police

Arlington Police Officer Hurt in Route 50 Crash

By ARLnow.com
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An Arlington County police officer was hospitalized this afternoon after his car was struck while responding to a call.

The crash happened around 2:00 p.m. at the intersection of Arlington Blvd (Route 50) and N. Pershing Drive.

The officer was responding to a domestic violence call involving a possible weapon and was turning onto Arlington Blvd from Pershing when his cruiser was “T-boned” by a vehicle traveling westbound on Route 50, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The officer was transported to Virginia Hospital Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was treated by paramedics on scene, Sternbeck said.

So far no charges have been filed. Police plan on reviewing footage from the cruiser’s dashboard camera as part of their investigation, which is still ongoing, Sternbeck said.

The injured officer has been on the force for fewer than three years, we’re told.

Westbound Route 50 was closed for about an hour while the scene was cleaned up and police investigated the accident.

Photos courtesy “Captain Awesome”

Woman Fends Off Attacker Near Lyon Village Park

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsA woman was attacked near Lyon Village Park early Saturday morning, the fourth such attack in almost two weeks.

The attack occurred around 2:45 a.m., on the 1900 block of N. Highland Street. Police say the victim was walking home from the bars in Clarendon when a man approached her from behind, put a pillow case over her head and threw her to the ground.

The woman kicked the attacker several times and was able to scream “help,” prompting him to grab the pillow case and run off.

The suspect is described as an either black or Hispanic man, 5’8″ tall with an average build.

Police say the victim did not report the crime until the next morning, making it difficult to track down the suspect.

“We want to emphasize that anyone who’s a victim of a crime should dial 911 immediately,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Sternbeck said that the police department is devoting significant resources to investigating this and three other recent attacks on women.

On July 25, a man sexually assaulted a woman near Courthouse; she kicked him in the groin and he fled the scene. On July 31 a woman running alone on the W&OD Trail as grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground; she screamed and her attacker ran off. On Aug. 1 a woman in Buckingham was also grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground; she bit the attacker’s finger and he ran off.

Despite some variance in the suspect descriptions, Sternbeck said detectives are trying to determine whether the attacks may be related.

County Fair Closes Early Friday After Fights Break Out

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Fair 2015 (file photo)The Arlington County Fair is generally a fun, family-friendly event, but violence prompted police to close it early Friday night.

Officers assigned to provide security at the fair called for backup around 10:15 p.m. Friday after several fights involving groups of teenagers broke out.

Police arrived, detained several teens and made the decision to shut it down before the 11 p.m. closing time.

“Due to the fights and the threat to the public, the fair was closed about half an hour early,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. “Officers escorted patrons off the fairgrounds. The crowd was dispersed and there were no additional incidents.”

The teens who were detained by police were banned from the fair and turned over to their parents, Sternbeck said.

Police continued to maintain “a visible presence at the fair” over the weekend as planned. No other incidents of note occurred Saturday or Sunday, according to Sternbeck.

File photo

Police Release Sketch of W&OD Sexual Assault Suspect

By Heather Mongilio

Sketch of W&OD Trail sexual assault suspectThe Arlington County Police Department is looking for a man suspected of trying to sexually assault a woman on the W&OD trail last weekend.

The victim was running on the Glencarlyn Park area of the W&OD trail when the suspect allegedly grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground. The suspect tried to cover her mouth with his hand, but she was able to scream, causing the suspect to flee, police say.

The woman worked with a sketch artist to provide a sketch of the suspect. He is described as “a dark skinned Hispanic male between 20-30 years old, approximately 5’6″ tall, weighing 140 pounds,” according to police. At the time, he was wearing long, baggy gray shorts and was not wearing a shirt.

Anyone with information can contact Detective K. Bercovicz at [email protected] or 703-228-4235. Those wishing to stay anonymous can call the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS (8477).

The attempted sexual assault on the W&OD trail was the first of two such incidents in Arlington that weekend. A woman was also grabbed and thrown to the ground while she walked home near the intersection of N. Thomas Street and N. Pershing Street in Buckingham. A sketch has not been released for the suspect.

Last week police released a sketch of a suspect in another sexual assault incident near Courthouse.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Merry-go-round at Arlington County Fair (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

Kitchen Fire at Zaika — A kitchen fire closed Zaika restaurant at Market Common Clarendon last night. Firefighters had to ventilate smoke from the Indian restaurant after quickly extinguishing the small blaze. [Twitter]

Nude Glebe Road Runner Identified — Police say the man arrested for running naked along Glebe Road while screaming at passing cars is Timothy Lowe. Lowe was previously arrested for doing pushups in the buff, in the middle of a street in the Nauck neighborhood. He also spoke out against alleged police harassment at a community forum last year. Police found a “large quantity of crack” after Lowe was arrested yesterday, said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

History of Arlington View Co-op to Be Preserved — Arlington County is working on a plan to help preserve the history of the George Washington Carver Cooperative Homes in the Arlington View neighborhood. The circa-1945 cooperative is set to be razed to make way for a new townhouse development after residents agreed to sell it to developer Craftmark Homes. [InsideNova]

East Falls Church Profiled — The Washington Post profiles the real estate market of East Falls Church, which will be undergoing some changes as the area around the Metro station eventually develops into a “neighborhood center district” over the next couple of decades. [Washington Post]

New APS Teachers Hired — Arlington Public Schools has hired 325 new teachers this summer to keep up with rising enrollments and staff retirements. [InsideNova]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Naked Man Arrested on S. Glebe Road

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsA man stripped down and was running naked down the middle of S. Glebe Road this morning before being taken into custody by Arlington County police.

The incident happened around 10:30 a.m., on Glebe near 20th Street S.

Police say they initially received several calls for a man in his 20s or early 30s jumping on the hoods of cars in the area. Then, they received the first report of a naked man in the middle of S. Glebe Road yelling at passing cars.

The man was taken into custody without incident after police arrived on scene. His clothes were found in the median, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The arrest was witnessed by numerous drivers. The man, reported to be a habitual PCP user, was transported to Virginia Hospital Center “for observation.”

Motorcyclist Suffers Severe Cut from Wine Bottle Tossed from Car

By ARLnow.com

ACFD ambulance / advanced life support paramedic unit (file photo)A man riding a motorcycle suffered a serious cut on his arm after someone threw a bottle out of a car window on I-395 Saturday afternoon.

The motorcyclist was riding southbound on I-395 near the Pentagon when someone in front of him threw a wine bottle out of a Lincoln Town Car.

The bottle shattered on the pavement and a piece of shattered glass flew up and struck the motorcyclist’s left arm, slicing an artery, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

“It was bleeding profusely,” Sternbeck said of the freak injury.

The motorcyclist continued down I-395 until he spotted an Arlington police officer on a traffic stop. He stopped and the officer applied a tourniquet to control the bleeding.

The man, a 41-year-old Woodbridge resident, was rushed to Virginia Hospital Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. He is expected to be okay.

“He was happy to see police lights,” said Sternbeck.

So far, police, have not been able to track down the Town Car from which the bottle was thrown.

ACPD Plans National Night Out Events Tonight

By Heather Mongilio

NNO15 logo (Courtesy of NATW)

Arlington County Police Department officers will join the community tonight for ice cream socials and neighborhood gatherings as part of the 32nd annual National Night Out.

“It’s a good opportunity to interact with citizens outside of an emergency incident,” ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.

National Night Out, an event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, helps unite community members and police officers in order to prevent crime.

Each district ACPD team will be participating in the event, which “raises safety and crime awareness,” though police say it’s only one part of the department’s overall community outreach efforts.

“Our district teams are regularly interacting with their neighborhoods in the county,” Sternbeck said.

There will be be events throughout the county tonight and residents are encouraged to come out and talk with police officers and their neighbors.

The events include:

  • Arlington Forest Ice Cream Social (at the corner of of N. Galveston Street and 2nd Street N.) at 7:30 p.m.
  • Park Glen Ice Cream Social (between 812 and 816 S. Arlington Mill Drive) from 7-8 p.m.
  • Williamsburg neighborhood (6207 31st Street N.) at 7 p.m.
  • Barcroft School and Civic League (800 S. Buchanan Street) from 6-7:30 p.m.
  • Nauck Town Square (24th Road S. between S. Shirlington Road and S. Kenmore Street) from 5:30-8 p.m.
  • Fairlington Pool 2 (3025 S. Buchanan Street) from 5-7 p.m.
  • Fairlington Pool 4 (2848-B S. Buchanan Street) from 5-7 p.m.

Photo courtesy of National Association of Town Watch

Man Arrested After Foot Chase That Ends on I-395

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police carA man has been taken into custody after leading Arlington County police on a foot chase that ended along I-395.

The chase started around 5:30 p.m. near S. Joyce Street in the Pentagon City area. The suspect led officers on a foot pursuit towards Washington Blvd and then along a southbound I-395 ramp, according to scanner traffic.

The man started running during a traffic stop, and may have had warrants out for his arrest, according to initial reports.

No injuries have been reported, though paramedics have been dispatched to the scene as a precaution.

Weekend Sexual Assaults May Be Connected to Courthouse Case

By Heather Mongilio

Old Arlington County police car paint job (file photo)Arlington County Police are looking into whether pair of sexual assaults over the weekend are linked to a sexual assault in Courthouse last month.

Over the weekend, two women, both in their late 20s to early 30s, were grabbed from behind and tossed to the ground. The crime and the suspect descriptions in both cases are similar to that of the assault in Courthouse on July 24, said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

“We’re not saying it’s the same guy at this point, but there are some similarities in terms of the attack and the suspect description,” Sternbeck said.

Alleged rape suspect (Courtesy of ACPD)The first attack happened at 8:45 p.m. on Friday. A woman was running alone on the W&OD trail when a man grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground, according to a police report. The woman screamed causing the man to flee.

“The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his twenties, approximately 5’6″ tall and 140 lbs. He was wearing long gray shorts, a belt, and no shirt at the time of the incident,” according to a police report.

On Saturday, at 11:26 p.m., a 25 year-old woman was walking near the intersection of N. Thomas Street and N. Pershing Street in Buckingham when a man grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground. The man allegedly touched the woman inappropriately, and she bit one of his fingers and he fled, the police report said.

“The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, between 5’0″-5’3″ tall, with black hair and a mustache. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and jeans at the time of the incident,” according to police.

Police Seek Uber Driver for Alleged Sex Assault

By ARLnow.com

Police car lights(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) Arlington County Police are looking for an Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger.

The incident happened early Sunday morning, on the 900 block of S. Randolph Street in the Alcova Heights neighborhood. It started with an Uber ride that left D.C. at some point between 2:45 and 4:00 a.m.

Police say an intoxicated woman, 29, and her friend ordered an Uber, but ended up getting in “an Uber cab that was not her intended ride.”

While in transit, the woman vomited in the back seat, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The driver dropped off the friend before driving to S. Randolph Street to drop off the victim. It’s at that point that the alleged assault occurred.

“Despite the ride not being established via the app, the driver consented to provide a ride,” said the crime report. “The driver allegedly sexually assaulted the female victim when she was unable to pay the fare.”

The victim then fled to a friend’s house and called police. Police are now trying to track down the driver.

“The suspect is described as a Middle Eastern male with short, curly black hair, and a goatee,” according to the police report. “He was wearing a dark polo shirt and jeans at the time of the incident.”

As of this afternoon police said they had not yet reached out to Uber but planned to do so soon. An Uber spokesman said the company has contacted police and offered to assist with the investigation.

“We have contacted the authorities to offer our support in their investigation, and we continue to gather more information,” said Uber’s Taylor Bennett. “Our thoughts are with the victim during this difficult time.”

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