Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Guardian Angels stopped three youths involved in a fight on an inbound Green Line train Friday night and turned them over to Metro Transit Police when the train arrived at L’Enfant Plaza Station, according to Metro and one of the Guardian Angels.
Transit Police arrested one of the youths, Jermaine Washington, 18, of Upper Marlboro, for simple assault, according to Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato.
The incident was the latest in a spate of violence surrounding L’Enfant Plaza Station. Last week, two men were injured and taken to the hospital from L’Enfant Plaza after they reported being assaulted on a Green Line train headed to Branch Avenue. Two suspects fled, and police are investigating, Metro said.
Earlier this month, a fight that spilled from a rail car onto the platform at L’Enfant Plaza left four people injured and led to the arrest of one adult and two juveniles.
John Ayala, director of operations for the Guardian Angels of Washington, said the three youths had boarded the train about 8:20 p.m. Friday at Navy Yard Station, where they were engaged in a heated argument, and soon began to fight aboard the train.
Ayala said there were eight Guardian Angels on patrol, and he helped break up the fight.
“The Guardian Angels rushed to stop the fight” and then called Metro police, Ayala said.
Metro police have increased patrols Friday and Saturday nights at L’Enfant Plaza after the large brawl earlier this month. Metro asks riders to report suspicious or criminal activity by notifying the train operator or calling police at 202-962-2121.
John Ayala “Unique” King Is a native New Yorker who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island. He grew up in a low-incolme neighborhood seeing drugs being sold in front of and behind every building. Most kids in the neighborhood belonged to a gang. At the age of 8, John joined the Young Marine Cadets as an alternative to the gangs. The Bruce Lee films he watched on Saturdays motivated him to begin learning Martial Arts.
