Rep. Angie Craig calls for crackdown on repeat offenders after DC elevator attack

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig vowed on Tuesday to fight for tougher penalties for repeat offenders after she was assaulted by a crazed suspect with a long rap sheet inside the elevator of her Washington, DC, apartment building last week. 

Kendrid Hamlin, who is believed to be homeless, allegedly punched Craig and grabbed her by the shoulder and collarbone during the early morning attack last Thursday, authorities said. He was arrested later that night and charged with assaulting the congresswoman.

“I was assault No. 13 on his record,” Craig told CBS News on Tuesday. “And I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure there’s not a 14, a 15, a 20.”

“If you throw somebody in jail for 10 days and think, ‘There’s your punishment, and we’re gonna let you right back on the street,’ what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?” she added.  

Craig, who was cornered inside the elevator by the suspect, recalled in the Tuesday interview the moment she managed to fend off her attacker after he demanded to be let inside her apartment.

“That was the moment that fight or flight kicked in,” Craig said.

“All I could do was throw my coffee over my shoulder, which startled him,” Craig said. “But as soon as he regained, he came back toward me, and again, it was only until we got to the floor the elevator was headed to that I was able to escape.”

Authorities say that Hamlin kicked an officer and bit a detective as they tried to apprehend him. 

Hamlin has a long history committing violent crimes just steps from the Capitol Building where Craig works, CBS News found. 

Last November, Capitol Police found Hamlin lying on a sidewalk near the Capitol Building and he was transported to a hospital for care, where he became combative, biting one officer, kicking another in the groin, and spitting blood on others. Hamlin pleaded guilty to the assaults and was sentenced to 35 days in jail. 

He was also recently arrested after being accused of assaulting an individual at a train station and pleaded guilty late last year to indecent exposure.

Hours after the assault on Craig, the GOP-led House voted 250-173 to overturn a revamping of DC’s criminal code, which lowered the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking and robbery. Craig joined 31 Democrats in voting for the measure.