Gang Leader “McLovin” Pleads Guilty to Multiple Attacks in DC

There’s nothing remotely humorous about the violent street gang whose leader adopted the moniker McLovin, presumably from a character in the movie Superbad.

McLovin in the 2007 movie was a hapless teenager who tagged along with the main characters, scored liquor with a fake driver’s license, and wound up joy-riding along with two rogue cops, played by Seth Rogen and Bill Hader.

McLovin in DC is a thug whose street gang, Show Out, cornered and beat up random pedestrians in downtown streets and Metro stops last year.

Bernard Trowell, a.k.a. McLovin, pleaded guilty Tuesday along with five gang members to crimes that included beatings, attempted robberies, and obstructing justice, according to US Attorney Ronald Machen and police chief Cathy Lanier. They rampaged through Adams Morgan, Chinatown, and H Street in the first six months of 2012.

For example:

• All six defendants admitted to assaulting a man at 3:25 AM on June 6, 2012, as he approached a bus stop at the 600 block of H Street, Northeast. They threw him to the ground, punched and kicked him, and stole his cell phone and bank card. “He was treated for a concussion, a broken nose, and bruises to the head, face, and torso,” prosecutors said.

• Crew members approached a man walking to work the same morning near Second and K streets, Northwest. Gang member Deandre Williams beat him up. Police said the victim “was given stitches to close a bleeding laceration to the side of his face.”

• James Matheny, another gang member, posted on his Facebook page an audio recording in which he rapped that a Show Out member he accused of “snitching” would be shot “on sight.”

Police indicated the gang was responsible for many more “flash mob” attacks in and around Chinatown.

All six gang members pleaded guilty in Superior Court. They face sentencing May 10 and remain in custody.

About the only thing McLovin in the movie has in common with Trowell is that they’re both teenagers. Trowell is 19.

Harry Jaffe