Washington DC man guilty two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence
WASHINGTON DC January 4 2024– Charles Edwards, 48, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty on Jan. 2, 2024, after a trial by a Superior Court jury of two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and other firearm-related charges arising from threatening another man and a cashier with a loaded gun inside the Wawa at Thomas Circle NW in the early morning hours of January 22, 2022, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The Honorable Errol Arthur scheduled sentencing for February 23, 2024.
According to the trial evidence, Edwards got into an argument with another man near the Wawa. That man ran into the store to escape Edwards, but Edwards followed him and again confronted him. A Special Police Officer (SPO) working at Wawa escorted Edwards out of the store. Minutes later, Edwards went back to the store and again chased the man around the store, and then pulled out a loaded handgun and pointed it at both that man and the Wawa’s cashier who was standing in front of him. Edwards eventually left the store, and threatened the SPO, who was on the phone with 911.
Police arrived within minutes, and subsequently apprehended Edwards nearby, and recovered the loaded weapon in his tent.
Edwards was later arrested on August 17, 2022.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
