WASHINGTON, DC – Melvin Dykes, a 61-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., has been indicted on charges of felony second-degree theft by a grand jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith announced the indictment, stemming from an incident on February 23, 2024.
Dykes is accused of stealing merchandise from a CVS store in Northwest Washington, D.C. Following a police investigation, he was apprehended. He is scheduled to be arraigned on April 30, 2024.
Given Dykes’ history of two or more prior theft convictions, he faces enhanced penalties under D.C. law, including a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail for this charge.
This case is part of a larger trend, as since September 1, 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has pursued 39 similar cases involving felony second-degree theft charges against defendants with multiple prior convictions.