WASHINGTON, DC – Friday — A 19-year-old man from the District was sentenced to 14 years in prison after committing two armed carjackings just days apart, one of which involved using a vehicle stolen in the earlier crime to block in a second victim at a gas station.
Erick Alvarenga pleaded guilty in June to two counts each of unarmed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. On Friday, a Superior Court judge ordered him to serve 60 months for each weapons charge and 84 months for each carjacking. The sentences tied to the January incident will run consecutively to those from the December offense, resulting in a total sentence of 168 months behind bars.
The first incident happened around 4:45 a.m. on December 28, 2024, in the 6100 block of Eastern Avenue, NE. Alvarenga and his co-defendant, 20-year-old Malik Kearney, approached a man sitting in a Jeep SUV. One of them was armed with a handgun as they forced the victim out of his vehicle before speeding off in it.
Less than a week later, on January 3, 2025, the pair struck again — this time in the 4200 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, NE, around 3 p.m. According to prosecutors, the duo used the previously stolen Jeep to trap another driver who had just finished fueling his Dodge sedan. Kearney allegedly approached the man with a gun while Alvarenga boxed the vehicle in. After forcing the driver out, they fled in both vehicles.
Both suspects were arrested later that evening. Law enforcement recovered two firearms from the location where they were taken into custody — one of which had a defaced serial number and the other identified as a privately manufactured “ghost gun.”
Kearney, who also pleaded guilty in June, is awaiting sentencing scheduled for October 10.
The investigation was led by the Metropolitan Police Department and supported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Officials confirmed that both men have remained in custody since their arrests.