Robbers are taking more headphones, D.C. police say

Washington Post

03-05-2025

Headphones are everywhere on the streets of Washington, facilitating telephone conversations, emitting music, and, according to D.C. police, increasingly attracting robbers and thieves.
Officers have noted 'an uptick in robberies targeting headphones,' the police said Friday on social media in an advisory to the public.
A posted flyer depicted two types of headphones: the more traditional over-the-ear sort and the newer wireless earbuds.
The over-the-ear picture appeared to show a device from a maker of headphones that might cost $100 or more. It was not only the brand or model illustrated that could be desirable to thieves, the flyer said, but also others "of similar value.'
Theft of such expensive devices as smartphones, and iPods, have become relatively commonplace. But thefts of the earphones alone has not been as frequently reported.
Friday's advisory was posted the day after D.C. police reported the arrest of a group of teenagers in four headphone robberies on or near the Metropolitan Branch Trail.
On Wednesday, police said, they were told of a group of youths snatching headphones, apparently off the heads of users, on the north-south trail, a bicycle and pedestrian route with its southern end in the Union Station area.
Four headphones were grabbed from four people in less than 10 minutes. The robberies all occurred shortly before 6 p.m., suggesting that at least some victims may have been bicycle commuters returning home from jobs.
Sites, in the Truxton Circle and Eckington areas, included the 200 block of R Street NE and the 400 block of V Street NE as well as the 100 block of Florida Avenue NE and the 1800 block of Fourth Street NE.
Police said they arrested three male teenagers, ages 13, 15 and 17, all from Northeast, and charged them with robbery.
Earlier last month, headphones were snatched on two occasions in the Navy Yard area of Southeast. Once at First and M Streets and the other in the 900 block of First Street. Both incidents, as with the Northeast robberies, occurred during daylight hours.
Police said they arrested a 16-year-old and charged him with robbery.
Out for a "walk, jog or run? " police asked in Friday's advisory.
'Stay aware of your surroundings!'
Police said detectives are working diligently on unsolved cases, and officers were being deployed at strategic spots.
Headphone robberies are not unique to Washington. In March a New York City television station described an incident there, in which seven thefts were reported on a single day in neighborhoods that included the Upper East Side and Greenwich Village.
A version of the story appeared on YouTube under the headline 'Group on bikes stealing headphones right off people's heads.'