If you’re looking to spice up your love life for Valentine’s Day, some Arlington residents have a very simple request: please don’t do it on 4th Street S. in the Glencarlyn neighborhood.
Used condoms and smutty doorbell camera footage are evidence of the dead-end street’s transformation into a defacto lover’s lane. It’s not the kind of crime that will make regional news, but at least one resident on 4th Street said it’s been frustrating for locals.
On the surface, 4th Street S. west of S. Carlin Springs Road seems to have all the hallmarks of a quiet car rendezvous spot. It’s a dead end road with a boarded-up house on one side at the end of the street, and the other’s view obscured by trees. Potential in-vehicle exhibitionists are warned, however, the end of the street is within a stone’s throw of Carlin Springs Elementary School.
The resident — we’re not using his name — said he suspects the most likely culprits are local high school students. A few days ago, his daughter was alarmed to step outside and catch a pair mid-coitus. The resident’s doorbell camera caught the lovers in action, and when he saw the car parked on the block again he confronted a male driver, who initially denied it but when told there was a video of his car, fled.
While police scanner traffic suggested that this has been an issue before, Arlington County Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage said there’s only one call for service on record.
“At approximately 1:49 p.m. on January 28, the Emergency Communications Center received a report of a sex offense in the 5900 block of 4th Street S.,” Savage said in an email. “The caller reported two subjects allegedly having sex inside a parked vehicle. The vehicle and subjects had since left the scene. The reporting party was outside the County at the time of the call and advised to call back when he returned home.”
If a similar incident happens on your block, Savage said residents should report suspicious activity to police by calling the non-emergency line at 703-558-2222.