arrest

EXCLUSIVE: Bystanders Take Down Would-Be Thieves on Metro

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) A group of bystanders helped out a Metro rider last night (Tuesday) by tracking down and detaining three men who allegedly tried stealing a woman’s cell phone.

Springfield resident Jonathan Jackson says he was riding the Blue Line home around 7:00 p.m., when he noticed a man acting suspiciously. When the doors opened at Arlington Cemetery, the situation grew weirder.

“All of a sudden we saw this guy weaving in and out of the train cars,” Jackson said. “He ran into our car and then ran into the next car down.”

Just as the chimes were ringing for the doors to close, Jackson says a woman ran out of the train yelling that the man had stolen her phone. That’s when Jackson ran off the train and onto the platform trying to find the accused thief. He saw that farther down the platform, several people had tackled the man.

“At that point, I thought the best thing I can do is call the cops,” said Jackson.

Jackson called 911 while others detained the alleged thief.

“It really was a team effort, but nobody even knew each other,” said Jackson.

Jackson says for a while, two other men, who appeared to be the alleged thief’s friends, tried freeing him while he was being held on the ground. After a few minutes, however, they took off. Jackson believes bystanders followed the friends and pointed them out to police, because they were detained along with the accused thief.

Metro Transit Police were the arresting officers, and they were assisted by Arlington County Police. According to WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel, the accused thief is 17 -years-old, and has been charged with robbery. Police talked to the other two people who were detained because they matched witness descriptions, but both were released.

“We’ve had a few snatch robbery events this year where witnesses or victims chased after the criminal,” Stessel said. “But it’s not something we encourage because of the potential of injury. It’s always best to let the property go. This one has a happy ending, we’re certainly happy for that.”

Jackson believes the train driver must have seen what was going on, because he kept the doors open while bystanders ran down the platform to catch the alleged thief. The train reportedly ended up holding at the station for about 10 minutes, until police arrived and were able to make arrests.

Although he has heard of people having their electronic devices stolen on the Metro, Jackson said it was far different to witness it. While he obviously can’t say for certain, he said it didn’t seem like this was a one time incident.

“It seemed like it was pretty well coordinated,” Jackson said. “But they just didn’t anticipate a group of people stepping in.”

There are no reports of injuries from the incident.

Man Stabbed During Street Fight Near Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) A man nearly died after being stabbed multiple times with a broken beer bottle early this morning.

The incident happened around 1:00 a.m. on the 1200 block of S. Scott Street, in front of the Wellington apartments, near Columbia Pike. Police say seven men had been drinking when a fight broke out between two of them in the middle of the street.

During the fight, one of the men was stabbed multiple times with a broken beer bottle. The man suffered stab wounds to his groin, leg and throat, and an arterial cut to his arm. The latter wound gushed blood, and police say all seven men were covered in blood by the time officers arrived on scene.

Officers arrived, secured the scene, and quickly applied a tourniquet to the wounded man, likely saving his life, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The victim was transported to George Washington University Hospital in critical but stabilized condition. Three other men were treated and released from Virginia Hospital Center. Among them, one man required stitches above the eye and staples to the head to close lacerations caused by a beer bottle.

Two men have been charged with assault by mob, Sternbeck said. Another man, 27-year-old Onon Turmandakh of Arlington, was charged with malicious wounding and assault by mob.

‘Bait Car’ Video Shows Arrests of Would-Be Thieves

By Katie Pyzyk

The Arlington County Police Department has released video showing would-be thieves getting arrested after getting into a police bait car.

According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, Arlington was the first jurisdiction in the D.C. metro to start using bait cars, back in 2002. Since its inception, the bait car program has helped police levy 200 criminal charges, with a 100 percent conviction rate.

When a potential thief enters the car, it triggers an alarm that signals police, and the hidden camera starts recording. Sternbeck said most of the individuals are startled when approached by an arresting officer, and are usually compliant.

Police target certain parts of the county based on crime rates, and use vehicles popular with car thieves. The program is fully funded through insurance companies.

The youngest individual police have picked up in Arlington for allegedly attempting to steal a vehicle was 10-years-old. The youngest caught allegedly attempting to steal items from inside the vehicle was 7-years-old.

UPDATED: Seven Recent Grads Arrested at Wakefield High

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 9:50 a.m.) Seven recent Wakefield High School (4901 S. Chesterfield Road) graduates were arrested at the school around 5:15 this morning.

Police were called after a security guard spotted individuals on the roof. During their investigation, police found that the four adults and three juveniles had climbed onto the roof via a pole on the outside of the school, and proceeded to drink beer on the roof.

The former students, who graduated on Wednesday, June 20, tried to flee the scene. One of the subjects attempted to resist arrest and engaged in a physical altercation with an officer. He was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, but has since been released back into police custody for questioning.

According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, this incident has similarities to one last week on the second floor of the school, which resulted in vandalism.  K9 units were brought in to investigate today’s incident, but no vandalism was discovered. The former students are in custody speaking with detectives to see if they have information about last week’s incident. However, Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia says there was no vandalism last week, somebody simply set off a fire extinguisher.

“It’s just a poor decision on their behalf, to bring alcohol onto the school property and drink,” Sternbeck said. “They weren’t here to vandalize the property, they were just here to have a good time, but it was a poor decision making process.”

All the subjects will be charged with trespassing, and the adults will be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“It’s an unfortunate incident,” said Bellavia. “They made a poor decision.”

It’s unclear if there will be any sort of punishment issued by APS. Bellavia said system officials will have to look into the incident, because the subjects are no longer students.

Lyon Park Resident Arrested for Firing Bullet

By ARLnow.com

A Lyon Park resident has been arrested and accused of firing a bullet that whizzed by a man’s head.

Police say Laselle Booker, 57, was armed when he was arrested at his home on the 700 block of N. Edgewood Street. Booker is charged with attempted malicious wounding and reckless discharge of a firearm in public following a bizarre alleged incident that ended in the early morning hours of Friday, May 25.

According to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, Booker had earlier approached a man at a gas station in D.C. and wrote him a check for $500, claiming he was on a mission to help less fortunate people and had been told by God to write the check.

The man then drove Booker to his Lyon Park home, and Booker subsequently offered to let him stay in his guestroom, according to Sternbeck. The men had a four hour conversation at the house, which investigators say eventually escalated into an argument in the home’s front yard. Booker is alleged to have asked for the check back, writing a $50 check instead after the victim asked for money for a hotel.

The victim became “agitated” at that point, Sternbeck said, and eventually Booker took out a .40 caliber handgun and pulled the trigger several times, without actually firing the gun, investigators say. He then racked the gun’s slide and fired a round that whizzed by the victim’s head, according to Sternbeck. The victim fled the scene and called police.

Booker had the weapon in his possession when he was arrested just after 4:30 a.m., according to Sternbeck. As of this afternoon he remains in custody.

Woman Wakes Up to Find Neighbor Having Sex with Her

By ARLnow.com

A woman says woke up after a day of drinking to find a neighbor having sex with her as her boyfriend slept on a couch nearby.

The alleged incident happened early Sunday morning on the 300 block of N. Oxford Street in Ashton Heights. Police say the female victim and her boyfriend had been drinking earlier in the day at a cookout attended by some residents of their apartment complex. The pair later returned to their apartment and fell asleep on the couch.

According to police, the woman reported that she woke up in the middle of the night to find herself lying on the floor with someone having sexual intercourse with her. In the dark, the woman initially thought the individual was her boyfriend, but then discovered that it was the resident of a neighboring apartment who was on top of her, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The woman and the neighbor were acquainted and had met at the cookout earlier in the day, Sternbeck said. The woman’s boyfriend was reportedly sleeping on the couch next to her and only woke up after the alleged incident.

Arlington resident Federico Alfonso Umana Barrera, 35, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and forgery of a public document.

Update at 9:20 on 5/15/12 — Barrera has now been charged with rape, according to Sternbeck.

Police: Man Sent Ex-Girlfriend Topless Photo of Herself

By ARLnow.com

Update on 10/11/12 — Frye has been convicted of unlawful filming but acquitted of unlawful entry.

An Arlington man has been arrested after police say he sent his ex-girlfriend an authorized photo he took of her topless.

In addition to sending the topless photo, police say the suspect made more than 50 attempts to contact the woman over the weekend, via both phone calls and text messages, and then broke into her Ballston apartment early Sunday morning and started banging on her bedroom door.

The woman called police and the man, identified as 27-year-old Trevor Frye, was later arrested at his residence, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck

Frye is also accused of “yelling inappropriate comments” outside the woman’s apartment. He was held without bond.

Crime Report: Pulling Guns on the Ritz

By ARLnow.com

(Updated on 12/23/21 at 11:10 a.m.) A man was arrested outside the Pentagon City Ritz-Carlton hotel early Wednesday morning after police say he became upset at the hotel’s rates and brandished two handguns.

The incident started around 1:30 a.m. when the intoxicated man entered the luxury hotel, asked for a room, and became incensed at the high rates, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The man also asked whether he could be served alcohol, but was denied, Sternbeck said.

The man then left the hotel and allegedly brandished two handguns when confronted by a security guard. Police were called and the man was taken into custody by officers with their guns drawn. Police recovered two guns, each with rounds in the magazine and the safeties off, according to Sternbeck. Police say one of the guns, a .45-caliber pistol, was cocked and loaded.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

BRANDISHING A FIREARM, 05/09/12, 1200 block of S. Hayes Street. On May 9 at 1:30 am, a subject under the influence of alcohol and upset with hotel rates, brandished two handguns towards a security guard. [Name redacted], 29, of Centreville, VA, was arrested and charged with brandishing a firearm, reckless handling of a firearm and drunk in public.

Weekday rates for the hotel posted online range from $339.00 to $669.00 per night.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

EXCLUSIVE: Brandon Meriweather Arrested by ACPD

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 8:35 p.m.) Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather was arrested on suspicion of DWI by Arlington County police early this morning, ARLnow.com has learned exclusively.

Meriweather was initially stopped for speeding on westbound I-66 in the area of N. Ohio Street at 2:54 a.m., according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Officers detected an odor of alcohol on his breath and performed a field sobriety test, which Meriweather failed, Sternbeck said.

The two-time Pro Bowl strong safety refused a breathalyzer test, was arrested and spent the night in the Arlington County jail, according to Sternbeck. Police say Meriweather claimed he was driving home from a club in D.C., but couldn’t remember the name of the club.

After starting his pro football career with the New England Patriots in 2007, Meriweather spent last season with the Chicago Bears before signing a two year, $6 million contract with the Redskins on March 15, 2012.

Metrobus Driver Arrested for Assaulting Passenger

By ARLnow.com

A Metrobus driver was arrested on Friday after allegedly assaulting a passenger in Courthouse.

The incident happened around 3:45 p.m. near Courthouse Plaza, on the 38B bus from Ballston to Farragut Square.

“An adult male passenger reported that the bus operator of the 38B bus physically removed him from the bus in the 2300 block of Clarendon Boulevard, following an altercation,” Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato told ARLnow.com. The passenger suffered a broken arm and was taken to a local hospital.

“The bus operator continued on his route and reported the incident to his supervisor. He was asked to hold his bus at the Pentagon, where he was arrested,” Asato said. “The operator has been with Metro since Sept. 2000. He is currently on paid administrative leave.”

No word yet on whether charges have been formally filed against the bus driver.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Defibrillator’s Batteries Weren’t Charged — Metro General Manager Richard Sarles has ordered a review of the agency’s automated external defibrillator (AED) program after it was revealed that the AED used to try to revive a man suffering a heart attack at the Pentagon Metro station on Monday had “insufficient battery charge.” The man later died. [Dr. Gridlock]

Favola Gets Top Business Rating — State Sen. Barbara Favola was the most “business-friendly” member of the Arlington legislative delegation in 2012, according to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. During her recent campaign Favola was criticizing for taking big donations from real estate developers. [Sun Gazette]

Clock Ticking for River Place Owners — It may be 40 years away, but owners of the 1,720 co-ops and apartments at River Place in Rosslyn may no longer have a home after 2052. That’s because the sprawling residential complex sits on land that the River Place Owner’s Association doesn’t own, but rather leases from an estate. [UrbanTurf]

Man Chases iPad Thief at Airport Metro Station — An alleged 18-year-old thief was eventually apprehended after he reportedly stole an iPad from an auxiliary police officer on a Metro train at Reagan National Airport. The auxiliary cop, whose day job is at the Pentagon, chased the thief and was able to get his iPad back. [Washington Post]

Teen Job Fair This Weekend — The 16th annual Arlington Teen Summer Expo is being held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The event brings Arlington teens, businesses and non-profits together to help teens find “the perfect summer job or volunteer experience.” [Arlington Teen Summer Expo]

View More Stories