woman who was walking was robbed by several teenagers who snatched her purse.

They, too, fled in a minivan, police said.

Descriptions of the assailants in each case were scanty but similar. Both incidents occurred about three-quarters of a mile east of the Capitol, in a neighborhood largely composed of rowhouses. A church also stands at Seventh and A.

In the robbery Friday, a woman was walking on 12th Street SE, near Independence Avenue and a block south of Lincoln Park, about 9:30 p.m. when four teenagers approached, police said.

One grabbed her from behind and the others took her purse.

A robbery by force was reported about 1 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of E Street NE, within a mile of the sites of the other three reported robberies. Police said a juvenile was arrested.