The following Saturday, Dec. 9, Wakefield High School is also set to host its annual “Winter Bazaar” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Both events will showcase local vendors offering handcrafted goods such as jewelry, ceramics, clothing and holiday decorations, as well as festive food and drinks. Admission and parking are free for both markets.
At the Washington-Liberty holiday market, high school clubs and teams will also sell various items to raise money, according to an event webpage. While vendors accept several payment methods, the student organizations generally only take cash.
Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) is closed in both directions around Bailey’s Crossroads as police investigate gunfire (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) is closed in both directions around Bailey’s Crossroads as police investigate gunfire (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) is closed in both directions around Bailey’s Crossroads as police investigate gunfire (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated at 8:55 p.m.) Wakefield High School and Claremont Elementary School were secured today in response to reports of gunfire in nearby Bailey’s Crossroads.
The secure-the-building status has since been lifted, an Arlington Public Schools spokesman told ARLnow shortly after 1 p.m.
Police initially believed that someone armed with a rifle in a high-rise building damaged several vehicles in the Crossroads Place shopping center along Route 7, according to scanner traffic. Fairfax County police, including the county’s police helicopter, searched for the shooter for hours.
Later Friday, FCPD announced that detectives determined that the shots were fired from the ground and not from a rifle.
Officers were first dispatched to the scene around 11:15 a.m. after someone reported hearing a loud noise and finding a hole in their car’s rear window.
Scene of shooting investigation in Bailey’s Crossroads (via Google Maps)
FCPD told our sister site FFXnow that this was not considered an active shooter situation. No additional shots were fired and there have been no reports of injuries.
Route 7 was completely blocked by police between S. Jefferson Street and Carlin Springs Road for an extended period of time but has since reopened. Arlington County officers assisted with the road closure. People in the Bailey’s Crossroads area were urged to shelter in place.
Officers remain in the area continuing to investigate. Please continue to avoid the area and stay sheltered in place.
The following email was sent to Wakefield High School families shortly after noon.
Dear Families,
Wakefield has been notified of an incident involving police activity near the school. As a precaution, we have placed the school in Secure-the-Building* status. This means that all doors are locked and no one can leave or enter the building as a precaution.
Updates will be communicated via School Talk.
*What is the Secure-the-Building Status?
This action is activated when there is a reported threat or hazard outside of the school building. Secure uses the security of the physical facility to act as protection. All students and staff are brought into the secure building and all exterior doors are locked. Classes continue uninterrupted inside the building.
The search for the shooter was still ongoing as of 4 p.m.
Your safety is our priority. Officers remain in the area searching. Please continue to avoid the area & shelter in place. Anyone w/info please call 911.
A 54-year-old Arlington woman was arrested after an apparent road rage dispute escalated to violence.
The incident happened around 8:30 a.m. around the intersection of King Street and S. Chesterfield Road, near the Wendy’s and a short distance from Wakefield High School.
Police say a dispute among drivers ended with the suspect cutting off the victim, pepper spraying him when they both got out of their cars, and then driving off before returning and continuing to argue. The suspect was arrested by police nearby. She is charged with Malicious Wounding by Caustic Substance.
More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:
MALICIOUS WOUNDING BY CAUSTIC SUBSTANCE, 2022-09150074, 5000 block of Chesterfield Road. At approximately 8:25 a.m. on September 15, police were dispatched to the report of an assault with injury. Upon arrival, the male victim was being treated on scene by medics for non-life threatening injuries. The investigation determined the victim and suspect had been driving in the area of King Street and S. Chesterfield Road when they became involved in a dispute. The victim continued driving and the suspect allegedly followed and cut him off. Both drivers then exited their vehicles and the suspect allegedly pepper sprayed the victim before driving away. The suspect immediately returned and another verbal dispute ensued. Arriving officers locate the suspect in the area and took her into custody without incident.
Connie Freeman with her dad Richard Ziadie (courtesy of Ancestry.com/Connie Freeman)
Editor’s Note: The following article first appeared in the ARLnow Press Club weekend newsletter. Thank you to Press Club members for helping to fund our in-depth local features.
When Claremont resident Connie Freeman met her father last summer for the first time, it all started to make sense.
“This may sound kind of crazy and you may only know if it’s happened to you, but I felt like a puzzle piece fit,” she tells ARLnow. “I felt like I had the wrong piece in there my whole life.”
Connie Freeman is a 62-year-old county employee, working as a community outreach specialist for nearly three decades, and has lived in Arlington most of her life. And, up until last year, she had never known her father.
Her mom had gotten pregnant as a teenager in the late 1950s and her father had just never been part of their lives. But with her mom getting older, it became clear that now was the time for Connie, along with her own son Noe, to rediscover their family’s history.
Using AncestryDNA testing, together they discovered some surprising clues. For one, she was a quarter Lebanese. Considering that her mom was not Lebanese — “my grandmother has green eyes and blond hair,” says Noe — that was an interesting development. Their DNA results also turned up a name that was unfamiliar.
“At 11 o’clock at night, [my son] is emailing me, texting me, and calling me,” Connie says. ‘”Mom, I think I found your brother.'”
Using social media, Connie tracked down that person and a number of others the DNA results had cited as connected to them. Then, she made an unusual decision, at least, by today’s standards.
She reached out by handwritten letter, believing that the extra personal touch was more likely to get a response.
“The letter was very specific and it said I’m trying to find my father and, if he’s alive, I’d like to meet him,” she says.
Also included in the letter were some possible genetic and identifying details. Like, for example, her love of black olives and Noe being a fantastic soccer player. She additionally included where she was born, where she lived now, and that her mom always told her that her dad was in the military.
The letter worked. Within days, she got a call from an 84-year-old man named Richard Ziadie.
She admits getting that call was a bit surreal and hard to comprehend, but she made plans to meet Richard at his home in New Jersey on August 16, 2021 — on his 85th birthday.
Connie Freeman, her son Noe, and her dad Richard (courtesy of Connie Freeman)
When they met, it was immediately evident to Connie that this man was her father. He loved to spend time outside, in his garden, and had quite a green thumb.
“My son loved to garden as a kid and now owns his own landscaping company. Now, I know he got that from his grandfather,” she says.
He was also a people person and a fantastic host, just like his daughter.
“That’s something my mom does consistently, she always has people over,” Noe says. “They are both very charismatic.”
In photos of the three, the resemblance is also striking. Further DNA results confirmed that they were truly family, Richard was Connie’s dad.
(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) Just over 2,000 Dominion customers were without power in Arlington this morning.
Though there are small, scattered outages around the county after last night’s storms, the main outage is affecting the Shirlington, Fairlington and Claremont neighborhoods.
More than 3,500 Dominion customers were also in the dark across the border in Alexandria as a result of the outage. No restoration time was given on the Dominion Energy website.
@ARLnowDOTcom Electricity is out in north Fairlington — @DominionEnergy says widespread outage due to problemat a substation, no estimated time to restore.
As of 10:45 a.m., the number of Dominion customers without power in Arlington had dropped to just over 1,000.
An incident involving a county vehicle along S. Walter Reed Drive near Four Mile Run may have contributed to the outage.
“At approximately 9:17 a.m., police were dispatched to S. Four Mile Run Drive and S. Walter Reed Drive for the report of a traffic complaint,” said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “Upon arrival, it was determined that the bucket of an Arlington County Government truck struck wires connected to a utility pole.”
The incident caused the utility pole to topple onto some nearby trees.
Dominion crews are currently working to replace the pole and fix the lines. The crash happened a block away from a power substation.
Crews working to repair downed utility lines along S. Walter Reed Drive (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Crews working to repair downed utility lines along S. Walter Reed Drive (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Crews working to repair downed utility lines along S. Walter Reed Drive (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Crews working to repair downed utility lines along S. Walter Reed Drive (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
A tree fell on a car and blocked Old Dominion Drive near Dorothy Hamm Middle School
Location of tree that fell on car along Lee Highway (map via Google Maps)
Power outage in the Claremont neighborhood (via Dominion)
(Updated at 3 p.m.) A portion of Old Dominion Drive is closed after a large free fell and landed on a passing car.
The incident happened around 1:30 p.m. just east of the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and N. Thomas Street, near Dorothy Hamm Middle School and The Horizons Apartments.
The tree fell on a car heading eastbound on Old Dominion Drive, crushing most of the frontend. The driver, who suffered minor cuts and some chest pain, told ARLnow that he did not notice the tree falling until it was too late.
“It was very shocking,” said the driver, Michael. “If I did not have my seatbelt on, we would not be talking right now.”
As of 2 p.m. the road was still closed in both directions, as VDOT crews with chainsaws, a front loader and dump trucks were working to clear the large tree from the roadway. Police are also on scene, helping to direct traffic.
Elsewhere in Arlington, there have been numerous reports of downed trees, branches and wires amid today’s gusty winds.
A tree that fell this morning near the intersection of 23rd Street S. and S. Dinwiddie Street, near Wakefield High School, closed the road and knocked out power to the neighborhood. As of 2 p.m. Dominion’s website reported 124 customers in the area were still without power, with no estimated restoration time.
(Updated at 6:30 p.m.) Nearly 400 Dominion customers are reported to be without power in the area around Wakefield High School on this snowy Tuesday night.
The outage follows a report of a live wire that fell across S. Chesterfield Road, prompting a road closure near the high school, according to police radio traffic. Dominion says the outage is caused by a tree on a power line and the estimated restoration time is between 7-10 p.m.
Currently, the outage is mostly affecting the Claremont neighborhood. Earlier, some 3,500 customers were said to be without power in Claremont and portions of surrounding neighborhoods like Shirlington and Fairlington.
Arlington County Police tweeted video of power lines sparking and an apparent transformer explosion on Chesterfield Road near Route 7, encouraging residents to “stay clear of downed trees and power lines.”
WATCH: ACPD officers respond to a downed tree on a power line at S. Chesterfield Road and King Street. Stay clear of downed trees and power lines and report hazards to the Emergency Communications Center at 703-558-2222 or 9-1-1 in an emergency. More: https://t.co/YKHd1X8XNmpic.twitter.com/Qk4isBW534
A man who was running around naked near Claremont Immersion School was taken into police custody this morning.
Police responded to S. Buchanan Street around 11:15 a.m. for a report of a man who was possibly suffering a mental health emergency in the neighborhood around the elementary school. Officers reportedly observed the man running down the middle of the street without clothes on and jumping atop at least one vehicle.
The man was “safely taken into police custody” after a few minutes, according to the Arlington County Police Department. There were no reports of any violent or threatening behavior during the incident.
ACPD responded to a mental health call for service. The subject has been safely taken into policy custody. There is no known threat to the community related to this investigation. Expect police presence in the area.
An Alliterative Arlington Agency Announcement — Per the Dept. of Environmental Services on Twitter: “Monumentally massive municipal mulch mounds must move momentarily. Mooch munificent mobile masses. Magically metamorphosing. More message…” [Arlington County, Twitter]
Arlington to Participate in Drug Take-Back Day — “On Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Arlington County Police Department, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 15th opportunity in seven years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.” [Arlington County]
Claremont Neighborhood Profiled — “In the quiet community of Claremont in southwest Arlington, Va., there is little turnover in homes — one of many indications of how much residents love living there.” [Washington Post]
Tenth of Metrobus Fleet Pulled From Services — “Metro has temporarily removed from service 164 buses – representing approximately 10 percent of its fleet – following two incidents in which the engines cut off at low speed… The 164 buses were manufactured by New Flyer in 2015 and 2016. The buses are all 40-foot compressed natural gas models that operate out of Metro’s Bladensburg Bus Division in Northeast DC and Four Mile Bus Division in Arlington.” [WMATA, WTOP]
ARLnow Featured on Disqus Blog — ARLnow is one of the publishers selected to provide direct feedback to the product managers behind the commenting system we use, Disqus. We were also just featured on the Disqus blog for our annual reader survey, which was cited as a way for other publishers to “get to know your engaged users.” [Disqus]
This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtorand Rosslyn resident. Please submit your questions to him via emailfor response in future columns.Enjoy!
Where is it? Claremont is one of Arlington’s southern-most neighborhoods, conveniently located a mile from the intersection of Rt 7 and 395. Host to Claremont Immersion School (dual language), Wakefield High, and Barcroft Park, it’s made up of very well constructed cape cod and colonial homes built in the late 1940s and is a National Historic District.
About the interviewee: Merryl Burpoe, an energy consultant, moved to Claremont in 1988 where she and her husband raised three children (cute kids pictured are Merryl’s grandchildren). They purchased an original colonial home and like many families in Claremont, instead of moving away for more space, they expanded in place, including a beautiful wrap-around porch! They chose Claremont for the commute, school system, Barcroft Park, and affordability.
What makes Claremont unique? Our neighbors are so friendly, active, and diverse. It has a small town neighborhood feel with all of the benefits of being minutes from city amenities. It’s a “front-facing house” neighborhood; people spend time interacting from the front porch and kids play in the front yard/street. It’s incredible how many families choose to expand their home in order to stay here.
Where do you usually go out to eat? We usually go to the Village at Shirlington. I just hosted a girls’ weekend there and it was a blast! My favorite restaurants are Osteria Da Nino, Carlyle Grand Café, T.H.A.I., and Samuel Beckett’s for a drink!
Is it walkable/bike-friendly/family-friendly/dog-friendly? Yes, we regularly walk the park and to Shirlington. Yes, many neighbors commute to D.C. by bike. Yes, the biggest change in the neighborhood is the number of kids. The neighborhood hosts family-friendly events like a 4th of July and Halloween parade, chili cook-off, block parties, holiday lighting contest, and a garden club! The Claremont mini-park is very popular with kids. Oh my god yes, there are tons of dogs because of the lot sizes, nearby trails, and Shirlington Dog Park.
How do you feel about the local school system? South Arlington schools are very under-estimated. We had wonderful experiences with all three of our children and they felt the benefits of Arlington schools when they went to college.
What about public transportation? It’s great. Very easy access to bus stops, including the Shirlington Bus Station, and I often use the Pentagon City metro for trips into D.C. You’re also about 10 minutes from the airport.
What’s been your overall experience? It was the perfect place to raise a family and continues to be a wonderful location for my husband and I. We love being so close to the Kennedy Center and Old Town Alexandria too! Claremont isn’t as well known as other Arlington neighborhoods, but people should really come see the community, they’ll love it.
A quick look at some Claremont housing statistics:
For Sale: There are currently two homes on the market in Claremont
5 year history: Lowest sale = $335,500, Highest sale = $759,500 (beautiful blue, expanded cape cod), Average sale = $558,000, Average days on market = 21 days (fast!), Average floor plan = 4BR/2BA
Heating up: The average sold price from 2014-Today increased by $56,000 (over 10%) compared to the average sold price from 2011-2013
Low turnover: In the last 10 years, there have been only 4 months with more than two homes sold
This is my first Neighborhood Profile and I’d love to hear what you think. Is there any information you’d like to see in future profiles? Send me an email with feedback or if you’re interested in being interviewed about your neighborhood! You’re not required to include your name or a photo.
If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at http://www.RealtyDCMetro.com.
Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.
Update at 11 a.m. Wednesday — Pumpkin Pie was found last night after authorities were able to act on a tip quickly enough to catch her near an apartment building in south Arlington.
Harry Puente-Duany thanked the ARLnow.com readers for their support and help in finding Pumpkin Pie so quickly after this article was published. He said except for some scrapes and her being a bit underweight, Pumpkin Pie is healthy and safe at home.
Earlier: An Arlington resident is asking the community to keep their eyes out for his dog, which went missing more than a week ago.
Pumpkin Pie is a seven-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier mix who ran away from her home near Virginia Square last Sunday evening, Dec. 6. She has a white and light brown coat and is described as very timid.
According to her owner, Harry Puente-Duany, Pumpkin Pie was first spotted north of his home toward Lee Highway and Old Dominion Drive on the night she ran away. Since then, sightings have been reported in parts of South Arlington.
Most recently, Pumpkin Pie was seen on Sunday afternoon in Claremont near the Four Mile Run Trail.
“We’re kind of stuck right now praying for another lead,” Puente-Duany said. “She’s on the move, but we don’t know where she’s headed.”
Puente-Duany rescued Pumpkin Pie about five years ago from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington shelter. He added she can be finicky and very afraid of people because her previous owner treated her poorly.
Despite his dog being missing for several days, Puente-Duany is staying optimistic.
“The fact that we’ve continued to have sightings has helped me to remain hopeful,” he said. “It makes be believe she’s still out there, on the move and safe, for the most part. She could be going anywhere next, but I’m trying to continue to keep the faith.”
Puente-Duany said all the sightings so far have been reports of Pumpkin Pie running down a street or through wooded areas, suggesting she’s scared and spending most of her time running away or hiding out of sight.
He asks that anyone who sees Pumpkin Pie doesn’t chase her or call after her, or risk scaring her more or encouraging to run further away.
“If possible, give us a call and try to keep an eye on her,” he added. “People have been very active doing that so far, but it’s been hard to keep track of her. I’m still amazed by the amount of support from people in Arlington, giving me suggestions and letting me know they’re on the lookout. It’s been so encouraging.”
If anyone sees Pumpkin Pie, they can call Puente-Duany at 301-467-0433 or Animal Control at 703-931-9241.
