Washington man pleads guilty to kidnapping, robbery and carjacking

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A man pleaded guilty Friday to involvement in a May 2022 kidnapping and robbery outside a northwest D.C. nightclub.

In the early evening of May 1, 2022, David Zanders, now 22, and another suspect robbed two men outside Flash Nightclub in the 600 block of Florida Avenue NW.

According to court documents, Zanders stopped his car, pretended to Uber the victims and put them in the car.

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When they realized they were in the wrong car, they asked to be let out and Zanders locked the door.

He stopped shortly after that. The two suspects pointed guns at the victims and told them to hand over their phones and money.

The victims obeyed.

Zanders and a co-defendant drove the men to a gas station and attempted to withdraw money from an ATM using their credit cards. One of the victims got out of the car and ran away, while the other stayed and did not try to escape.

They then drove to a Giant in Hyattsville, Maryland, and used the victim’s ATM card to withdraw about $1,000. They released the victim in Maryland a short time later.

Zanders dropped off the co-defendant at his home in D.C

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Later that day, at approximately 11 p.m., Zanders, the same suspect, and a third person met in the 900 block of Longfellow Street, NW. The three suspects arranged to meet the two victims under the pretext of selling Zanders’ car.

Instead, when the two victims arrived, Zanders pulled out a gun, threatened to shoot one of them and demanded the man’s phone, money and keys.

Two other suspects did the same to the second man.

The victims complied, handing over their keys and phone

One of the suspects drove off in the vehicle carrying the two victims, while Zanders and another individual drove off in their own vehicles and fled.

Zanders pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of carjacking. His sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2025.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on the kidnapping charge and 15 years on the carjacking charge.

Zanders has been in custody since his arrest on November 18, 2022.

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