Sietsema’s Dining Guide Includes Arlington Spots — Out of 77 restaurants on Washington Post food critic’s prestigious annual Fall Dining Guide, four are Arlington-based or have Arlington outposts: Thai Square on Columbia Pike, Sfoglina in Rosslyn, Jaleo in Crystal City, and Buena Vida in Clarendon. [Washington Post]
Dance Flash Mob in Ballston — “Flash Mob in #Ballston! Volunteers and @BMDCdance treated @marymountu’s Ballston Center students to an impromptu performance at the Fall Wellness Fair! #LifeisFull” [Twitter]
Man Arrested for Sexual Abuse of Child on Metro — “Patel was stopped by MTPD officers shortly before 6 p.m. after a juvenile male victim reported that the suspect sat next to him and then groped him aboard a Yellow Line train traveling between Pentagon and L’Enfant Plaza stations. The train was in the District of Columbia at the time of the offense.” [WMATA]
ACPD Encouraging ‘See Something, Say Something’ — “While the overall crime rate is down regionwide, in 2019 there’s an increase in the number of people calling police in Arlington, Virginia; and the police chief thinks it is because people are becoming engaged with law enforcement. And that’s a good thing.” [WTOP]
‘Trail Rage’ Incident in Arlington — “At approximately 4:50 p.m., the victim and a friend were riding their bikes along the Custis Trail when they had a brief exchange with the suspect who was traveling by bicycle in the opposite direction. The suspect later caught up to the victim on the trail, became aggressive and struck the victim’s bike with his tire, before the victim was able to ride away. The suspect again caught up to the victim, attempted to grab his personal belongings, before the victim kicked the suspects’ bicycle and rode away.” [Arlington County]
Lee Highway Planning Meeting Today — “From 12-3:30pm: Lee Highway-area residents, business owners, community members and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend the Plan Lee Highway: Open Design Studio.” [Twitter, Arlington County]
Nearby: Rabid Raccoon in Falls Church — “On October 4, a sick raccoon was euthanized by City of Falls Church Police in the area of Lea Court and S. Spring Street. On October 9, the Fairfax County Health Department confirmed that the raccoon was suffering from rabies. In this case, there was no human exposure to the animal, however, the community should be cognizant of the rabies threat at all times.” [City of Falls Church]
(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) Arlington County Police are investigating a shooting that happened just before 1 a.m. in the Alcova Heights neighborhood, north of Columbia Pike.
Police say a man was shot on the 3500 block of 6th Street S., which is about 2-3 blocks away from Thomas Jefferson Middle School. The man was rushed to a local hospital and is expected to survive.
So far police have not released a suspect description or a motive.
Around 3:30 p.m. today, police released additional information about the shooting, which investigators believe is an “isolated incident” with “no evidence of any ongoing threat to the community.” From an ACPD press release:
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is investigating a shooting that took place in the early morning hours of October 10, 2019 in the Alcova Heights neighborhood.
At approximately 12:54 a.m., police were dispatched to the 3500 block of 6th Street S. for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male victim in the roadway suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately began rendering aid. The victim was transported by medics to an area hospital with injuries that are considered non-life-threatening. The suspect fled the scene in a dark colored SUV prior to police arrival. Currently there is no suspect description.
The preliminary investigation indicates this to be an isolated incident and there is no evidence of any ongoing threat to the community. Detectives continue their investigation and are speaking with witnesses and processing evidence as the search for the suspect proceeds.
Anyone with information and/or home surveillance that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Detective S. King of the Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4243 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
A mass panic of a mass shooter in Ballston last month was not caused by a criminal act, Arlington County Police say.
A weeks-long investigation determined that the panic was caused by someone misinterpreting an outburst at a screening of “IT Chapter 2.”
“During the playing of the movie IT Chapter Two, a juvenile within a group shouted a video game reference to the effect of ‘Pennywise has sharpshooter activated,'” police said in a press release Wednesday afternoon. “This statement was misinterpreted as a possible active incident, however, the investigation revealed that at no time were references to an active shooter made inside the theater.:
No charges are being sought. Arlington’s outgoing top prosecutor said the incident is a reminder that there may be “unintended impacts” of otherwise innocent actions due to “today’s climate of heightened awareness around active violence incidents.”
More from an ACPD press release:
The Arlington County Police Department has completed a weeks-long investigation into the September 14, 2019, false report of a possible shooter at the Ballston Quarter movie theater. A review of the facts and circumstances by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office determined that there was no evidence that any crime was committed, nor did anyone enter the theater with the intent to cause public harm or concern. As a result, no charges will be filed.
To summarize this incident, at approximately 8:38 p.m. on September 14, police were dispatched to multiple emergency calls reporting a possible shooter inside the movie theater at the Ballston Quarter located at 4238 Wilson Boulevard. Upon police arrival, the theater was placed under shelter in place status while a systematic search of the entire Ballston Quarter was initiated. The search concluded with negative results and no evidence of a shooting or any victims of a shooting were located.
Following the incident, detectives conducted a thorough investigation which included the review of surveillance images, witness interviews and the identification of the involved parties. The evidence determined that during the playing of the movie IT Chapter Two, a juvenile within a group shouted a video game reference to the effect of “Pennywise has sharpshooter activated.” This statement was misinterpreted as a possible active incident, however, the investigation revealed that at no time were references to an active shooter made inside the theater.
“A thorough and complete investigation revealed no evidence to support that any crime was committed,” said Theo Stamos, Commonwealth’s Attorney. “In today’s climate of heightened awareness around active violence incidents in public places, this incident serves as a reminder about the unintended impacts otherwise innocent actions might have.”
“While we’re fortunate this incident was a false alarm and no significant injuries were reported, responding officers acted quickly and dutifully to ensure the safety of the public and mall personnel,” said M. Jay Farr, Chief of Police. “I am proud of the actions of our responding officers and the detailed detective work conducted to bring this incident to its final disposition.”
Arlington Woman Sues Moby Dick House of Kabob — “An Arlington woman is suing Moby Dick House of Kabob after a salmonella outbreak related to hummus made at least 17 people sick in Maryland and Virginia since September 10.” [WTOP, Bethesda Magazine]
Driver Cited for Striking Cars at McKinley Elementary — Per an Arlington County Police spokeswoman: “At approximately 4:28 p.m. on October 3, police were dispatched to the 1000 block of McKinley Road for the report of a hit and run just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined that the driver of the striking vehicle hit three unoccupied parked vehicles in the parking lot. The driver of the vehicle was identified, the incident was determined to be a medical emergency and the driver of the striking vehicle was issued a summons for violation of Arlington County code § 14.2-17 Vehicle to be Kept Under Control.”
Arlington: Too Crowded for Some — Arlington has “grown crowded enough to prompt even deep-rooted residents to escape ever farther out to nature. Take my friends Tim and Beth Reese… They’re now ensconced on a 77-acre grow-your-own-organic-food farm a 90-minute drive out in Capon Bridge, West Virginia (pop. 371).” [Falls Church News-Press]
Fire Prevention Week Reminders — “It’s Fire Prevention Week, and this year the Arlington County Fire Department and fire departments across the country are working to educate their communities about the small but important actions everyone can take to keep themselves and those around them safe.” [Arlington County]
Nearby: Amazon Opening Store in D.C. — “Amazon.com Inc. is preparing to grow its brick-and-mortar retail presence along one of D.C.’s growing retail corridors: 14th Street NW.” [Washington Business Journal, PoPville]
A man punched two Arlington County police officers while trespassing in an apartment building in Pentagon City, according to an ACPD crime report.
The incident happened Saturday morning on the 1200 block of S. Eads Street, after police were called for a report of an irate man trespassing in the building.
A struggle ensued after officers located the man, during which he was tased and taken into custody, police say. More from the crime report:
ASSAULT & BATTERY ON POLICE, 2019-10050119, 1200 block of S. Eads Street. At approximately 10:16 a.m. on October 5, police were dispatched to the report of a trespasser inside a residential building. Upon arrival, it was determined that the suspect became irate after engaging in a verbal dispute with staff. The suspect then left the leasing office, but remained in the building, where he was located by police. Arriving officers made contact with the suspect, who continued to act disorderly, disobeyed lawful commands and attempted to strike two officers with closed fists. A brief struggled ensued and the officers deployed their tasers prior to taking the suspect into custody. Amro Ali, 33, of Arlington, Va., was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery on Police (x2). He was held on no bond.
ACPD Provides Crystal City Shooting Update — “The Arlington County Police Department continues to investigate a non-fatal officer-involved shooting which occurred on August 28, 2019. The police department is committed to providing professional law enforcement services to the Arlington community while remaining transparent with the public regarding our operations. As a matter of transparency, the officer involved in the August shooting is Officer J. Clark.” [Arlington County]
Redevelopment Plan Includes Unique Towers — “The most interesting design among all of JBG’s proposals is for the two residential towers at 2525 Crystal, currently the home of the Crystal City Workout Park and a handful of sand volleyball courts.
Plans call for two interconnected towers with a stepped design, forming a V shape when viewed in profile.” [Washington Business Journal]
Favola Endorses Dehghani-Tafti — State Sen. Barbara Favola writes in an endorsement of Democratic Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney nominee Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: “Parisa will work day and night to bring balance to a justice system that has relied excessively on jail time when diversion programs and common-sense drug laws would better serve us. I look forward to working with Parisa as I continue to fight for expunging the records of juveniles and decriminalizing marijuana.” [Twitter]
Comcast Outage Reported — Updated at 9:10 a.m. — Several tipsters are reporting a large Comcast cable outage in Arlington. A portion of the Comcast outage map reviewed by ARLnow shows at least 500 customers were without cable service as of 9 a.m.
Nearby: Squirrel Prompts Call to Police — “Scanner: Alexandria PD just dispatched a call regarding an ‘aggressive squirrel.'” [Twitter]
A person rides a scooter along 15th St. S in Crystal City (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Bolt scooters in Ballston (Image courtesy of Joel K.)
Dockless electric scooters at a corral in Courthouse (Staff photo)
A sneaky scooter parking job outside Amazon’s new headquarters in Crystal City (Staff photo by Airey)
Arlington’s Mobility Lab released a recent report on the county’s e-scooter and e-bike pilot program, providing an extra boost to arguments for allowing the devices permanently.
The Arlington County Board voted in June to extend the end date of the pilot program through December, prior to which the Board will need to make another decision on the future of so-called “shared mobility devices.”
The 102–page report says that scooters and e-bikes are a “viable complement to the County’s transportation ecosystem that increases mobility options and provides potential sustainability benefits.”However, it also lists eight recommendations to improve the program, including making sure scooters and e-bikes are more evenly deployed in upper as well as lower income areas.
The authors of the report noted that mapping neighborhood income levels over trip origin locations indicate that many people started scooter trips while in neighborhoods with incomes below the Arlington County’s median household income, “suggesting that [scooters and e-bikes] could be appealing to lower-income residents and promoting equity.”
Other improvement recommendations in the report included:
Adding more infrastructure for cyclists and scooters, including protected bike lanes along the county’s main travel corridors — a plan outlined in the county’s recently updated Master Transportation Plan.
Addressing complaints about improper parking by creating maps with approved spots as well as “no-go” areas.
Addressing accessibility for lower-income scooter riders. The report notes the requirement users have a credit card can be burdensome.
“The pilot showed that shared scooters can significantly decrease car trips, which makes streets safer, our community happier and our air cleaner,” Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair Gillian Burgess told ARLnow of the report.
“But we’ve also learned that people are just not comfortable scooting on sidewalks or even our current non-protected bike lanes,” she said. “We want to leave sidewalks to people on two feet and those who are slow rolling.”
The county’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC) wrote a letter in September saying they were “generally supportive” of continuing the program, but remained “concerned about the impact these devices have on the pedestrian environment when they are ridden or parked on the clear zone of the sidewalk.”
The PAC wrote that more bike lanes would remove pedestrian-scooter conflicts, but other measures like barring e-bikes from sometrails and capping the hours they can ridden (as one D.C. Councilmember attempted) are “unnecessary.”
The Arlington County Board is due to discuss the future of the pilot program at the end of December.
In April, a staff presentation to the County Board indicated riders tooks 313,166 trips on scooters since the program began with an unsanctioneddeployment of Bird scooters last year. Between June 2018 and April 2019, users travelled 307,243 miles with an average length of 1 mile per trip.
And after the county signed off on a pilot program to study their effects, more scooter companies have joined the fray to roll out a combined 2,600 scooters to the county’s streets.
But with more scooters came a flood of safety and littering complaints — which the report notes decreased over time as perhaps riders followed rules better, or because of officials responding to complaints by capping scooters’ speeds, installing parking corrals, and restricting users’ ability to ride on some public lands.
Data from the Arlington County Police Department indicated an increase in the number of reported crashes involving scooters from four in 2018 to eight this year so far. However, measuring the actual number of crashes is difficult as data from the ACPD only captures the incidents reported to the police, and the Dept. of Motor Vehicles did not yet have codes for tracking scooter-related incidents.
The new report also notes that scooters and e-bikes merit more short-term and long-term analysis from county planners. Examples of topics county staff want to study further include:
Analyzing demographics of users and where they ride (especially late at night), as well as where complaints most often occur.
Learning whether the parking corrals installed for scooters reduced complaints, and whether they created any problems for users.
Measuring the impact that sharing sidewalks with scooters has on people with disabilities (for example, when illicitly-parked scooters block the way for people in wheelchairs)
Overall, the report’s recommendations mirror those recently issued in Alexandria, where City Councilmembers urged companies to deploy more scooters outside of the Old Town and Del Ray neighborhoods.
“I look forward to the County Board adopting a permanent shared micro-mobility program before the January deadline,” said Burgess. “I also am hopeful that the Board will fix some of their ableist policies that discriminate against e-bikes and will update their bike lane policies to be inclusive and current.”
Classes are expected to go on as usual at Washington-Liberty High School on Monday after a threatening message on social media prompted a police investigation over the weekend.
A tipster tells ARLnow.com that the social media message in question was an Instagram account that said “don’t come to school on Monday.” That tip could not be immediately confirmed.
In an email to parents Sunday night, school officials said that Arlington County Police “determined there is and was no direct threat to the safety of the students and employees of Washington-Liberty High School.”
The full email is below.
Earlier today (Oct. 6, 2019), Wshington-Liberty High School and Arlington Public Schools became aware of and alerted Arlington County Police Department to a social media account that contained concerning language. The Police Department has investigated the post, identified the individuals involved and determined there is and was no direct threat to the safety of the students and employees of Washington-Liberty High School.
Arlington Public Schools takes the report of threats and concerning language/behavior seriously. Students who make concerning comments of a threatening nature can face disciplinary action to include suspension, alternative school placement, and up to a recommendation for expulsion. The safety of our students, employees, and visitors is always a top priority and we want to remind all families that if they “see something, say something.”
We encourage all families to also review our webpage dedicated to threat assessment located at https://www.apsva.us/emergency-management/threat-assessment/. Students and families can take in a 15 minute training from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education as part of the Youth Violence Project. This training program is designed for all students ages 12 and up and parents to learn about the threat assessment process, what are concerning behaviors and how using threat assessment can help prevent violence in our schools.
In the event that your student raises questions about the social media account, we wanted to share this information with you. If you have any concerns or questions about the incident, please feel free to contact Principal Dr. Gregg Robertson during normal school hours at [email protected].
Earlier this week, a woman was struck by a van in a hit-and-run while crossing Columbia Pike at the intersection with S. Frederick Street.
The same intersection has been the site of several other crashes, according to data Arlington County Police Department shared with ARLnow. Between November 2016, and September 2019, there were 20 vehicle crashes at the same intersection — three of which involved pedestrians or cyclists.
ABC 7 reported that residents say the intersection is notorious for close calls between pedestrians and motorists, but the county isn’t able to install a traffic signal until nearby construction ends.
“If you wait long enough you’ll see a near miss.”-local resident
In only 30mins @ABC7News saw 3 close calls at a crosswalk people say is dangerous. The same Columbia Pike c/walk a few days ago where a woman was hurt in a hit-n-run.
Data captured by ACPD between November 2016 and September of this year also show that another nearby Pike intersection at S. Columbia Street and S. Dinwiddie Street has seen even more numerous crashes. The Dinwiddie and Columbus intersection, near the Arlington Mill Community Center, has resulted in 28 crashes since the beginning of 2018, 6 involving pedestrians.
The rate of recorded crashes is similar to the dangerous Rock Spring intersection of Little Falls Road and Old Dominion Drive, where public outcry and ACPD’s reported 27 crashes and 9 pedestrians injured in the last two years has led county officials to ban left turns during rush hour.
Officials have expressed concerns about safe passage for cyclists and pedestrians in the area for 15 years. The Pike and S. Dinwiddie intersection was also the subject of a special ACPD pedestrian traffic enforcement campaign in 2015.
The intersection of Frederick Street and the Pike is marked with a striped crosswalk and flashing lights to alert motorists of crossing pedestrians, the latter of which was an addition made in recent years.
ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage told ARLnow that the police department changed its system used for keeping track of incidents like these in November 2016. Since then there were 64 total crashes on the Pike between S. Dinwiddie Street and S. Greenbrier Street. All told, 10 of those crashes involved pedestrians or cyclists.
Update on Park Shirlington Plans — Owners of the Park Shirlington apartments are “advancing plans to build 612 new apartments and townhomes on the property and renovate 105 existing homes. That adds up to a total of 717 units on the 16-acre site, located just south of the Village at Shirlington and adjacent to Interstate 395. The developers plan to build 189 new apartments in a first phase of the project, then subsequently build about 267 more apartments and 156 townhomes, according initial plans presented to Arlington County officials.” [Washington Business Journal, UrbanTurf]
First Responders Train Caps for ‘Violent Incidents’ — “We take great pride in providing high quality training programs to citizens so that they can help us save lives. Last week, @ArlingtonVA police and firefighters trained members of the @Capitals administration staff in how to respond to violent incidents.” [Twitter]
ACPD Stepping Up Patrols for ‘Joker’ — “Arlington County police said they are conducting extra checks around movie theaters in the county, but they also said that there are no known threats.” [WUSA 9]
Arlington Urban Ag Month — “October is ‘Urban Agriculture Month’ in Arlington! This year, Arlington County, Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA), Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), and Marymount University are combining efforts to offer events throughout October.” [Mailchimp]
Arlington GOP Outreach Effort — “With control of the General Assembly at stake on Nov. 5, the Arlington County Republican Committee is taking a page from the outreach efforts of its counterparts on the Democratic side. The Arlington GOP is asking volunteers to write personal messages on postcards that are being mailed to Republican-leaning voters in key legislative districts across the commonwealth.” [InsideNova]
DESIGNArlington Nominations Open — “Arlington County’s biennial design awards program, DESIGNArlington, is accepting submissions for great design in architectural, historic preservation, landscape and public art projects through Tuesday, Nov. 19.” [Arlington County]
Nearby: New Development Opening Near Fairlington — “A new apartment complex is scheduled to open in the West End later this year, with a Harris Teeter and a Silver Diner location coming down the road. Array at West Alex is a mixed-use development at 3445 Berkeley Street — the very northwest tip of the city at the intersection of N. Beauregard Street and King Street, near the Fairlington neighborhood.” [ALXnow]
About 10 cars were damaged in a vandalism spree in Ballston earlier this week, according to police.
On either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, the tires were slashed and paint scratched on a number of cars, Arlington County Police say. The incident happened on the the 4200 block of 11th Street N., about 1-2 blocks from Washington-Liberty High School
Police are investigating the vandalism but do not have a suspect description.
More from ACPD:
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY-VEHICLE (series), 2019-10020211, 4200 block of 11th Street N. At approximately 6:14 p.m. on October 2, police were dispatched to the report of destruction of property. Upon arrival, it was determined that between 6:00 p.m. on October 1 and 8:30 a.m. on October 2, an unknown suspect(s) slashed the tires and scratched the paint of approximately ten vehicles. There is no suspect(s) description. The investigation is ongoing.
