Hyattsville man pleads guilty to string of robberies in DC

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — The United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia said that a 30-year-old Hyattsville man pleaded guilty to 10 armed and attempted robberies that happened in D.C. between Aug. 22, 2023, and Jan. 8, 2024.

The USAO said that 30-year-old Roberto McBean admitted to committing all of the robberies.

Court documents outlined the following robberies — both attempted and successful:

• On Aug. 22, 2023, McBean used a hammer in a robbery at a Sunoco gas station on Wisconsin Avenue, NW.
• On Aug. 31, 2023, he used a vegetable knife in a robbery at the Georgetown Wine and Spirits on P Street, NW. He stole cash and a bottle of red wine.
• On Sept. 18, 2023, he pulled out a knife in the Universal Wine and Spirits on Florida Avenue but left without taking any money after a customer saw him and yelled at him to get out.
• On Nov. 23, 2023, McBean used a gun to steal cash from the Glover Park Market on 37th Street, NW.
• On Dec. 8, 2023, McBean used a gun to steal a “small amount of cash” from an Exxon gas station on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown.
• Also on Dec. 8, 2023, McBean went back to the Sunoco gas station in his first robbery and threatened an employee with his gun, commanding them to empty the register into a bag.
• On Dec. 16, 2023, he went back to the Glover Park Market and stole cash from the register and several lottery tickets.
• On Dec. 20, 2023, he returned to the Georgetown Wine and Spirits shop and demanded that the employee empty the cash register. The employee did not have a key to the register, and McBean demanded money again, threatening the employee with a gun. The employee handed over the entire register, which McBean was unable to open. He handed it back and left.
• On Jan. 4, 2024, he went to Sara’s Market and Dry Cleaners on Q Street NW. McBean went to the register with a bottle of wine and demanded that the employee hand over cash — but the employee said that the market only takes electronic payments. He left with just the wine.
• On Jan. 5, 2024, he returned to the Glover Park Market for the third time. He had a gun and left with money, lottery tickets and two packs of cigarettes.
• On Jan. 8, 2024, McBean went back to the Glover Park Market for a fourth time. The store employee recognized her from the robbery a few days earlier and the robbery in December.

FBI agents arrested McBean on Jan. 26, 2024.

The USAO said that each of the stores that he targeted were involved in interstate commerce, so McBean’s robberies “delayed, obstructed, or affected interstate commerce” — which is a violation of the Hobbs Act.

McBean pleaded guilty on April 26 to four counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery. His sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 5.

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