Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar carjacked by 3 armed men in D.C.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — Rep. Henry Cuellar was the victim of a carjacking Monday night in Washington, D.C., his office told UPI.

The Texas Democrat was parking his car Monday night when three armed men approached him and stole his vehicle, Cuellar’s chief of staff Jacob Hochberg told UPI in a text message.

“Luckily, he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement,” Hochberg said in the text message, which explained that Cuellar’s vehicle has since been recovered.

The carjacking occurred at around 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of New Jersey Avenue and K Street SE in the trendy Navy Yard neighborhood of the nation’s capital, according to an alert from the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, which said police are searching for three suspects.

D.C. Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to UPI’s request for further information.

According to D.C. Metropolitan Police statistics, there have been 750 carjackings to date this year, of which 75% involved a firearm.

The carjacking is not the first violent crime in the city this year involving politicians or their staffers as victims.

Almost eight months ago, Rep. Angie Craig was attacked in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment building in early February.

In March, a congressional staffer for Sen. Rand Paul suffered serious injuries in a stabbing on H Street, Northeast.

And a member of Rep. Brad Finstad’s staff was attacked by an armed man near the U.S. Capitol in June.

This is a developing story.