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James Bernard Tyler III said he doesn’t like to be in D.C. too late at night. But with friends visiting from out of state, the Maryland resident made an exception on Saturday.
As the group’s $765 dinner at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse on I Street NW in the CityCenter area drew to a close, police said someone swiped four keys or key fobs from the valet stand in front of the restaurant.
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If the theft was a precursor to a broader automobile heist, it didn’t come to fruition. None of the vehicles were taken. But the victims, including Tyler, a 50-year-old retired D.C. police officer, now have to get new keys and reprogrammed locks, an inconvenience that Tyler said has required his time and could cost him money, depending on how much his insurance and the valet company cover.
Tyler said he had told his guests from Mississippi before the night began: “I don’t like to be out this late in D.C. because stupid stuff happens.”
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“Then it happened,” he said.
Car thefts and robberies are up precipitously in D.C. this year over last, and restaurant valets have periodically been targeted, including in February and during Christmastime last year, according to police. Authorities recorded another incident on Thursday night at Kitchen + Kocktails in the 1300 block of I Street NW, on Franklin Square.
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A police report in that case says four people in a black Infiniti pulled up to the valet stand. As one person distracted the doorman, others broke into the valet box and stole keys to several vehicles, according to the report.
They jumped back into the Infiniti and the driver took off. But police said a valet chased the vehicle on foot to 13th and K streets NW, where a BMW belonging to a patron had been parked. Police said the valet was beaten while trying to stop at least one person from getting into the customer’s vehicle, and the assailants escaped with that car.
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The valet was treated at a hospital for head and facial injuries, authorities said. Police said there was a Glock handgun and ammunition in the vehicle. Attempts to reach the valet and the owner were not successful.
At a news conference Monday to discuss ways to curtail auto thefts, acting D.C. police chief Pamela A. Smith said officers have been visiting city businesses that use valet parking to discuss crime prevention. She said they are advising valets to find secure places to keep boxes and keys “so they’re not readily accessible for someone to just walk by and grab them.”
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said, “If you make it less easy to steal your keys, then we’ll probably have fewer keys stolen.”
“That’s not to say we don’t want to live in a place where you can’t leave your valuables out and expect that nobody will steal them,” she said. “But this isn’t Mayberry. There are really no Mayberrys anymore.”
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Tim Whitlock, chief operating officer of Del Frisco’s, said in a statement that the parking valet station at its D.C. restaurant is operated by building management. The statement says that no vehicle was stolen and building officials “took protective measures … to reimburse guests any valet charges, pay for key replacements, and offered Uber rides.”
Efforts to reach a representatives for Kitchen + Kocktails were not successful Monday afternoon.
Tyler said Del Frisco’s should have secured keys in a box inside the restaurant. The valet told police that customer keys were on a table in front of the restaurant, and that someone walked past and grabbed several while he was busy with a patron. The valet could not be reached Monday. Tyler said he learned of the theft from an acquaintance at another table and headed outside, where he found a scene of “chaos.”
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Tyler said the valet company is in contact with his car dealership to work out an agreement to pay for a new fob, which he said could cost up to $2,000.
He said his friends returned to their hotel after the dinner while he waited an additional two hours for his son to drive from D.C. to his home in Maryland, and then return with spare keys. He said his vehicle had been parked securely in an underground garage.
“Times are just bad,” Tyler said.
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