Richmond Couple Faces Weapons Charges By US Capitol Police

WASHINGTON, DC — A couple from Richmond, Virginia, was taken into custody Monday for possessing two loaded guns near the U.S. Capitol, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.

At about 12:50 p.m. Monday, a man, Titus Hayes, 40, approached two Capitol Police officers at First Street and East Capitol Street SE to ask for directions.

One of the officers spotted a black firearm handle sticking out of the front pocket of the man’s shorts. The man was placed under arrest for carrying a pistol without a license in the District of Columbia.

The gun was a 9mm pistol with a high-capacity magazine, according to the police.

While in custody, Hayes said that he and his wife, Nicole Carter, 42, had a second gun in their SUV along East Capitol Street SE. Another 9mm handgun was found in the glove compartment.

The U.S. Capitol Police said there is no information to indicate either Hayes or Carter was targeting a member of Congress or the Capitol Complex. Neither has a criminal record with the Capitol Police.

Both of them were taken into custody without issue, the police said.

“So far this year, the United States Capitol Police has confiscated 13 guns near the Capitol,” Thomas Manger, who took over as the new chief of U.S. Capitol Police last month, said in a statement Tuesday. “It was the officer’s keen observation and attention to detail that removed two more illegal guns from our community.”

Hayes was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, unregistered firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a large capacity feeding device.

Carter was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, unregistered firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and unlawful transportation of a firearm.

The Richmond couple’s arrest comes almost seven months after supporters of then-President Donald Trump, many of them armed with guns, stormed the U.S. Capitol. A total of four officers who battled Trump supporters on Jan. 6 have taken their own lives since the attack on the Capitol.

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