police

Man With Gun Robs Columbia Pike Store

By ARLnow.com

Police cars outside of Department of Human Services (file photo)A man armed with a semi-automatic handgun robbed a store on Columbia Pike during yesterday’s evening rush hour.

The robbery happened around 5:20 p.m., according to police, at a dollar store-type retailer on the 5000 block of Columbia Pike.

“An unknown male subject brandished a firearm at an employee and demanded cash from the cash register,” according to the Arlington County Police crime report. “The suspect fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.”

The suspect is described as “a black male in his thirties, approximately 6’0″ tall and… 180 lbs.” He was wearing an orange long sleeve shirt, blue pants, a black mask and latex gloves, according to the crime report and scanner traffic.

ACPD’s ‘Click It or Ticket’ Campaign Starts Next Week

By ARLnow.com

Old Arlington County police car paint job (file photo)If for some reason you drive around without a seatbelt on, it could cost you your life. Next week, there’s a greater likelihood that it will at least cost you $25.

From Monday, May 23 to Monday, June 6 — it’s timed to coincide with the Memorial Day holiday — Arlington County will again be participating in the nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign.

ACPD will be “stepping up enforcement” of the state seatbelt law during that time.

From a press release:

Once again, the Arlington County Police Department is reminding motorists to Click It or Ticket. As part of the national seat belt enforcement campaign, law enforcement agencies around the country will be stepping up enforcement from May 23 to June 6, just ahead of one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes. As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash, buckling up.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2013 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 59 percent of those killed. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2014, there was one fatality every 16 minutes, one person injured every 13 seconds, one property damage crash every 7 seconds, and 1 law enforcement-reported crash every 5 seconds.

Police: Man Broke Into Home, Sexually Assaulted Sleeping Woman in Lyon Park

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsArlington County Police are searching for a man who sexually assaulted a woman in Lyon Park over the weekend.

The incident happened around 5 a.m. Sunday morning. Police say a woman “awoke to an unknown male sexually assaulting her.” After the attack, he fled the scene.

Police are looking for a man in a tan four-door sedan, who was last seen wearing a black hooded shell jacket with a hood.

From an ACPD press release:

The Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying and locating a suspect involved in the sexual assault of a female victim which occurred at a residence in the 700 block of N. Edgewood Street in the early morning hours of May 15, 2016.

At approximately 4:56 a.m. a female victim awoke to an unknown male sexually assaulting her. Following the attack, the male suspect fled the scene. The victim was then able to call 911. The victim advised that earlier in the evening, at approximately 2:30 a.m., upon returning to the residence she observed an unknown adult male walking away from the rear of the home. That individual left the area in a tan colored four door sedan. He was described as wearing a black hooded shell jacket with the hood up. The male suspect involved in this incident was described as wearing similar clothing.

Detectives from the Special Victim’s Unit are actively investigating this incident. Responding officers attempted a canine track in the area with negative results and officers canvased the area speaking with possible witnesses. Officers will continue conducting extra checks in the area.

If anyone has information on the identity of this individual or details surrounding this incident, please contact Detective G. Sloan of the Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit at 703.228.4198 or at [email protected]. To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS (8477).

Photos: Peace Officers Memorial Day in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/24

Arlington County paid its annual tribute to fallen law enforcement officers this morning.

The county’s observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day took place at 8 a.m., in the Arlington County Justice Center Plaza at 1425 N. Courthouse Road. The six Arlington County Police Department officers who have died in the line of duty were remembered during the ceremony, as was a seventh officer who died after suffering a heart attack and falling to his death in the 1920s.

Among those participating in the ceremony was the son of Officer George Pomraning, who was shot to death at the age of 26 while bringing a prisoner to jail on Sept. 2, 1973. Pomraning’s son, who was born around the time of his father’s death, wiped tears from his face after placing a rose in his honor next to the police memorial statue.

Other event participants included Police Chief Jay Farr, Sheriff Beth Arthur, County Board Chair Libby Garvey and County Manager Mark Schwartz. There were also representatives from the Alexandria Police Department, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies.

The memorial ceremony coincides with National Police Week, which brings law enforcement officers from around the country and around the world together in the D.C. area. Police motorcades running down local highways, as well as to and from the airport, are a common sight in Arlington before and during the week-long event, which officially starts on May 15.

Among the pre-Police Week activities, several Arlington County officers took part in a cross-state Law Enforcement United bike ride that arrived at the Iwo Jima memorial near Rosslyn yesterday afternoon.

Police: Man Struck in Face With Beer Bottle in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Police car (file photo)A dispute between two men in Clarendon early this morning led to one striking the other in the face with a beer bottle, according to Arlington County Police.

The incident happened around 1 a.m., on the 2800 block of Wilson Blvd. That’s the same block as Iota Club and Whitlow’s.

Police say the victim’s injuries were not serious. He was treated on the scene by paramedics. The man accused of wielding the bottle was charged with malicious wounding.

From the ACPD crime report:

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 160513007, 2800 block of N. Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 13, following a verbal altercation between two parties, a male victim was struck in the face with a beer bottle. The victim suffered non-life threatening injuries and was evaluated by Medics on scene. Tarik Bellamine, 24, of Arlington Va, was charged with malicious wounding and is being held without bond.

Police: Man Held Knife to Woman’s Neck

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police carA 21-year-old Arlington man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after police say he held a knife to the neck of a woman following a fight.

The incident happened around 1 p.m. in the Arlington Mill neighborhood, near Columbia Pike.

The victim, who was either a friend or family member of the suspect, suffered a cut to her hand and was transported to Virginia Hospital Center for treatment.

From the Arlington County Police crime report:

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 160510024, 800 block of S. Greenbrier Street. At approximately 1:00 p.m. on May 10, following a verbal altercation between known subjects, a male subject grabbed the female victim by her hair and held a knife to her neck. The victim suffered a minor laceration to her hand and was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with non-life threatening injuries. Darbin Barrera Corado, 21, of Arlington VA, was charged with malicious wounding and is being held without bond.

Crime Report: Woman Slaps Cop in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

Police car (file photo)An Arlington woman was arrested early Sunday morning after police say she slapped an officer on the 2800 block of S. Randolph Street, in Shirlington.

Police say they originally responded to the scene because the woman, who was allegedly drunk at the time, was “attempting to regain entry into a restaurant” after it closed.

From the crime report:

ASSAULT ON POLICE, 160508009, 2800 block of S. Randolph Street. At approximately 1:40 a.m. on May 8, officers responded to the report of an intoxicated individual attempting to regain entry into a restaurant. While the officers were speaking with the subject she became combative and slapped one of the officers in the face. Debra Mae Edwards, 39, of Arlington Va, was charged with assault on police and drunk in public.

The rest of today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report, after the jump.

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Crime Report: Cell Phone Request Leads to Fight

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police carTwo teens were punched in the face after refusing to lend a cell phone to another group of teens, police say.

The incident happened last night around 6:30, at or near the Pentagon City mall.

Police say the group of teens that asked for the phone chased the other group, which took off running after declining the request. The assault then ensued.

The crime is being described as an attempted robbery — no belongings were stolen. The four teen suspects were all described as slender, 6’0″ tall black males.

From the Arlington County Police Department crime report:

ATTEMPTED ROBBERY, 160504044, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 6:35 p.m. on May 4, a group of juveniles approached a separate group of juveniles and asked to borrow a cellphone. The juveniles declined and took off running. The initial group of juveniles who asked to use the cellphone chased after them and struck two juvenile victims in the face. The suspects fled the scene after the assault without any of the victim’s belongings.

Charges Dropped Against Woman Who Said She Was Drugged Before Stealing Car

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn Hyatt (photo via Google Maps)Prosecutors have dropped charges against a woman who told police she was drugged and sexually assaulted before stealing a car in Rosslyn in February.

The 22-year-old suspect, whose first name is Samantha, was arrested on Valentine’s Day morning after calling police to report that she was “in possession of a vehicle that was not hers.”

From our previous article on the alleged crime:

Samantha, 22, told police she was intoxicated when she took an Uber to District Taco in Rosslyn Saturday night, intent on grabbing some food. Afterward, she walked down to the Hyatt hotel, on the 1300 block of Wilson Blvd, milled about a bit and then allegedly stole a car from the valet.

Samantha’s next recollection, according to police, is waking up in the back seat of the car around 1 a.m., in an unknown location in Arlington. She then drove home, went to sleep, and called police around 9 a.m. to come clean about what happened, said ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage.

After Samantha’s arrest was included in a crime report and in the ARLnow article, her attorney contacted us to say that she was “involuntarily intoxicated and had been the victim of a sexual assault.”

Police were called to a local hospital and took a report of a sexual assault Sunday evening, after the suspect was released from jail, ACPD confirmed after an inquiry from ARLnow.com. “That case is ongoing,” said Savage, the police spokeswoman.

Court records show that Samantha had a preliminary hearing in April and that the charges had been dropped “nolle prosequi.”

Savage said that no arrests have been made in the alleged sexual assault and that police do not have a description of the suspect. Jeff Overand, Samantha’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.

Police: Peeping Tom Dashes After Flashes

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A peeping tom in Rosslyn apparently took a photo of a woman through her window and then ran off.

The incident happened around 1 a.m. Saturday at the River Place condos in Rosslyn. From an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

PEEPING TOM, 160430004, 1000 block of N. Arlington Boulevard. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on April 30, a female victim noticed a flash come through her window and a male subject fleeing from the area. The suspect is described as a male, wearing a dark jacket, dark pants, and a baseball hat.

Another peeping tom was reported early Sunday morning not too far away, in the Courthouse area.

PEEPING TOM, 160501006, 1200 block of N. Troy Street. At approximately 1:10 a.m. on May 1, a woman observed a male suspect looking into a neighbors window. The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, approximately 5’4″ – 5’8″  tall and weighed 150 lbs. He was wearing dark clothing, a dark hat, and had a book bag.

Police are investigating both incidents. So far no arrests have been announced.

Pizza Delivery Driver’s Car Stolen Mid-Delivery

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsA pizza delivery driver’s car was stolen while he was making a delivery in Courthouse yesterday afternoon.

Working with the Metropolitan Police Department, Arlington County Police say there were able to locate the vehicle in D.C. and take the suspect into custody.

From an ACPD crime report:

GRAND THEFT AUTO, 160428031, 1400 block of N. Uhle Street. At approximately 1:10 p.m. on April 28, a pizza delivery vehicle was stolen while the driver was on a delivery. Officers were able to locate the vehicle in Washington D.C. With the assistance of the Metropolitan Police Department, the suspect was taken into custody without incident. Warrants were obtained for grand larceny auto for James Lee Thomas III, 38, of Washington D.C.

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