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Switchblade-Wielding Man Who Returned To Scene Of DC Metro Station Crime Gets Prison Time: Feds

The District man who pulled a switchblade on a Metro rider after stealing his backpack is heading to prison, federal authorities announced.

Gallery Place-Chinatown Station

Gallery Place-Chinatown Station

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Andrew Bossi

Nwabueze Igwe, 32, was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted over the summer of robbing a man at knifepoint in Northwest DC earlier this year.

According to court documents, on Monday, Feb. 13, Igwe approached a stranger on the Metro and began shouting at him as they were traveling on the Green Line, and when the train reached the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro Station, he took the man's North Face backpack.

When the victim asked Igwe to return his property, Igwe opened a switchblade and warned the victim to back away.

Igwe and the victim both exited at the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station, at which point the latter ran for help and tracked down Metro Transit Police Department officers.

Prosecutors say that Igwe then looked in both directions before jumping back on the train as the doors were closing. He proceeded to hide the backpack in a trash bag and returned to the same Metro station an hour later, still with the stolen items.

He was caught on camera moments after the robbery, allowing police investigators to track him, and he was arrested that night.

Igwe was convicted of armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and carrying a dangerous weapon. In addition to his prison sentence, a judge also ordered that he serve five years of supervised release.

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