crime

Crime Report: Armed Robbery at Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

A man robbed the Currency Exchange store at the Pentagon City mall on Chrismas Eve by implying that he had a weapon, according to police.

No weapon was seen, but the man was able to flee the scene after obtaining cash. From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

ARMED ROBBERY, 12/24/12, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At 2:42 pm on December 24, an unknown suspect robbed the Currency Exchange at Pentagon City Mall. The subject fled the scene on foot in the direction of the Metro. The subject is described as a black male, approximately 50 years old, 150 lbs, with a short beard. He was wearing a jean jacket over a black hooded sweatshirt and a black Nike hat at the time of the incident.

Also this week, a man was arrested and charged with indecent exposure after has was caught masturbating at the L.A. Fitness health club in Crystal City, according to police.

A gym patron walked into the sauna and witnessed the man mid-act, police said. According to Arlington County spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the suspect began to “tussle” with the witness after he said he was going to alert the manager; no charges were filed as a result of the scuffle.

INDECENT EXPOSURE, 12/21/12, 3500 block of S. Clark Street. On December 21 at 9:21 am, a subject was seen masturbating inside the sauna of a gym. Morris Umansky, 63, of Arlington, VA, was charged with indecent exposure and released on a summons.

The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Crime Report: Attempted Rape Near Police Station

By ARLnow.com

A man has been arrested and accused of attempting to rape an unconscious woman who was passed out on a sidewalk near Courthouse.

The alleged incident took place in the early morning hours of Monday, Dec. 17, about two blocks away from Arlington County Police headquarters. From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

ATTEMPTED RAPE, 12/17/12, 1200 block of N. Troy Street. At 2 am on December 17, officers responded to a report of a woman passed out on the sidewalk and a man trying to pull her pants down. Upon arrival, officers observed a male subject standing over an unconscious female. Leonardo A. Martinez Lopez, 26, of Arlington, VA was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted rape.

The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Crime Report: Armed Robbery Fail

By ARLnow.com

The would-be victim of an armed robbery in Ballston managed to get away thanks to some dirt.

The incident happened around 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30. A 6’2″ tall, 250 lbs man with a .45 caliber handgun tried to rob a victim at gunpoint, according to police, but his robbery was foiled when the victim threw dirt in the suspect’s face.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

ARMED ROBBERY, 11/30/12, 1100 block of N. Taylor Street. At 9:30 pm on November 30, a suspect allegedly attempted to rob a victim at gunpoint. The victim was able to throw dirt at the suspect and run away. The subject fled the scene in the opposite direction. The suspect is described as a black male in his late 30’s, approximately 6’2″ tall and 250 lbs. He had a full beard and was wearing a shiny black shirt and black pants. The weapon was described as a black .45 caliber handgun.

Also in the crime report, a man wearing a black leather jacket, white hat and white gloves allegedly punched a woman in the face and took her cell phone in Crystal City.

ROBBERY, 12/01/12, 2100 block of S. Jefferson Davis Highway. On December 1 at 7:35 pm, a victim was allegedly punched and then robbed of her cell phone by an unknown subject. The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, approximately 30 years old. The subject was wearing a black leather jacket, a white hat, and white gloves during the incident.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Tagolio Closes After Owner Accused of Rape

By ARLnow.com

Tagolio Pizzeria & Enoteca (549 23rd Street S.) in Crystal City has closed after its owner pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery against an employee.

Tedros “Teddy” Tzehaye, a 40-year-old Springfield resident, was accused of rape by a female employee in September. The alleged incident took place at the restaurant between 2:30 and 3:00 a.m. on a Thursday, according to a police report. Alcohol was involved, we’re told.

The woman was brought to the hospital for an examination and Tzehaye was arrested on Sept. 27 and charged with forcible rape. The charge was later amended to assault and battery, to which Tzehaye pleaded guilty. The plea was an Alford plea, ARLnow.com has learned, which means that Tzehaye asserted his innocence while admitting that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict.

Tzehaye’s attorneys declined to answer questions about their client’s side of the story. Prosecutors also declined to comment on the record.

Tzehaye is out on bail, awaiting a final sentencing hearing scheduled for May 7, 2013. Prosecutors have recommended one year of probation and no jail time.

A tipster says Tagolio has been closed “for several weeks.” The restaurant’s phone number has been disconnected.

Tagolio was noted for its coal-fired pizza and earned generally positive reviews on Yelp.

Crime Report: Burglaries Galore

By ARLnow.com

There were numerous burglaries, robberies and stolen vehicles in this week’s Arlington County crime report. Among them were two separate reports of golf clubs stolen from storage units in Courthouse.

BURGLARY, 11/15/12, 1400 block of N. Taft Street. Between October 15 and November 15 at 7:30 pm, an unknown subject(s) broke into a storage unit. The victim reported her golf clubs were missing. There is no suspect(s) description.

BURGLARY, 11/19/12, 1400 block of N. Taft Street. Between August 15 and November 19 at 6:30 pm, an unknown subject(s) cut the Master lock of a storage unit and stole golf clubs. There is no suspect(s) description.

On Monday, a man dressed in a Spandex bicycle suit stole cartons of Newport cigarettes from the CVS Pharmacy in Rosslyn.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY, 11/27/12, 1100 block of N. Wilson Boulevard. At 3:50 am on November 26, a suspect broke the glass of the front entrance door of the CVS pharmacy. Once inside, he stole numerous cartons of Newport cigarettes. The suspect is a black male, approximately in his mid 20’s to mid 30’s in age, 6’0″ tall and 180 lbs. He was wearing a spandex bicycle suit, yellow safety vest, brown beanie and white sneakers at the time of the incident.

Last week, someone ruined Christmas by stealing presents from an apartment closet in Ballston.

BURGLARY, 11/26/12, 900 block of N. Stafford Street. Between 5 pm on November 19 and 11 am on November 26, an unknown suspect(s) entered an apartment and stole two shopping bags of assorted Christmas gifts from a closet. There is no suspect(s) description.

The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Hotel Sex Assault Suspect Gets 95 Year Sentence

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) A man accused of breaking into an Arlington hotel room and victimizing two female tourists has been found guilty.

Storme Gary Swann, 51, was accused of binding two women — a mother, 73, and a daughter, 51, who were visiting from Canada — then sexually assaulting one of them (the daughter). He also robbed them of cash, jewelry and electronics.

Swann was arrested two years ago, on November 24, 2010. Yesterday, jury found Swann guilty and recommend a whopping 95 year sentence, based in part on his prior criminal convictions.

From an Arlington County Police Department press release:

On November 15, 2012, after a three day trial, an Arlington County Circuit Court jury found Storme Gary Swann, 51, formerly of La Plata, Maryland, guilty of two counts of robbery, two counts of abduction, and one count of statutory burglary. The offenses occurred on August 14, 2010, when Swann broke into a hotel room in the 2400 block of South Glebe Road. He then forcibly assaulted, detained, and bound two female tourists – a mother, 73 and daughter, 51 – who were visiting from Canada, robbing them of cash, jewelry, and electronics. He also sexually assaulted one of the victims.

After receiving evidence of Swann’s criminal history, which included prior convictions for armed robbery, first-degree sexual assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and kidnapping, the jury recommended a 95 year sentence. Final sentencing is scheduled for February 8, 2013 before Judge Louise DiMatteo. Under Virginia law, the court may impose the recommended sentence or reduce it but cannot increase it.

The investigation was conducted by Sergeant Donald Fortunato of the Arlington County Police Department. Jay E. Burkholder prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Due to the exceptional work of Sergeant Fortunato and other members of the Arlington County Police Department, a dangerous criminal was apprehended,” stated Burkholder. “The victims showed great courage in confronting their attacker. On behalf of Commonwealth’s Attorney Theophani K. Stamos and Police Chief M. Douglas Scott, I am grateful that these brave women were willing to return to our community and relive a terrifying experience in order to prevent Swann from victimizing anyone else. In its verdict and sentence, the jury made clear that violent crime will not be tolerated in Arlington County.”

Crime Report: 100-Year-Old Man Brandishes Shotgun

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 9:50 a.m.) An elderly man mentioned as a suspect in this week’s Arlington County police report went missing today.

The man — reported to be 100 years old — was accused of brandishing a firearm after he allegedly pointed a shotgun at family members from the front porch of his home in the High View Park neighborhood. After the incident, which occurred on Tuesday morning, police confiscated the man’s weapons. He was not arrested, police say.

This morning, police were conducting a coordinated search for the man after a family member said he had gone missing. According to scanner traffic, the man has now been found, several blocks away from his house, safe and unharmed. From the crime report:

BRANDISHING A FIREARM, 11/13/12, 2100 block of Emerson Street. On November 13 at 10:15 am, an elderly male subject reportedly brandished a shotgun and aimed it at a family member following a verbal altercation. The weapon was not loaded and no one was injured. The subject did not flee the scene and police officers were able to appropriately handle the incident

The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Crime Report: Man in Wheelchair Robs CVS

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:20 p.m. on 12/23/21) Last Thursday, a knife-wielding man in a wheelchair robbed the CVS Pharmacy in Courthouse, according to this week’s Arlington County, Va. crime report.

Police say the man attempted to shoplift an electric razor and several bottles of wine. After initially leaving the store, a CVS employee reportedly wheeled him back in and asked him to replace the stolen goods. The employee backed off and let him leave again after the man brandished a knife, according to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Police caught up with the suspect at the nearby Courthouse Metro station. The knife was allegedly found under the seat of his wheelchair.

ARMED ROBBERY, 11/01/12, 2100 block of N. 15th Street. On November 1 at 6:09 pm, a subject in a wheelchair entered a pharmacy, placed several items in a backpack and left the store without paying for the merchandise. An employee went outside and pushed the subject back into the store to recover the items. The subject brandished a knife and fled the scene. Police located him a short distance away at the Courthouse Metro station. The knife was recovered on the subject and the merchandise was returned. William Louis [redacted] 45, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with armed robbery. He was held without bond.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Halloween Crime Report: Pools of Blood Found Near Ray’s Hell Burger

By ARLnow.com

Halloween in Arlington was relatively quiet, but it was not without a few notable crimes.

The first incident started out as a mystery right out of a horror movie: several pools of blood were found this morning within a one block radius of Ray’s Hell Burger in the Rosslyn area.

One was found on the sidewalk along Wilson Boulevard, between N. Rhodes Street and N. Quinn Street.

Then, two more were reportedly found in the parking lot and elevator of an apartment building on the 1800 block of N. Quinn Street. Also at the scene: a bloody CVS bag with shampoo and cat food in it, according to a witness.

At first, police were baffled by the blood — no one had called the night before to report any nefarious acts in the area. One nearby resident even told police he had been up all night with the window open and hadn’t heard a thing. Eventually, though, investigators located the source of the gore: a man who lived in the apartment building in which the blood was found.

The man — who’s in his late 20s, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck — had a broken nose and a pair of black eyes. He didn’t remember much from the night before, but confirmed that he had been out drinking at nearby Red Hot and Blue, then left the restaurant and took a Lunesta sleeping pill. It was at that point that his memory got fuzzy. Police believe he got into some sort of altercation, but robbery was likely not the motive — he still had all his money and credit cards with him.

Police photographed and collected samples at the blood pools and then called the fire department to hose them down. Because the man couldn’t remember what happened, police don’t have much to go on in terms of finding a suspect.

“The investigation is ongoing,” Sternbeck said.

In Ballston, meanwhile, Halloween revelry took a dark turn when an intoxicated man hopped behind the bar of a restaurant on the 600 block of N. Glebe Road (in Ballston Common Mall) around 11:30 last night.

A female bartender confronted the man, at which time he grabbed a bottle of Amaretto and swung it at her, according to police. The bartender sustained a cut to her leg and was taken to Virginia Hospital Center. The man, identified as 30-year-old Jorge Zunagua of Alexandria, was detained by security, arrested and charged with malicious wounding.

Elsewhere in Arlington, a couple of instances of mischief were reported. One house was egged and one of its windows was somehow broken as a result, according to Sternbeck. He was unable to say where in Arlington the house was located.

In Virginia Square, pranksters rearranged the numbers on a gas station sign to suggest that regular unleaded gasoline was $7.43 per gallon. A passerby informed the manager of the station (Japanese Auto Service) of the prank.

Photo (bottom) courtesy James Webster

Crime Report: Ballston Buttocks Grabber

By ARLnow.com

A man grabbed the behind of a woman as she was walking home from the Ballston Metro station early Saturday morning, according to police.

It’s at least the third instance of a woman having her posterior touched inappropriately in Ballston over the past five months.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

SEXUAL ASSAULT, 10/27/12, 1100 block of N. Stafford Street. At 1:38 am on October 27, a female walking home from the Ballston Metro station was approached from behind by a Hispanic male on a bike when he grabbed her butt. The suspect fled the scene on his bike. He is described as approximately 25 years of age, about 5’6″ tall with a medium build. He had slicked back black hair and was wearing blue jeans and a short sleeve blue and white stripe polo shirt at the time of the incident.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Hotel Worker Robbed at Gunpoint

By Katie Pyzyk

Police say a man with a gun robbed a worker at the Days Inn on the 2200 block of Arlington Blvd last night.

According to police, a man walked into the hotel lobby around 6:30 p.m. and pointed a gun at the desk worker while demanding she get on the ground. The suspect then went behind the desk and took an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register.

While the suspect was in the lobby, a customer entered the area and the suspect turned the gun on him, ordering him to the ground. The suspect then fled through a back door. Nobody sustained any physical injuries in the incident.

The suspect is described as a white man, around 5’10” with a medium build. At the time of the robbery, he was wearing khaki pants, a dark jacket, a dark winter hat and a dark scarf that covered part of his face. The witnesses said he appeared to be in his 40s.

There are no pictures of the suspect because the hotel’s surveillance camera was not working at the time of the robbery. Besides the two victims, there were other people near the hotel lobby at the time of the incident, but they claim to have not heard or seen anything. According to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, those people were visiting from another country and had been drinking.

Anyone with information about the robbery or the suspect is asked to call the non-emergency line at 703-558-2222.

View More Stories