A former board president of the Arlington Aquatic Club pled guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit several children.
Mark Black, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement one month before he was set to go to trial in federal court on Feb. 27, according to a press release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
He is set to be sentenced on April 30 and faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.
From January 2018 to October 2021, Black was part of two groups that found prepubescent girls online and convinced them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct, the release says. Black and his co-conspirators would secretly record so they could share the videos with each other.
Last November, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Black with six counts of creating, advertising, distributing and receiving child pornography between 2018 and 2023.
Black was one board president of AAC, an elite swimming program notable for producing a Tokyo Olympian two summers ago, and also worked as a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney.
More, below, from the Justice Department press release.
A Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney pleaded guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.
According to court documents, between January 2018 and October 2021, Mark Black, 50, of Arlington, was a member of two online groups dedicated to exploiting children. The goal of the two groups was to locate prepubescent girls online and convince them to livestream themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Black and his co-conspirators would covertly record this conduct and share the videos with each other.
In July 2019, Black induced a prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct on a live-streaming application while screen-recording that activity. That same month, Black and a co-conspirator also groomed another prepubescent minor to engage in sexually explicit acts on a photo and video-sharing application. The co-conspirator surreptitiously hacked into this girl’s live-video feed and recorded the sexual acts before sending them to Black.
Black was formerly the Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president.
Black pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30 and faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Michael D. Nordwall, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; and Shimon Richmond, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations of the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Halper and Trial Attorneys McKenzie Hightower, Kaylynn Foulon, and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. […]
Any individuals who believe they or someone they know may have been victimized by Black are encouraged to contact the FBI at 202-278-2000 and ask to speak to the Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
“When my term ends in December, it will be 28 years of elected public service and about 17 primaries and general campaigns,” she said. “I’m loving this work. I love working with the staff, my colleagues and the residents. I mean, that’s the best part of this job, in many ways, but at this point, both my head and my heart are telling me it’s time I passed the baton.”
Garvey was first elected to the County Board in 2012, after previously serving on the Arlington School Board.
Continuing the relay analogy, Garvey says she intends “to sprint to the finish” and looks forward to accomplishing more for Arlington in the next 11 months, including leading the newly unveiled 2050 visioning process — a sweeping public engagement opportunity to envision what the county should look like in 26 years — and making Arlington more energy resilient.
“There will be time for more proper thank-yous and acknowledgments in the future,” she added in a statement to people who subscribe to her monthly newsletter, issued shortly after her announcement. “Please know that my friends and supporters have made it possible for me to do this work, which I love. And I look forward, as always, to your thoughts and suggestions as I continue to work for Arlington throughout this year.”
The acknowledgements have already started, however.
“We would like to thank Libby Garvey for her years of service on the County Board,” the Arlington County Democratic Committee said, in a statement posted on social media. “We know she’ll keep working for Arlington the rest of her term and beyond.”
So far, there are three candidates who have stepped up to fill her place, all vying to be the Democratic nominee selected in a primary this June.
Natalie Roy, who made her debut last election cycle on an anti-Missing Middle platform and received an endorsement from Garvey, is running for the second time. First-time candidate Julie Farnam, an Arlington Ridge Civic Association board member, is campaigning on improving public safety and taking what she calls a “smart” approach to planning and growth.
James DeVita, who ran for State Senate last election cycle, has also thrown his hat into the ring, according to Virginia Public Access Project.
Garvey’s decision follows that of fellow former County Board colleagues Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol, who both announced last year they would not seek re-election. Cristol made her exit before her term ended while Dorsey saw out the end of his term.
Police detouring drivers prior to crash on I-66 (staff photo)
Emergency vehicles responding to I-66 crash
(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) A multi-vehicle crash with injuries and at least one person reported to be trapped blocked all westbound lanes of I-66 in Arlington this afternoon.
The crash happened around 2:15 p.m. near the exit to Langston Blvd and Spout Run. The person trapped has since been freed by firefighters, according to scanner traffic.
At least four vehicles, including one that overturned, appear to be involved.
Backups on westbound I-66 extended to Rosslyn, while eastbound traffic was also backed up at the crash scene. Police detoured westbound drivers onto Langston Blvd. At least one eastbound lane remained blocked as of 3 p.m.
Shortly before 4 p.m., VDOT said that all lanes were back open.
(Updated at 11:30 p.m.) A large explosion, heard throughout Arlington, has rocked the Bluemont neighborhood after a police standoff.
A duplex, where a suspect was involved in an ongoing incident with police, exploded in a massive fireball as police, including a SWAT armored vehicle, moved in. It followed the suspect repeatedly firing a flare gun over nearby Fields Park.
Residents in the area were being instructed to shelter in place, while others were evacuated by police.
Arlington County police said the person inside the house fired shots as officers tried to enter the home, just before the explosion. A video, below, shows the explosion (the video contains strong language and disturbing imagery.)
“As officers were attempting to execute a search warrant at the residence, the suspect discharged several rounds inside the home,” said ACPD. “Subsequently, an explosion occurred at the residence and officers continue to investigate the circumstances of the explosion.”
“I think it blew up the entire duplex,” one neighbor told ARLnow in the immediate aftermath. “I’m sure the family next door was evacuated before it blew up but they lost their home.”
Firefighters were still working to extinguish small residual fires from the resulting blaze as of 11:30 p.m., three hours after the explosion. Investigators — including from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — are on scene.
Paramedics were initially told to expect “multiple burn patients” after the explosion, but police said around 9:30 p.m. that officers on scene only “reported minor injuries with no one transported to the hospital.”
Numerous residents described the shock of the huge blast to ARLnow.
One said the explosion “literally shook my bed” and described an “acrid stench” afterward.
Another said he was in the shower at the time.
“It shook my entire house and I didn’t know what it was at first,” said Dave Tran. “So I ran outside and I saw… the entire house was just leveled.”
Alex Wilson, the neighbor who took the video seen above — and shared worldwide on social media tonight — told ARLnow that the resident of the home was firing a rifle at police as they used the SWAT vehicle to try to get inside.
“When they rammed the front door he started firing an AR back at them,” he said. Wilson said he saw at least one officer injured following the explosion.
“He was able to walk but he was like holding his head,” said Wilson.
A Muslim group’s planned banquet in Arlington has been cancelled after it says the hotel received “multiple terror threats.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was scheduled to hold its 29th annual banquet Saturday night at the Crystal Gateway Marriott at 1700 Richmond Highway.
“CAIR has hosted banquets there annually for over ten years,” the group said tonight (Thursday) in a press release. “In recent days, according to the Marriott, anonymous callers have threatened to plant bombs in the hotel’s parking garage, kill specific hotel staff in their homes, and storm the hotel in a repeat of the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol if the events moved forward.”
“Law enforcement authorities and the FBI have been notified of the terror threats. The FBI has confirmed to CAIR that it is investigating the reported threats,” the press release continued. “The terror threats came after CAIR updated its original banquet programming to focus on the work needed to support basic Palestinian human rights.”
CAIR says it “plans to proceed with [the] banquet at an alternate secure location with heightened security.” A separate banquet planned for Oct. 28 in Maryland “will also be cancelled as a precaution and merged into the Oct. 21st event.”
The banquets were billed as “a night of solidarity with Palestine,” amid the Israel-Hamas war.
“We strongly condemn the extreme and disgusting threats against our organization, the Marriott hotel and its staff,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “We will not allow the threats of anti-Palestinian racists and anti-Muslim bigots who seek to dehumanize the Palestinian people and silence American Muslims to stop us from pursuing justice for all.”
“We ask all those who value free speech, human rights and justice to support CAIR’s work today to show hateful extremists that they will not succeed in silencing us and will only make our voices stronger, God willing,” Awad added.
An Arlington-based conservative media outlet wrote Tuesday that the banquet was “generating concerns among pro-Israel advocates, who say the hotel chain has a responsibility to stop its venues from being used to foment anti-Israel fervor.”
The United States has seen heightened incidents of bigotry and violence against Muslims and Jews since the war’s outbreak, which started with a surprise Hamas attack that killed more than 1,000 in Israel. The Israeli airstrikes since then have killed several thousand in Gaza, Palestinian authorities say.
Among the incidents was the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois. He was buried Monday after, authorities say, he was stabbed to death by a landlord who was “obsessed with the war between Hamas and Israel.”
Wakefield High School entrance in February 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A 19-year-old man and a teen boy are facing charges after two girls overdosed at Wakefield High School last week.
Police and medics responded to the school just before 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27 for a report of a critical overdose. A student in the school clinic was going in and out of consciousness and Narcan was administered ahead of the arrival of first responders, according to scanner traffic.
Arlington County police said today that the overdose patient was a teen girl, who was transported to a local hospital along with a second overdose patient, also a teen girl. Both “have since recovered,” ACPD said in a press release.
An investigation into the overdose led police to arrest Walter Zelaya Padilla, a 19-year-old Fairfax resident, and a teen boy who lives in Arlington. They’re facing a battery of charges, with police saying that Padilla supplied fentanyl to the teen, who then gave or sold it to the victims.
The drug distribution happened within a school zone, APCD said.
In January, 14-year-old Sergio Flores died after overdosing in a Wakefield High School bathroom. In March, several Washington-Liberty High School students overdosed in the Ballston mall parking garage. Last month, another Wakefield student was found dead at an apartment building in what one elected official and a local advocacy group described as an overdose, though an official cause of death has yet to be determined.
If the student’s death last month is confirmed as an overdose, it would be at least the 11th reported juvenile overdose in Arlington County — fatal and non-fatal — so far this year, factoring the two last week and official numbers provided to ARLnow by the county earlier in September.
More on the drug arrests, below, via an ACPD press release.
Power outage map as of 2:15 p.m. on Aug. 22 (via Dominion)
(Updated at 9:15 p.m.) Thousands were without power in and around Crystal City and Pentagon City for much of the day due to a widespread outage.
The outage was first reported just after 11:15 a.m. Arlington County firefighters investigated a possible underground explosion and treated a Dominion worker with burns from steam that came out of a manhole, according to scanner traffic.
“At 11:18 a.m. a splice in an underground cable failed causing an arc/flash and 10,000+ outages in Crystal City, Pentagon City & nearby neighborhoods,” Dominion spokeswoman Peggy Fox told ARLnow shortly before 4 p.m. “We’re working to have all customers restored as quickly as possible, hopefully in a half an hour. A worker was treated at the scene and released.”
ACFD also responded to a large quantity of stuck elevator calls in the area, owing to the outage.
More than 10,250 Dominion customers were without power as a result of the outage. The outage map extended into the Aurora Highlands and Arlington Ridge residential neighborhoods, including Oakridge Elementary.
Arlington’s parks department closed the Long Bridge Aquatic and Fitness Center and the Gunston Community Center due to the outage.
As of 5:15 p.m., Dominion said all but 1,229 customers had their power restored, with outages still reported along Crystal Drive by ARLnow readers. As of 9 p.m. all customers had been restored, per Dominion.
High water in the roadway on Columbia Pike at S. Greenbrier Street
High water in the roadway on Columbia Pike at S. Greenbrier Street
Tornado and Flash Flood Warnings as of 4:20 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2023
(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) A Tornado Warning was issued for part of Arlington and the entire county is under Flash Flood and Severe Thunderstorm warnings.
The warnings were all initially issued between about 4:15-4:25 p.m., with forecasters saying there was imminent danger of a tornado in parts of South Arlington and flash flooding throughout the county.
The Tornado Warning was cancelled shortly after 4:30 p.m., though the other warnings remained in effect and have since been updated with newer information.
As of 4:50 p.m. flooding could be seen occurring on Columbia Pike at S. Greenbrier Street — a frequent problem spot — with high standing water in the roadway and some motorists trying to drive through it while others were seen turning around. As of 5 p.m. much of the water had receded.
More on the flash flooding from the National Weather Service:
The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has issued a
* Flash Flood Warning for… Southeastern Arlington County in northern Virginia… Southeastern Fairfax County in northern Virginia… The City of Alexandria in northern Virginia…
* Until 745 PM EDT.
* At 436 PM EDT, emergency management reported thunderstorms producing heavy rain in in the Springfield area. Between 1 and 3 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 0.5 to 1 inch are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is already occurring.
HAZARD…Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms producing flash flooding.
SOURCE…Emergency management reported.
IMPACT…Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.
Also from NWS, as of 5 p.m., on the storms:
…THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA… SOUTHERN MONTGOMERY…WEST CENTRAL PRINCE GEORGES…ARLINGTON…AND EAST CENTRAL FAIRFAX COUNTIES AND THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA WILL EXPIRE AT 500 PM EDT…
The storm which prompted the warning has moved out of the area. Therefore, the warning will be allowed to expire. However gusty winds and heavy rain are still possible with this thunderstorm. To report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement agency. They will relay your report to the National Weather Service Sterling Virginia.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Washington DC, Arlington VA and Alexandria VA until 5:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/TGaRBOkVZy
Stolen ambulance damaged in chase (photo via Virginia State Police/Facebook)
Virginia State Police cruiser damaged in chase (photo via Virginia State Police/Facebook)
(Updated at 11 p.m.) A suspect in a truck crashed into multiple vehicles on I-66 and I-395, then led police on a wild chase in a stolen Arlington ambulance.
The incidents started shortly after 3:30 p.m., with reports of a stolen Freightliner truck striking vehicles on I-66 in the Rosslyn area and again on northbound I-395 just before the 14th Street Bridge. I-395 was blocked by the crashes and at least two people were hurt, including one with reported significant injuries.
The same hit-and-run suspect then allegedly stole another truck before hopping in and stealing an Arlington ambulance around 4:15 p.m. Medics tried to pull the suspect out of the ambulance but he drove off, leading Virginia State Police — followed by Arlington police — on a chase through parts of Crystal City and Pentagon City. The suspect struck numerous vehicles on the northbound HOV lanes of I-395 as he fled into D.C., according to Virginia State Police.
Eventually the ambulance was stopped on I-395 in southwest D.C. and the suspect taken into custody, according to Virginia State Police.
All northbound lanes of I-395, including HOV lanes, were blocked as of 4:45 p.m., with delays on the highway extending upwards of two miles. The HOV lanes reopened by 6:15 p.m. while crews continued to clear the crash scene in the still-blocked main lanes. As of 7:15 p.m. two main lanes had reopened, per VDOT.
At least 20 vehicles were damaged over the course of the hour-long string of incidents, including the ambulance, a VSP cruiser, a parked vehicle in D.C., vehicles on the GW Parkway and I-66, and well over a dozen vehicles on I-395.
Virginia State Police said in a press release Saturday night that the suspect is a 30-year-old Maryland man.
At 3:40 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 12), Virginia State Police responded to a two-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes of I-66 near the 74 mile marker. The truck that caused the crash fled the scene. The truck had been reported stolen out of Falls Church, Va., and the driver was later identified as Darell T. Caldwell, 30, of Brandywine, Md. The driver of the other vehicle involved in this crash was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
At 3:41 p.m., VSP responded to a multi-vehicle crash in the northbound lanes of I-395 near Exit 10 in Arlington County. The crash was caused by the same stolen truck being driven by Caldwell. A total of five people were transported to a nearby hospital as a result of this crash. Meanwhile, Caldwell fled the crash scene on foot.
Minutes later, State Police received a report of a crash on the George Washington Parkway involving another truck being driven by Caldwell that was driving the wrong way when it struck another vehicle. An Arlington County Fire Department ambulance responding to I-395 came upon the crash on the GW Parkway. The ambulance stopped and the medics got out to render aid to the drivers. While the medics were tending to the one driver, Caldwell ran up to the ambulance and drove off in it.
The medics waved down a VSP trooper who was responding to the crash scenes to alert him to the stolen ambulance. The trooper caught up to the stolen ambulance. When the ambulance refused to stop for the trooper, a pursuit was initiated. At one point, the ambulance stopped in the road. As the trooper was getting out of his patrol car, Caldwell put the ambulance in reverse and rammed the state police vehicle and fled the scene.
The pursuit continued with Virginia State Police being assisted by Arlington County Police. During the course of the pursuit, the stolen ambulance accessed the I-395 Express Lanes and then entered Washington, D.C., where it struck head-on a parked vehicle at 14th Street NW and D Street NW. State police and Arlington County Police took Caldwell into custody without further incident. Caldwell was transported to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation.
The parked vehicle that was struck by the ambulance was occupied by one person. That individual suffered minor injuries.
During the course of the pursuit, the stolen ambulance struck multiple vehicles and again rammed the trooper’s patrol car. At this time, state police have accounted for and are investigating 13 hit-and-run crashes committed by the stolen ambulance. State police has not received any reports of serious injuries resulting from the crashes. No law enforcement were injured during the course of the pursuit. Anyone who was struck by the ambulance during the course of the pursuit is encouraged to contact the Virginia State Police at 703-803-0026.
Caldwell has been charged by federal and local law enforcement. State police charges are still pending.
Videos of the crashes, the chase and the arrest are below.
Video of arrest. We now record to protect everyone. We must call out all abuses, but also make sure those who do right & keep us safe get credit. tense chase up bridge, slammed into this car (looks like treasury worker) then clean, safe, arrest @VSPFiveM@wusa9@nbcwashingtonpic.twitter.com/PdWzY7m8y4
UPDATE: The suspect was taken to an area hospital after the Arlington police officer administered Narcan. Also multiple patients were transported including the officer. We are on scene where the crash ended after the individual wrecked his truck before jacking another vehicle and… https://t.co/upGF8uiA4dpic.twitter.com/j9PQQhgfH8
Earlier this afternoon an ACFD ambulance was stolen while on the scene of an emergency incident. The involved crew are unharmed and the unit has been recovered. Please direct media inquiries to @VSPPIOpic.twitter.com/6nwaogbEEH
(Updated at 8:30 p.m.) Tens of thousands are without power in Arlington after severe storms ripped through the county Saturday evening.
As of 6 p.m. Dominion was reporting 34,068 customers without power in Arlington alone and more than 83,000 across Northern Virginia. The outages were still above 28,000 as of 8 p.m., suggesting many may remain in the dark overnight.
The peak outage figure from today’s storm is about half that of the 2012 derecho.
The storm damage is widespread and includes numerous trees and power lines down across the county. Significant damage was reported along the Orange Line corridor — Virginia Square, Clarendon to Courthouse, and Rosslyn — including fencing blown over, street lights topped, trees and branches down, and construction debris scattered.
The intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Highland Street in Clarendon was being completely blocked as of 8 p.m. due to window panes that blew out of a building during the storm. A photo sent to ARLnow showed a shattered window pane that fell onto a parked car.
Numerous roads were blocked or impeded after the storm, including some major routes like I-66 and the GW Parkway.
“Numerous trees and large branches blew down blocking eastbound [I-66]” near Rosslyn, according to the National Weather Service; the lanes reportedly reopened around 6:30 p.m. U.S. Park Police is also reporting the GW Parkway blocked near Spout Run due to trees down. Heavy traffic is still reported on both routes as of 6:45 p.m.
Both directions of Spout Run are blocked due to trees down, including one said to be down on a vehicle near Lorcom Lane, per scanner traffic.
Trees are down on at least eight houses, including one on the unit block of S. Fillmore Street, where people were reported to be trapped. They have since been reported to be out and safe. Other trees were reported down on houses on the 900 block of N. Cleveland Street, the 5200 block of 11th Road N. and the 3000 block of 17th Road S., as well as in yards, on fences, and across neighborhood streets.
A number of structure fires were also reported, mostly due to downed wires or lightning strikes.
Just after the storm passed a house was on fire in the Barcroft neighborhood, near the intersection of S. Pershing Drive and 2nd Street S. Another residential structure fire was reported on the 4900 block of 7th Road S. As of 6:10 p.m., Arlington County firefighters were responding to a report of a tree down on a house and power lines sparking on top of the roof, on the 2900 block of 22nd Street N. in Maywood.
Additionally, the fire department responded to several calls of smoke inside of homes and other buildings, as well as calls for stuck elevators as a result of power outages.
Arlington fire department resources are maxed out, according to scanner traffic. Authorities are asking residents not to call 911 except in the event of an emergency due to the high volume of calls.
ACFD and regional partners are experiencing a significant increase in call volume. Emergency incidents will be addressed based on their priority level and available resources. Expect response times to be delayed. pic.twitter.com/LXp9CfhFQS
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) July 29, 2023
Among the other reports of storm damage in Arlington:
23rd Street S. and S. Hayes Street: 23rd Street S. blocked by downed trees and utility lines
N. Illinois Street and Washington Blvd: Numerous trees down, including one that fell into a house
19th Street N. and N. Nelson Street: Trees down blocking street
N. Kirkwood Road south of Langston Blvd: Trees down blocking street
19th Street N. and N. Nelson Street: Trees down
S. Woodrow Street and 2nd Street S.: Trees and wires down
Rosslyn (various locations): Fences blown down and construction debris scattered
Wilson Blvd and N. Lexington Street: Tree and utility lines down
N. Lexington Street and 8th Road N.: Utility lines down
N. Garfield Street and Clarendon Blvd: Utilities line down blocking road
Gulf Branch Nature Center: People are unable to leave the parking lot due to a downed tree and lines
N. Pershing Drive and N. Fillmore Street — Road blocked by downed tree
N. Jackson Street and N. Pershing Drive — Trees down, blocking road
Washington Blvd and 13th Street N. — Construction fencing down in front of apartment building under construction in Clarendon
WB Route 50 at N. Courthouse Road — Tree down, partially across road
10th Street N. and Route 50 — Traffic lights are “backwards, causing a major issue,” per scanner
WB Route 50 at N. Edison Street — Tree down, blocking two lanes
2500 block of N. Upland Street — Tree down onto car, blocking road
Key Blvd and N. Herndon Street — Trees down, blocking road
S. Wakefield Street near Barcroft Elementary — Tree down onto wires
1700 block of S. Garfield Street — Tree down blocking road
100 block of N. Oakland Street — Tree down across road
10th Street N. between Wilson Blvd and Washington Blvd — Police are blocking intersections due to power outage and debris
2nd Street N. and N. Highland Street — Tree down blocking roadway
N. Kenilworth Street and 19th Street N. — Trees down blocking road
Arlington Ridge Road near 23rd Street S. — Trees down, road blocked
“There’s stuff down everywhere,” said ARLnow staff photographer Jay Westcott, after photographing damage across the county. “It’s almost like the derecho in 2012.”
Westcott said he saw many drivers “Wild West-ing it” through darkened traffic signals, rather than treating the intersections as a four-way stop.
The line of storms that crossed Arlington packed damaging wind gusts. A 58 mph gust was recorded at Hoffman-Boston Elementary, while a 60 mph gust was recorded at National Airport. Across the Potomac, a 84 mph gust was reported at George Washington University’s Mount Vernon Campus, according to the National Weather Service.
Some views of the storm and the damage across Arlington via social media:
Washington-Liberty High School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Fairfax County Deputy Chief Eli Cory briefs the media on a fatal shooting and stabbing near Tysons on Monday (via FCPD/Facebook)
A Washington-Liberty High School senior was killed in a double homicide yesterday in Fairfax County.
Braden Deahl, 18, was a standout soccer player on the W-L varsity team who had committed to play at St. Mary’s College of Maryland earlier this month, according to an athletics website.
Deahl’s death was announced in an email to W-L families this afternoon.
“It is with great sadness that I inform you that one of our seniors, Braden Deahl, died on Monday,” wrote principal Tony Hall. “Braden was a beloved member of the Washington-Liberty family, and impacted the lives of many of our students and staff members. He brought much joy to all who knew him, especially his soccer teammates and fellow 12th graders. We all deeply feel his loss.”
“On May 29, 2023 at 3:37 p.m., officers responded to an apartment building in the 2200 block of Pimmit Run Lane in Falls Church for a man who had been shot. Jonas Skinner, 20, of Ashburn, was found in the laundry room of the apartment building with a gunshot wound to the upper body,” wrote FCPD. “Officers found three additional individuals in the parking lot suffering from stab wounds to their upper body. Braden Deahl, 18, of Arlington County, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.”
The other two stabbing victims are expected to survive, though one remains in the hospital.
In a press release, below, FCPD said the killings appear to have been drug-related. A teenager has been arrested and charged with robbery resulting in death.
Detectives believe a drug related robbery led to the fatal shooting of one man and the fatal stabbing of another. Police have charged one juvenile in connection to this crime and anticipate more updates to follow.
On May 29, 2023 at 3:37 p.m., officers responded to an apartment building in the 2200 block of Pimmit Run Lane in Falls Church for a man who had been shot. Jonas Skinner, 20, of Ashburn, was found in the laundry room of the apartment building with a gunshot wound to the upper body. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel declared Skinner deceased at the scene.
Officers found three additional individuals in the parking lot suffering from stab wounds to their upper body. Braden Deahl, 18, of Arlington County, was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. The other two victims were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for injuries not believed to be life threatening. One of the juveniles remains hospitalized.
During a search of the area, K9 officers located a significant amount of marijuana nearby believed to be connected to the homicide. All individuals involved are believed to be known to each other and this is not a random act of violence.
Earlier today, a 17-year-old was charged with robbery resulting in death.
Police anticipate more announcements in this case.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death in the coming days.
Deahl is at least the second Arlingtonian to be murdered outside of the county’s borders so far this year. A Yorktown High School grad was killed in a D.C. hotel room in April.
The full letter from Hall to Washington-Liberty families is below.
