Sen. Corker says daughter "shaken" by carjacking in Washington, D.C., area; two suspects in custody

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said today his 22-year-old daughter, Julia, was "shaken up" Wednesday night when she was carjacked in Washington, D.C., but he added she is "doing just fine."

“She’s [Julia’s] done remarkably well,” Sen. Corker, R-Tenn., said in a prepared statement.. “She sore and it’s obviously shaken her up, and she’s still dealing with police officials here from the area, but you know, (the senator's wife) Elizabeth and I both are just glad that she’s safe."

In a prepared statement, Todd Womack, Sen. Corker’s chief of staff said the senator is "very grateful that Julia was not seriously injured, that those who committed the crime were quickly apprehended, and he is extremely appreciative to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol Police, the FBI, and the Seat Pleasant Police Department for their quick response and professionalism.”

Sources have confirmed that Ms. Corker was dragged out of her Chevy Tahoe in a carjacking near the Verizon Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., Wednesday at 9:15 p.m..

"It happened, you know, just half a block from our apartment in the Penn Quarter area which is about nine blocks from the Capitol, an area, you know, it’s perceived to be a very safe and well-traveled area," the senator said in the statement. "But obviously last night she was very shaken up, but she’s doing just fine. I very much appreciate people from around the state – and really around the country – all the calls that have come in. She’s a brave young woman, and she handled herself well."

D.C. police used Onstar to track down the SUV on Central Avenue in Suitland.

Sgt. Leroy Patterson with the Seat Pleasant, Md., Police Department told the Times Free Press that Seat Pleasant officers arrested two suspects in connection with the incident. He also said D.C. Metro Police took out warrants on the suspects and will be handling the investigation because the incident occurred in the city limits.

Ms. Corker was returning home to the Washington apartment she shares with her father when she stopped at a stop sign and someone knocked on her window, Mr. Womack said. She was pulled by the neck, dragged out of the SUV, then thrown out onto the pavement, he told the newspaper..

Sen. Corker, who was a block and a half away at another event at the Verizon Center, arrived quickly after his daughter called him from her cell phone, officials said.

Mr. Womack said Metro Police responded “very, very quickly” and soon the FBI, Capitol Poilce and the Seat Pleasant, Md., police were inovlved.

"The police were incredible," Sen. Corker said in the statement. "You know we were in an area that’s under the D.C. Metro jurisdiction but the Capitol police also came, the FBI became involved and then the local police in Maryland were incredible, too. All of them were very, very professional. They found the suspects very, very quickly. Julia and I went over late last night, and she identified them.”

Sen. Corker and Ms. Corker went to the Seat Pleasant Police Department later that night and identified the accused car jacker, Mr. Womack said.

“Sen. Corker is just very grateful that the people who committed the crime are in custody and Julia was not seriously injured,” Mr. Womack said.