District Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary Charge In Early-Morning Break-in of Woman's Apartment

            WASHINGTON – Antwon Pitt, 22, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of second-degree burglary stemming from a break-in he committed last fall of an apartment where a woman was sleeping, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

            Pitt pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In a separate proceeding, he was found guilty by a jury on June 8, 2016, of first-degree sexual abuse, kidnapping, first-degree burglary, robbery, threats, and felony assault, stemming from a sexual assault that he committed one week after the burglary that he pled to today.  Pitt faces additional penalties at sentencing because he committed these offenses while on release in a separate case.

            The Honorable Florence Pan scheduled sentencing for both crimes to take place on Oct. 21, 2016. Pitt remains in custody.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Oct. 6, 2015, at approximately 6:15 a.m., Pitt entered an apartment unit on Michigan Avenue NE, with the intent to steal. Once inside the apartment, he entered a bedroom where a young woman was sleeping. She woke up and saw the defendant, whom she did not know, with her cell phone in his hand. After a brief verbal exchange, Pitt left the apartment, taking with him several items belonging to the woman, including her cell phone, a tote bag, her wallet, multiple identification cards, a debit card, a Metro card, and other personal items.

            Surveillance footage captured Pitt leaving the building and entering the nearby Brookland Metro station. Following Pitt’s arrest on Oct. 14, 2015, police recovered several of the victim’s personal items, including her cell phone, wallet, and several identification cards.

            The earlier jury verdict involved an attack that took place on Oct. 13, 2015, at approximately 2:15 p.m., at a home in Southeast Washington. In that case, the victim was alone and working at home on her computer. Suddenly she saw Pitt standing in her apartment. He had entered through an unlocked door. After learning that the woman was alone, he grabbed her and slammed her onto the floor. He proceeded to violently press his hand over the victim's mouth and nose as he forced her down the hall with his other hand around her throat.  Once in the victim's bedroom, he raped the victim on her own bed.  After the rape, he took the victim's phone, demanded her passcode, and left.  The victim was taken to the hospital where she was treated for her injuries, which included fractured facial bones requiring surgery.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated both of the crimes from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Metro Transit Police Department, the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences, Sorenson Forensics, and Signature Science, LLC. He acknowledged the efforts of a team that worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Donhue Troy Griffith and D’Yvonne Key, Victim/Witness Advocates Tracey Hawkins and Veronica Vaughan, and Criminal Investigator John Marsh. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah McClellan and Luke Jones, who investigated and prosecuted the matters.