breaking news

Work Stoppage After Construction Worker Electrocuted

By Katie Pyzyk

Construction has stopped on the new apartment building at 2201 N. Pershing Drive in Lyon Park, following the electrocution death of a worker.

According to police, two individuals were doing work on an electrical panel inside a closet. One of the workers walked away to get more supplies, and then heard a strange noise. Upon returning, he found the victim being electrocuted. The co-worker ran to get a board or some other object to knock the victim away from the electrical panel, but by the time he returned, the worker was unconscious.

Emergency crews administered CPR at the scene, and the victim was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with critical injuries. The man, believed to be in his 20s, died shortly after. According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the department is working to find and notify the victim’s family members, who do not live in the area.

Work has been suspended at the site and police remain on scene while OSHA performs an investigation.

Although the apartment complex started leasing earlier this year, construction has been plagued with delays. The first wave of renters was expected to move in starting in July, but so far the building is not ready for inhabitants.

UPDATED: Water Main Break in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) A major water main break has shut down a number of roads in Crystal City.

For at least an hour, water was spraying about 5 feet in the air out from buckled pavement at the intersection of 12th Street and S. Clark Street. Arlington County crews managed to shut off several valves, which reduced but did not stop the water flow for several hours. As of now, the water flow has been stopped, but not before it created a large pond in and around the intersection.

The water came from a rupture in a 12-inch water main, according to Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel. As a result of work to stop the water flow, several large nearby buildings — 200 and 201 12th Street S.; 1215, 1225 and 1235 S. Clark Street; and the North Tract Loft apartments — had their water supply cut.

“They’re working right now to isolate the break so that they can restore water to the buildings and any affected businesses,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck earlier.  Water has since been restored to all but one of the buildings.

During the height of the water main break, workers were encouraged to move their cars from nearby underground parking garages, as a precaution due to flooding, Sternbeck said.

The water also flowed down Long Bridge Drive toward 10th Street S. and “gushed” into the Boeing construction site for several hours, officials say. Crews deployed measures to stop the water from flowing into the site and are now pumping water out from the construction pit.

In a statement, authorities said the construction site will need to be stabilized before work can continue on the large, economically significant project.

Arlington County’s Chief Building Official, Shahriar Amiri, today ordered the Boeing Co.’s Crystal City construction site, located near 10th St. S and S. Ball Street, closed in the wake of this morning’s water main break. The break in a 12-inch water main sent water gushing into the site this morning. Construction is halted while the water is pumped out and structural engineers assess the damage and take whatever measures necessary to stabilize the shoring and sheeting, Amiri said. No evaculation orders have been issued at this time for surrounding buildings. County inspectors will continue to monitor the site and work with the structural engineers.

The latest list of road closures include Long Bridge Drive from 12th Street to a private driveway being used to divert traffic from Crystal Drive, 12th Street from Army Navy Drive to 15th Street, 10th Street at Long Bridge Drive, and S. Clark Street at the intersection with 12th.

Work to dig up the street and repair the water main could take up to one or two days. The intersection is expected to remain at least partially closed until the work is complete.

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UPDATED: D.C. Shooting Suspect’s Car Might Be in EFC Parking Lot

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:00 p.m.) The suspect in a shooting at the Family Research Council in D.C. might have parked at the East Falls Church Metro station, ARLnow.com has learned.

FBI agents and Metro Police officers blocked off part of the parking lot at the East Falls Church Metro station with crime tape this afternoon. When we photographed the scene, investigators were still in the process of obtaining a warrant to search a car in the parking lot that they believe belongs to the shooting suspect, according to FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman Rebecca Callahan. Later, news footage showed a silver Dodge Neon being searched and photographed.

The shooting happened around 10:45 this morning at the Family Research Council building at 801 G Street NW, in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood. A guard was shot in the arm while confronting a gunman in the building’s lobby, according to various news reports. The gunman was arrested, placed in FBI custody, and charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon.

In a statement, the FBI has identified the suspect as Floyd Lee Corkins II, 28, of Herndon, Va.

The Family Research Council is a conservative Christian lobbying organization that opposes gay rights, abortion, pornography and stem cell research.

Photos by Katie Pyzyk

 

UPDATED: Police Investigating Possible Homicide in Hall’s Hill

By ARLnow.com

 

Update on 8/8/12 — ACPD has confirmed that they’re investigating the deaths as a double homicide.

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) Police are investigating another possible homicide, this time in the Hall’s Hill/High View Park neighborhood.

A maintenance worker found two men dead in the living room of an apartment on the 1900 block of N. Culpeper Street, after a family member had called because they hadn’t seen the resident for awhile, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. A television was on in the apartment and blood could be seen, but no weapon was found, Sternbeck said.

Detectives are investigating the incident as a possible homicide or double homicide, though so far police are only officially saying the deaths are “suspicious.” The deceased men have been identified by police as Keefe Spriggs, 59, of Arlington, and Carl Moten, 31, of no fixed address.

The men are acquaintances and the apartment belongs to Spriggs, Sternbeck said. Asked whether a killer is still on the loose, Sternbeck was vague.

“We do believe it’s an isolated incident,” he said. “We are very early in this investigation. The detectives that are working the case will be processing the scene, interviewing all the neighbors [and] last known contacts of these individuals.”

Several people, including a woman believed to be Spriggs’ sister, have already been interviewed by detectives on the scene.

This could be the third homicide in Arlington in as many weeks. On July 24, a woman was killed in a murder-suicide near Fairlington. On July 27, a jewelry store owner was killed during an armed robbery on Columbia Pike. A 53-year-old D.C. man was charged with murder last week for the latter crime.

Prior to July, there had not been a homicide in Arlington since March 14, 2010.

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UPDATED: Police Arrest Suspect in Pike Homicide

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of Columbia Pike jewelry shop owner Tommy Wong.

Police say the suspect, 53-year-old Southeast D.C. resident James Sylvester Caroline, was arrested yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. He’s being held at the Arlington County jail for a probation violation, but charges are expected to be filed against him in Wong’s death.

(Update on 8/3/12: Caroline has been formally charged with murder.)

Wong was killed during a robbery at the Capital Jewelers store at 3219 Columbia Pike on the afternoon of Friday, July 27. Friends, family and residents held a candlelight vigil for Wong last night.

A law enforcement source tells ARLnow.com that Caroline was arrested during a traffic stop on the 4300 block of King Street, on the Arlington/Alexandria line. The arrest, we’re told, was the result of “round the clock” work by numerous Arlington detectives and police officers.

Caroline’s long criminal record in Virginia includes charges of grand larceny and probation violation in 1994, failure to appear in court in 1998 and 1999, and credit card theft and fraud in 2005. Caroline is also currently being investigated for a jewelry store robbery in D.C., in which the suspect was caught on surveillance video wearing the same yellow vest as the suspect in the Columbia Pike homicide.

Police issued the following press release about Caroline’s arrest:

Charges are expected to be brought forward on a 52 year-old DC man for his role in a recent jewelry store homicide in Arlington County.

Wednesday afternoon, the Arlington County Police Department arrested James Sylvester Caroline, 52, of Washington, D.C. for probation violation. He is currently being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility. Additional charges are expected to be brought forward on Caroline in relation to the July 27, 2012 jewelry store homicide that resulted in the death of 52 year-old Tommy Wong.

Details on the arrest and the investigation will not be released at this time.

The Arlington County Police Department would like to recognize the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Metropolitan Police Department for their assistance that led to capture of Caroline. Additionally, Arlington County Police want to extend an appreciation to the community for their support and efforts by providing numerous tips over the past several days.

BREAKING NEWS — Police Investigate Murder-Suicide

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) Police are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide at the Park Shirlington Apartments on the 4500 block of 31st Street South, near the Fairlington neighborhood.

Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck says it appears the man and woman, both 30-years-old, had some sort of relationship and lived together in the apartment where they were found. An adult female family member who also lived in the apartment found the bodies in a back bedroom and called 911 around 2:45 p.m.

One resident told ARLnow.com that the apartment was home to a couple with two children and a woman who also had a child. The children were all between the age of 7 and 9, she said.

“Nothing like this has happened here before,” said Cecilia Rodriguez. “I’ve lived here for 26 years and I’ve raised my kids here… It’s scary for me.”

Rodriguez said she believes a car police towed from the apartment’s parking lot belonged to the female half of the couple.

Police were seen taking items out of a dumpster near the apartment building, such as a rolled up rug and bags of trash. Initial reports suggests evidence might have been found in the dumpster.

The last homicide in Arlington County occurred on March 14, 2010, when a man was stabbed to death in the Lyon Park neighborhood.

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Video: Bystanders Walk Past Accident Victim While Getting on the Bus

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department has released video tonight from a Metro bus that stopped at the scene of fatal pedestrian accident earlier this month.

The video was taken on the evening of July 1. Just minutes prior to the start of the video, a man had been struck by a car on Columbia Pike near the intersection with Four Mile Run Drive, which was darkened due to power outages in the area following the June 29 derecho.  The video shows the bus pulling up to the scene, which was next to a bus stop. The man’s bloodied body — blurred out by police — is lying on the sidewalk.

With the bus stopped, passengers file past the man’s body. Although someone had called 911 — lights from police cars heading to the scene can be seen in the background — not a single person stops to check on the man, who was either dead or dying. A woman carrying shopping bags walks right by, without hesitation. One man crosses himself after getting on the bus.

Police say they released the video in a “good faith effort” to get witnesses to the accident to step forward. Detectives are not looking to charge anybody in the video with any wrongdoing — they just want them to “come forward and say ‘this is what happened, this is what we saw,'” according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

“The intent is solely to get these witnesses to… assist police in the reconstruction of what happened that night,” Sternbeck said. “The intent is not to say these individuals are accountable for anything.”

Sternbeck noted that the driver of the striking vehicle “has been very cooperative,” but the case is still open. Charges could still be filed if the driver is thought to be at fault.

The victim of the accident has been identified by police as 35-year-old Edgar Francisco Aguilar of Arlington. He was pronounced dead on scene, according to Sternbeck.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Det. Icolari at 703-228-4240.

UPDATED: Man Attacked By Pit Bulls in Nauck

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:15 p.m.) A man is in the hospital tonight after being attacked by two pit bulls in the Nauck neighborhood — an attack the man’s two juvenile sons witnessed.

The incident happened around 4:30 p.m. The approximately 40-year-old man was getting out of his truck outside his home, near the intersection of Walter Reed Drive and S. Oakland Street, when police say two pit bulls started attacking him without provocation. The dogs grabbed onto his arms as the man struggled, and as one of his sons watched from the truck.

“Someone call 911, the dogs are attacking my dad!” the boy screamed out of the truck’s window, according to police.

Another of the man’s sons ran out of the house and used a shoe in an attempt to fend off the dogs, according to an interview with the boy that aired on NBC 4. A neighbor called police, but the dogs let go and returned to their home before officers arrived. As the man was treated by paramedics, police located the dogs at a nearby townhouse. According to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, one of the dogs charged an officer and was shot dead. The other was captured without incident is being held by the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.

Neighbors have previously called police to report aggressive behavior by the dogs involved in today’s attack, Sternbeck told ARLnow.com. Investigators are still trying to get in contact with the dogs’ owner, he said. No word yet on whether any charges will be filed.

The victim was transported to George Washington University hospital for numerous puncture and bite wounds. Although the man lost a large quantity of blood, his injuries are thought to be non-life threatening, Sternbeck said.

A fire engine was called to the scene to wash the blood off of S. Oakland Street after the attack.

UPDATE (2): Fatal Hit and Run Near the Pentagon

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington County Police are investigating a fatal hit and run accident near Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon.

Around 6:00 this morning, police say an adult male was struck by a vehicle on southbound Route 110 near the ramp to Washington Boulevard. A witness reported seeing a man’s body in the roadway and a vehicle stopped near it. When officers arrived, the vehicle was gone, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The victim has been identified as Robert Shepard, a 62-year-old military veteran from Lawrence, Mass. Police said Shepard had a history of mental illness and was reported “missing and endangered” by his girlfriend in Massachusetts about 2 weeks ago. He was wearing camouflage pants at the time of the accident, according to Sternbeck.

The force of the impact propelled the Shepard’s body about 60 feet from the point of collision, Sternbeck said. Investigators say they’re currently working several leads, including traffic camera video, to try to track down the striking vehicle.

Two lanes of Route 110 and the ramp to Washington Boulevard were closed immediately following the accident. Investigators remained on scene through the morning rush hour, causing significant backups on Route 110.

 

UPDATED: Pedestrian Killed by Car on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) A pedestrian was killed by a car on a section of Columbia Pike partially darkened by the area’s widespread power outages.

The man was struck by a Honda heading westbound on the Pike near intersection with Four Mile Run Drive, where the traffic signal and some street lights are dark due to the power outages. We’re told that the victim was transported to a trauma center in Fairfax County and was pronounced dead.

The fatal accident happened occurred around 9:30 p.m. after the driver did not stop at the intersection, despite the fact that all darkened traffic signals are supposed to be treated as a four-way stop. The female driver remained on scene after the accident and was described as “very cooperative.” As of this morning no charges have been filed, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Columbia Pike was closed in both directions between Buchanan Street and Dinwiddie Street for several hours after the accident. Motorists were advised to avoid the area.

 

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