The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-10)

“We have three highly compro-

mised people in my house,” Dolly-

more said. “Where am I supposed

to go to the grocery store?”

Although most — and in many

cases, all — of their classes will be

held online, students at Washing-

ton-area universities are still

flocking to neighborhoods in and

around the city, stoking fears —

and questions — of permanent

residents who are anxious about

young people spreading the novel

coronavirus.

“They’re already drinking,

maskless, downtown. No one

cares,” Dollymore said.

When Asher Price, 21, and his

roommates signed their leases

two months ago for a pale yellow

townhouse near George Washing-

ton University, they expected to

SEE NEIGHBORS ON B2

BY LAUREN LUMPKIN

Christy Dollymore is livid.

After a quiet summer spent in

the seclusion of her College Park

home, Dollymore is getting more

neighbors. They’re students, en-

rolled at the University of Mary-

land’s flagship campus half a mile

away, and they’re moving into the

apartments and group homes that

surround the school.

Dollymore, a 61-year-old re-

tired critical care technician, lives

on a tree-lined street in the sub-

urbs. It’s not abnormal for her to

have college-aged neighbors, but

she has a compromised immune

system. Her husband nearly died

of influenza A, a type of flu, last

year, and her 36-year-old daugh-

ter is recovering from malignant

melanoma, she said.

KLMNO

METRO

MONDAY, AUGUST 10 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL EZ RE B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

You can buy plenty of cool-

looking chairs. He wanted

one that was actually

comfortable. B3

MARYLAND

A suspect in a slaying last

month had earlier secured

his release from jail over

coronavirus concerns. B4

OBITUARIES

John McNamara managed

the Boston Red Sox to

within one strike of a World

78 ° 88 ° 92 ° 85 ° Series victory in 1986. B5

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 3 p.m.

93

°

Precip: 15%

Wind: S

4-8 mph

New cases in region

Through 5 p.m. S unday, 1,919 new

coronavirus cases were reported in

D.C., Maryland and Virginia,

bringing the total cases to

208,342.

D.C. MD.VA.

+100 +922+ 897

12, 753 95,503 100 ,086

Coronavirus-related deaths

As of 5 p.m. Sunday:

D.C. MD.* VA.

+1 +8 +4

591 3,585 2,326

* Includes probable covid-19 deaths

The coronavirus

pandemic and the

recession it

generated have

disrupted

transportation

plans in the Washington region

more than any events in memory,

officials and analysts say.

Metro is facing the worst

financial crisis in its history.

Highway and bridge projects are

delayed or in doubt. Increased

use of telework has reduced

commuting — but could trigger

an exodus from downtown that

adds to suburban traffic.

Combined, these have created

a historic challenge for the region

to address our chronic, severe

congestion just when the

economic slump has gutted state

and local budgets.

“The entire context for

everything has just completely

changed,” said Robert Puentes,

president of the Eno Center for

Transportation.

SEE MEMO ON B4

Historic

transit

crisis ahead

for region

Regional

Memo

ROBERT

MCCARTNEY

Bracing for students’ return

As colleges begin a new year, neighbors worry about additional coronavirus dangers

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST

BY PETER HERMANN

Months after a federal jury

found a man guilty of sex traffick-

ing and forcing women to prosti-

tute in the Logan Circle and Shaw

neighborhoods, authorities have

arrested another suspect in con-

nection with the case.

It is a sign that D.C. police and

the FBI are continuing efforts to

combat prostitution in downtown

Washington by targeting men

who they say use intimidation and

force to control women exchang-

ing sex for money in the District.

The latest arrest occurred Aug.

2, when members of the f ederal

Child Exploitation and Human

Trafficking Task Force — which

includes officers from the District

— took Anthony Gray, 37, of Clin-

ton into custody.

Gray, who court papers say is

known as “Playboy,” was charged

in U.S. District Court with sex

trafficking of a minor and racke-

teering, in addition to other

counts that include witness tam-

pering.

A federal magistrate judge or-

dered Gray detained after a hear-

ing in U.S. District Court on

Thursday.

At the hearing, Assistant U.S.

Attorney Amy E. Larson noted a

litany of prior arrests and convic-

tions, and the seriousness of the

current charges as they relate to

SEE CHARGES ON B3

2nd sex

trafficking

suspect is

charged

D.C. CRACKS DOWN

ON PROSTITUTION

Prosecutors say men

used force, intimidation

do more.

“When you know you can bring

that help, but you don’t have

enough time to get the certifica-

tion, it doesn’t make you feel

good,” she said. “I have to fight for

my life. I have to fight for my kids. I

don’t have time to study.”

Bambara is one of hundreds of

internationally trained health-

care providers who have worked

with Montgomery County’s Wel-

come Back Center to try to get the

certifications to resume work as a

registered nurse, physician or oth-

er medical provider in the United

States. During the pandemic,

many are especially frustrated

that they aren’t able to use all of

their medical skills to help.

Housed in Montgomery Coun-

ty’s Latino Health Initiative,

which addresses disparities af-

fecting Latinos in the county, the

Welcome Back Center began its

work 15 years ago over concerns

about the lack of Spanish-speak-

ing nurses in the county.

Each year, the center helps

about 100 medical workers from

SEE NURSES ON B4

BY DAN ROSENZWEIG-ZIFF

Elisabeth Bambara worked as a

nurse for 10 years in her native

Burkina Faso, but during a pan-

demic that has stretched hospitals

to their limits, she can’t work as

one in the United States.

Bambara has been trying to be-

come certified as a nurse in the

United States since she emigrated

from the West African nation a

decade ago. But the Montgomery

County resident has been juggling

working two jobs, raising three

daughters and studying for the

language and nursing exams that

she would have to take to practice

nursing here.

Ten years later, Bambara is

working the night shift as a nurs-

ing assistant at an assisted-living

facility — and wishing she could

Foreign-trained nurses

want to put skills to use

Montgomery center

helps health workers

obtain U.S. certifications

BILL O'LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST

TOP: Christy Dollymore on Aug. 7 outside her home i n College Park, where she lives with her husband and daughter. ABOVE: Asher Price,

left, and his roommates signed their lease before George Washington University said all their classes would move online this semester.

day morning.

Work for W ersick, who is a

master electrician, has been

slowed by the coronavirus pan-

demic, his attorney said in court

at an earlier bail review Tuesday.

He also suffers from chronic dia-

betes and colitis, she added.

In Wersick’s interview with de-

tectives, they allege in court re-

cords, he said he robbed the

banks because he was hungry and

had bills to pay. He is also sus-

pected of robbing a bank in

neighboring Prince George’s

County five years ago, police said

in court records.

In at least three r obberies, de-

tectives allege, Wersick pointed

his gun at bank employees while

implying he knew where they

lived and could hurt their fami-

lies. On Tuesday, he greeted a

teller by her first name, according

to prosecutors.

“‘I’ve been watching you,’ ” he

said, according to prosecutor

George Simms, who added, “He

personally menaced and threat-

ened a victim.”

Little could be learned about

Wersick or any relatives he may

have in the area. When detectives

SEE ROBBERIES ON B3

four years and resurfacing last

week.

J ames Clyde Wersick, 71, was

ordered held without bond

Thursday after police filed 16

felony counts against him on

accusations that he stole $52,334

from six banks in affluent parts of

Montgomery County, including at

the Potomac PNC Bank on Tues-

BY DAN MORSE

Police officer Mark Gribble

pulled into a shopping center

parking lot for the most routine of

patrol duties: checking in on mer-

chants at a shopping center in the

middle of Potomac.

Gribble’s police radio broke the

silence.

“Robbery. PNC Bank. 10150

River Road,” he heard. “The sub-

ject has a small gun.... Com-

plainant is hiding in the bath-

room.”

Gribble had worked the area

for 26 years. He knew he was just

100 yards away.

What he couldn’t have known

— but what would later become

the conclusion of detectives —

was that police finally caught an

aging, aggressive and armed

bank robber who had hit a spate

of area banks from 2012 to 2016

before apparently going silent for

Man arrested in series of bank heists

Caught after r obbery is

pulled 100 yards from

Montgomery officer

MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE

A surveillance image of a

man police identified as James

Wersick, 71, during a robbery a

number of years ago.