News

County has ticketed Advanced Towing multiple times for blocking fire hydrant, says it’s an “ongoing issue”

By Matt Blitz
Advanced Towing truck parked in front of a fire hydrant near N. Quincy Street (photo courtesy of Matthew Young/@matthewyoung31)

Citing an “ongoing issue,” Arlington County has ticketed Advanced Towing multiple times in recent weeks for blocking “the most famous fire hydrant in Arlington County.”

Trucks from the Ballston-based towing company have received multiple tickets, including one as recently as last week, for parking and blocking a fire hydrant near the corner of 5th Road N. and N. Quincy Street, a county official has confirmed to ARLnow. They were not able to provide the exact number of tickets, however.

That particular hydrant, dubbed “the most famous fire hydrant in Arlington County” by former local news reporter Dave Statter, is in the alleyway next to the company’s lot. A Twitter account is devoted to documenting illegal parking in front of the hydrant.

The county says that they have “received social media complaints and emails from an anonymous account holder” about the issue.

On Saturday afternoon, the fire marshal was sent to talk with Advanced Towing about the “ongoing issue,” per scanner audio posted on social media by Statter.

The result of the ensuing conversation between the fire marshal and Advanced Towing appears to have rectified the problem for now. A spokesperson for Advanced Towing tells ARLnow via email that they’ve stopped parking in front of that hydrant.

However, the company also argued that the fire hydrant is inactive, on their property, and other cars are parking illegally in the alleyway but are not being ticketed.

“I feel the tow trucks are the only ones with attention, tickets and complaints when the entire area is constantly full of illegally parked vehicles because there’s is no parking,” the spokesperson said, while also providing photos of supposedly illegally parked cars. “No tickets have been issued.”

County spokesperson Ben Aiken did confirm that the specific hydrant is “redundant for fire purposes” with another hydrant only a few feet away, but did say it is operational and maintained “for other reasons as part of the water system.” There are also no plans to remove it.

The issue of Advanced Towing trucks parking in front of that particular hydrant apparently has been ongoing since at least 2017 per Twitter user Advanced Towing Fire Hydrant.

While the company says the hydrant is on their property, the county noted that doesn’t give Advanced Towing — or any property owner — the right to park in front of a hydrant.

“The hydrant is located within 5th Rd. North right-of-way and parking is restricted within 15 feet of a fire hydrant,” Aiken wrote in an email.

Advanced Towing also complained about the lack of parking in the area, leaving their trucks often struggling to find spots near their lot, where vehicles towed for trespassing on private property are stored (and scene of a famous incident involving a television personality).

The company cited the move from free street parking to metered spots as well as the presence of the county-owned Mosaic Park as two main reasons for why parking is hard to come by in that corridor.

“This causes huge congestion on 5th Road and surrounding areas, therefore cars are parked illegally all day long. We will also be reporting every illegally parked vehicle we see,” they said via email. “This morning alone, there were 6 at one time, and not one was ticketed.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
“Colors creeping in with surprising, but not unwelcome speed along Arlington’s Bluemont Trail, with just a little bit of morning sun for highlighting.” (Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler)

Man Speeds Toward Pentagon Officers — “An Ethiopian man living in Virginia who allegedly yelled ‘F*** America’ and told officers ‘I hate America’ is accused of attempting to attack federal police officers outside the Pentagon last week… [the suspect], 36, allegedly drove through a security checkpoint outside the Pentagon on Friday, speeding over a second security barrier and forcing police to pull guns.” [CBS News]

Halloween Robberies in Crystal City — “At approximately 8:34 p.m. on October 31, police began receiving reports of robberies by force, larcenies and assaults within a close proximity to one another. A lookout for the two suspects was broadcast and responding officers located them in the area of S. Clark Street and 35th Street S. and took them into custody without incident. During the course of the investigation, it was determined the suspects allegedly approached victims, demanded their personal property and stole items to include a cell phone, purse and credit cards. Additionally, two cell phones were stolen from parked, unlocked vehicles.” [ACPD]

Clement Sees Potential Victory — “In her runs for County Board through the years, Audrey Clement once banked a little over 30 percent of the vote in a one-on-one showdown with Democrat Jay Fisette. Given opposition of some voters in North Arlington to the Missing Middle housing proposal, which will effectively eliminate single-family zoning in the county, she believes that, conservatively, she could improve her previous best by more than 10 percentage points.” [Sun Gazette]

Candidate: MM Will Win on Election Day — “‘What matters is the combined [vote] totals of myself and Mr. de Ferranti,” said [County Board candidate Adam] Theo, making his second bid for elected office. ‘It will be a majority, and I’m expecting it to be a supermajority, of voters who express support for Missing Middle.’ If so, ‘that should put a lid on Ms. Clement’s and Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future’s shameful misinformation campaign to scare homeowners for their own political gain.'” [Sun Gazette]

Notes on Portland and MM — “The data cited here on tree canopy in Portland predates our plex legalization, which may actually have a net benefit for tree canopy: – left max building footprint untouched in most situations – made driveways optional.” [Twitter]

Marymount Soccer in Championship — “The dream season continued on Wednesday night for Marymount men’s soccer as the Saints avenged their only conference loss to Centenary with a 1-0 win in the Atlantic East Tournament semifinals at Long Bridge Park.” [Marymount University, Twitter]

Zitkála-Ša Remembered — From Arlington National Cemetery: “During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the life and legacy of [Arlington resident] Zitkála-Ša, buried in Section 2. As an activist and writer, she led national efforts to secure voting rights and socioeconomic equality for American Indians.” [Twitter, Arlington National Cemetery]

It’s Thursday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 66 and low of 51. Sunrise at 7:39 am and sunset at 6:07 pm. [Weather.gov]

Photo by Tom Mockler

NEW: County Board says draft Missing Middle changes respond to community concerns

By Jo DeVoe
An duplex in Halls Hill while it was under construction (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County Board says a draft version of zoning changes that could allow Missing Middle housing types includes provisions that respond to community concerns raised this fall.

After contentious meetings this summer, the county hosted community conversations and information sessions to gather more feedback from residents and share more information about its proposal to allow “middle housing” types — ranging from duplexes to eight-plexes — in districts zoned for single-family homes.

The new draft document, released Monday night, allows the by-right construction of duplexes, three-unit townhouses and multifamily buildings with up to eight units on lots no larger than one acre in districts currently only zoned for single-family homes. (Lots greater than one acre would require the county’s site review process that incorporates public hearings.)

The new additions address the number of units allowed per lot, parking requirements, tree loss and the overall impact of Missing Middle on the pace of redevelopment, per a County Board letter to the Planning Commission describing the draft.

“The input from so many members of the Arlington community has shaped the options for text amendments that are now before you for consideration,” the Board letter says. “The Phase 3 Preliminary Policy Approaches and Considerations — options which this text could effectuate — reflect key areas of community feedback.”

Now, the Arlington County Board is set to decide whether density should be determined by the size of the lot, or if all lots should allow up to eight-unit buildings, as long as the building footprint does not exceed a certain level.

Missing Middle proponent Jane Green, representing YIMBYs for Northern Virginia, said the tiering proposal “is reasonable and codifies what would mostly happen based on the reality of building code restrictions.”

Another proponent, a longtime housing researcher Michael Spotts, said in a thread on Twitter that he prefers allowing eight-unit buildings everywhere, but the tiered option “seems flexible enough to enable MM while addressing concerns about massing on smaller lots.”

Regarding parking, there are new limits placed on the number of spots required per building that vary based on proximity to transit and whether the building is on a cul-de-sac.

The draft text would require at least .5 parking spaces per unit within a certain distance of transit, and at least one parking space per unit for dwellings on a cul-de-sac, regardless of proximity to transit.

For advocates, that’s too much parking. Spotts noted he thinks the parking standards are “a bit too high,” but, he added, “I like that they allow for administrative approval for off-street parking reductions if on-site parking is available. ”

This marks a departure from other municipalities that have already approved Missing Middle housing. Both Portland and Minneapolis removed parking minimums to encourage construction of these housing types.

Transit proximity map (via Arlington County)

As for trees, the draft proposes requiring at least one tree for every dwelling unit on a lot.

While Green and Spotts said the provision on trees highlights the county’s willingness to listen and change, Missing Middle opponents are not so sure.

“The new draft Missing Middle plan shows that the County Board is listening to its critics,” Green said. “It provides options that address tree canopy, the potential of limiting higher unit buildings to larger lots and adjusting parking requirements by proximity to transit.”

Anne Bodine, of Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, which opposes the proposal, said “it sounds good at first glance, but I’m not sure how it clicks with” state tree planting requirements.

Lastly, regarding the limits on the pace of development, staff have included “placeholder” language floating the idea of annual caps on development or neighborhood-based caps to prevent high concentrations of projects in some areas and little change in others.

That responds to concerns that neighborhoods with relatively less expensive homes and land values, such as Halls Hill, will see more development than more expensive neighborhoods further north.

But YIMBYs of NOVA is urging the county to adopt options providing “the fewest barriers to building new housing,” Green said.

“In particular, the County should reject options that allow caps on the number of units per year,” she said. “Addressing our housing crisis cannot wait.”

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JUST IN: Police investigating armed robbery at Clarendon Apple Store

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A man with a gun robbed the Apple Store in Clarendon around lunchtime today.

The robbery happened at the store at 2700 Clarendon Blvd just before 12:30 p.m. Initial reports suggest that a suspect in his 20s pulled out a gold-and-black gun with an extended magazine and demanded laptops, before fleeing with four bags of items.

“At approximately 12:27 p.m., police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery,” Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “Upon arrival, it was determined the suspect was inside a business when he brandished a firearm and demanded merchandise. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle with the stolen merchandise. The suspect is described as a Black male in his 20s. Police remain on scene investigating.”

The man fled east on Clarendon Blvd in an older model gold Cadillac sedan with Maryland tags, according to scanner traffic. The vehicle, the gun and the suspect seem to match a robbery at the Bethesda Row Apple Store on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 22.

Montgomery County police could be heard today discussing providing additional security for Apple Store locations there following the Clarendon robbery.

Hat tip to Alan Henney

A kid nearly fell through a rotting utility cover along Route 50

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

A few weeks ago, seven-year-old Desmond Kelly was walking to school when he stepped on a utility cover and it collapsed.

“I didn’t know what to do so I put my arms out,” he said. “I was pretty shocked and amazed that I was able to catch myself before my feet hit the bottom.”

The fall happened at the northeast corner of S. Glebe Road and Arlington Blvd (Route 50), near Alice West Fleet Elementary School. His mother, Genevieve, said her son’s feet never touched the ground because the hole was so deep.

“It turns out that the cover gave way under his small body weight because it was made of rotted wood,” she said. “My son was agile enough to stick his elbows out to prevent himself from falling all the way through to the bottom of the hole and possibly breaking a leg.”

When Desmond’s mother reached out to ARLnow over the weekend, she noted the utility cover had yet to be repaired, although the issue happened several weeks ago.

“And other covers nearby look like they are about to cave in,” she said, including the utility cover at the southeast corner of the same intersection.

This cover is an access point for an underground fiber cable. Arlington County has about 1,700 “handholes” for fiber cable and other electrical cables linked to things like traffic signals or streetlights.

For issues with publicly and privately owned handholes — which are typically small and shallow, allowing workers to reach in and access the cables inside — the county in part relies on residents noticing and reporting issues through its Report-a-Problem tool. Using the online form, people can also bring attention to potholes, street light outages and make other maintenance requests.

This utility cover in question belongs to FiberLight, according to the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services.

“When DES went out to inspect the area today, they placed the temporary metal cover and cones,” spokeswoman Katie O’Brien said. “FiberLight has been notified of the issue and are working with their contractor to repair it.”

DES also reached out to Level 3 Communications, the owner of the utility cover at the southeast corner of the eastbound on-ramp to Arlington Blvd, from S. Glebe Road, she said.

“The County has reached out to them and has requested that they inspect their cover and replace it if necessary,” she said.

People can report utility cover issues through the Report-a-Problem tool under “Utility Cover Damaged/Missing,” O’Brien said.

A screenshot of the Report-a-Problem tool (courtesy of Dept. of Environmental Services)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Workers taking a break at The Crossing Clarendon (photo courtesy George Brazier)

‘Insiders’ Don’t See Election Upset — “A consensus seems to have emerged that Democratic incumbent Matt de Ferranti should come away with victory in the Nov. 8 Arlington County Board race, yet likely will run below the traditional electoral majorities for Democrats in the county owing to a certain degree of public discontent.” [Sun Gazette]

Foggy Near-Miss on Key Bridge — A runner and a driver nearly collided yesterday morning at the Whitehurst Freeway entrance on the Key Bridge, in an encounter captured on video. [Twitter]

It’s Wednesday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 66 and low of 52. Sunrise at 7:38 am and sunset at 6:08 pm. [Weather.gov]

EXCLUSIVE: Opioid epidemic infiltrates Arlington Public Schools

By Jo DeVoe
Counterfeit OxyContin with fentanyl, also known as ‘blues’ (via Drug Enforcement Agency/Flickr)

(Updated 11/02/22 at 9:20 a.m.) “Do you know how it feels to look at your daughter when she can’t move her eyes?”

That’s an Arlington mother, who spoke to ARLnow on the condition of anonymity, about a recent fentanyl overdose her 13-year-old daughter survived. It happened off school grounds, but the mother believes her daughter took the drugs during school hours.

Parents and school community leaders who have spoken with ARLnow say that students in middle and high school are able to access counterfeit prescription oxycodone laced with fentanyl at or near schools.

The mother who spoke to ARLnow said her daughter started vaping nicotine and marijuana in middle school, and by the end of eighth grade, got a hold of counterfeit Percocet — a mixture of oxycodone and acetaminophen — cut with fentanyl.

“The only thing I want is for the parents to know that kids can get every kind of drug inside the schools,” she said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “I want them to be conscious and aware of what’s going on in the school. I don’t want other parents to go through what I went through and I want the schools to pay more attention.”

It has been difficult to quantify drug use among Arlington students. Parents fear parent-shaming — but the mother who spoke with ARLnow did say three other moms she knows are struggling with the same problems — and ARLnow couldn’t get data specific to drug overdoses involving minors.

The Arlington County Police Department provided the number of calls for service to Arlington Public Schools buildings involving reports of an overdose, which encompasses use of prescription drugs, illegal substances or alcohol.

The data shows there has been a relatively small but steady number of calls to buildings since 2018. Although there was a brief drop when schools were closed during the early stages of the pandemic, the rate hasn’t changed despite the decision to remove School Resource Officers from school grounds.

Overdose calls to Arlington Public Schools buildings (courtesy of ACPD)

“Overall, the volume of juvenile-involved opioid cases remains limited across Arlington, however, all cases involving opioids are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated,” ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage said.

Anecdotally, there were three overdoses last academic year, according to Elder Julio Basurto and Janeth Valenzuela, who founded Juntos en Justicia, an advocacy group representing Arlington’s Latino population. This school year, they have only heard of the overdose involving the 13-year-old girl mentioned earlier.

Basurto and Valenzuela noted that they have heard teens take the drugs in the bathrooms and distribute them in nearby parks and by vape shops near the schools.

“It’s getting out of hand,” Valenzuela said. “If we don’t do anything to correct this we’ll lose a generation.”

What’s going on

Basurto said he has heard different descriptions of what kids are taking, and that ambiguity is part of the problem.

“We can’t confirm exactly what it is,” he said. “Something they smoke, something square in their mouth, they get high off that.”

He described some students obtaining blue pills that are then crushed into aluminum foil. Those are counterfeit oxycodone pills, known as “blues” or “M30s.”

“The real concern, the real worry, is these counterfeit pressed pills,” says Jim Dooley, who has taught more than 900 Arlingtonians how to administer Narcan through the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative. “What kids are getting — and adults — in a large number of cases, are pills that look identical to commercially manufactured pills: Adderall for attention, Xanax for anxiety.”

(more…)

With one week to Election Day, challengers seek advantage and differentiation

By Jo DeVoe
Candidates for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District during a public forum in September (via Arlington County Civic Federation/Facebook)

It’s not easy to beat a Democratic incumbent or endorsee in deep blue Arlington, but independent and GOP candidates in local races are trying to find ways to do just that in the days approaching next week’s general election.

Rep. Don Beyer, who is running to be re-elected to Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, is trading political punches with his challenger Karina Lipsman over news of an investigation into one his staff members.

Barbara Hamlett, a scheduler for Beyer, allegedly reached out to other congressional aides to set up meetings with Chinese embassy members to discuss policy, National Review reported.

“From the moment he learned of these inappropriate activities, Rep. Beyer closely followed directions of security officials, and the staffer is no longer employed by his office,” Beyer spokesman Aaron Fritschner told ARLnow in a statement. “He has been and remains a prominent critic of China’s record on human rights, its threatening behavior towards Taiwan, and its totalitarian repression of its citizens.”

Hamlett “did not have any national security or foreign policy role or influence,” and “inappropriately tried to connect staff in Republican offices with Chinese Embassy staff without Rep. Beyer’s knowledge or consent,” Fritschner said.

ARLnow asked what additional steps Beyer’s office has considered taking to prevent this from happening again. Fritschner said all he can say is that “we are working with security officials to address the issue.”

Lipsman has called for Beyer’s removal from Congressional committees and for a Congressional investigation. Beyer sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.

“I have been part of investigations on sensitive national security subjects before, and it’s very clear to me that, based on what we know, this matter must be thoroughly investigated by Congress,” she said. “The extent of Beyer’s office’s ties to the Chinese government needs to be determined, so the level of national security risk can be determined. His office has clearly been compromised. Again, I’ve held top-level security clearances for years and this situation is well within my experience. It needs to be treated extremely seriously.”

Lipsman said she has served for 14 years in the U.S. defense and intelligence communities and has had security clearances “exceeding Top Secret.”

Fritschner said Lipsman’s “baseless, Trumpian insinuations are reminiscent of her previous declaration that ‘Fauci should be jailed.'”

“Lipsman’s unserious demands are a ploy for attention and money, not a genuine concern about national security, which is why she is fundraising off them,” he said. “In reality, when she was busy scrubbing mentions of her opposition to abortion rights from her website in August, Congressman Beyer was in Taiwan standing with our allies in defense of freedom. Lipsman would rather make political hay out of this than talk about her backing for House Republican leadership which wants to wreck the economy, make inflation worse, cut Social Security and Medicare, and cut off support for Ukraine. We are confident that Northern Virginians will see through her.”

The back-and-forth comes a week before the election. This year, registered voters in Arlington can cast their ballots for the Arlington County Board, School Board and Virginia’s 8th Congressional district, as well as six local bond referenda totaling $510 million. For those who are still on the fence, ARLnow will publish, as we do every local election cycle, candidate essays on Friday.

Early voting numbers are down compared with 2021. As of the end of the day yesterday (Monday), about 11,600 people had voted, Arlington Director of Elections Gretchen Reinemeyer said. That tracks with the muted start to early voting in September.

“On average, we’ve been slightly slower than last year’s election,” she said.

A week prior to the election last year, about 15,400 people had voted.

(more…)

Groups of teens cause minor mayhem in three weekend incidents

By ARLnow.com
Response to fight at the Pentagon City mall (photo courtesy Alan Henney)

Groups of teens were behind some chaotic scenes in Arlington over the weekend.

The latest Arlington County Police Department crime report has three separate items involving groups of juveniles. The first two incidents happened in Pentagon City, at or near the mall.

The first happened late Friday afternoon, when a group of suspects allegedly threatened a security guard during a shoplifting attempt. Three suspects — ages 18 and 19 — were arrested on assault charges.

ASSAULT BY MOB, 2022-10280198, 1200 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 4:21 p.m. on October 28, police were dispatched to the report of an assault by mob. Upon arrival, it was determined a Loss Prevention Officer observed a female subject allegedly conceal a pair of sunglasses before confronting her and recovering the merchandise. A group of male suspects with the female subject then approached the Loss Prevention Officer and allegedly made verbal threats while at least one of the suspects displayed a knife. No injuries were reported. The suspects fled the scene prior to the arrival of police and responding officers located three suspects in the area. Suspect One ignored the commands of officers, resisted arrest and was taken into custody with the assistance of additional arriving officers. During a search of Suspect Two incident to arrest, a folding knife was recovered.

The crime report notes that “all three suspects were released on unsecured bonds.”

That night, police responded to Washington-Liberty High School for a report of four teens sneaking into the football game against McLean (W-L won 43-13), running through the stands and twice pushing someone to the ground. The bike-riding, ski-mask-wearing suspects fled the scene and police are still investigating.

From ACPD:

ASSAULT BY MOB, 2022-10280255, 1300 block of N. Stafford Street. At approximately 9:10 p.m. on October 28, police were dispatched to the report of a fight. Upon arrival, it was determined four unknown juvenile suspects climbed a fence and entered the stands of the stadium. As the suspects were running through the stands, they knocked the male [victim] to the ground twice before fleeing the scene. The victim refused medics on scene. The suspects are described as males wearing black hoodies and ski masks and riding bicycles. The investigation is ongoing.

The next day, around 5:30 p.m., a report of groups of teens fighting inside the food court at the Pentagon City mall drew a large police response.

One girl who was wanted in D.C. was arrested and now faces additional charges after allegedly assaulting police.

ASSAULT & BATTERY ON POLICE, 2022-10290193, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 5:32 p.m. on October 29, police responded to the report of a fight involving groups of juveniles inside a food court. Responding officers separated the groups and no significant injuries were reported related to the fight. During the course of the investigation, one juvenile was determined to be wanted out of Washington D.C. and she assaulted officers as they attempted to detain her. She was taken into custody and petitions for Assault on Police were obtained.

The police response to that incident was noted on social media.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Bluemont Halloween parade (Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler)

Candidates Compete on Missing Middle — “Clement — who declined to state her age — lives in the exact type of housing that might be legalized across Arlington under the framework: She rents a one-bedroom in an eightplex in Westover. The software developer said she would only support adding density along transit corridors, citing concerns about how missing middle housing will jeopardize Arlington’s tree canopy and strain county infrastructure.” [Washington Post]

‘Missing Middle’ Fight in Raleigh, N.C. — “A stately home, built almost a century ago, is set to be knocked down for new construction. The news is incensing nearby homeowners who feel it’s being developed under a guise… 17 high-end townhomes are being proposed on the near 2-and-a-half acre property… ‘Seventeen times $2 million, is not going to meet the need that we have for high-density properties, high-density living. It’s not going to solve a problem that we have,’ said Pitler.” [ABC 11]

Snow Days Are Back — “In case you thought past experience with remote learning – month after month after month of it for Arlington students during COVID lockdowns – would allow school leaders to keep classes going despite the wrath of Mother Nature, think again. Arlington Public Schools will be able to use up to seven days’ worth of instructional time as snow days before reverting to a ‘virtual’ setting this winter, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Oct. 27.” [Sun Gazette]

No Elementary Boundary Changes — “Give thanks for small favors: There will be no boundary-change process for Arlington’s elementary schools this fall, as had been planned. ‘There is not a need,’ Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Oct. 27, calling the current enrollment levels at most elementary schools ‘manageable at this time.'” [Sun Gazette]

Dulles Metro Opening Mid-Month — “Phase two of the Silver Line will officially open on Tuesday, Nov. 15, Metro announced today. The long-delayed, 11.4-mile extension will bring six stations from Reston through Loudoun County. An opening date has been anticipated for months.” [FFXnow]

It’s Tuesday — Cloudy in the morning, then becoming partly cloudy. High of 69 and low of 57. Sunrise at 7:37 am and sunset at 6:09 pm. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler

ACPD: Pentagon police officer was dealing cocaine in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Eric Welch (photo courtesy ACPD)

A Pentagon police officer has been arrested by Arlington County police and charged with selling cocaine.

ACPD says it received a tip about “a suspect possibly distributing cocaine in Arlington County” and subsequently caught the officer, a 33-year-old Alexandria resident, buying “narcotics for distribution.” He was arrested on the 1300 block of S. Scott Street, which corresponds to The Wellington apartment complex along Columbia Pike.

More from an ACPD press release, below.

The Arlington County Police Department has arrested and charged an off-duty Pentagon Force Protection Agency police officer following a narcotics investigation. Eric Welch, 33, of Alexandria, VA was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance and Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance while Armed. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility.

Organized Crime Section detectives initiated a narcotics investigation after receiving information regarding a suspect possibly distributing cocaine in Arlington County. During the course of the investigation, detectives identified Welch as a suspect and obtained evidence confirming involvement in narcotics distribution. He was taken into custody on the afternoon of October 28 in the 1300 block of S. Scott Street after detectives observed him purchase narcotics for distribution. A firearm was recovered at the scene. A search warrant was subsequently executed at the suspect’s residence in Alexandria which resulted in the recovery of additional quantiles of narcotics and firearms. As a result, City of Alexandria Police charged Welch with Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance (x2) and Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substance while Armed.

This remains an active criminal investigation. Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Tip Line at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

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