It was a relatively busy weekend for Arlington County Police, at least according to the department’s daily crime report.
On Saturday evening, police say a customer at the CVS in Buckingham went on a name-tag-ripping tirade when he found out the pharmacy was closed.
From ACPD:
ROBBERY, 150711067, 200 block of N. Glebe Road. At 7:15 pm on July 11, a subject became irate when told the pharmacy of CVS had closed and assaulted an employee, ripping his nametag off of his shirt. The subject left the store and was seen fleeing in a vehicle. The suspect is described as a white male in his sixties, approximately 5’8″ tall and 145 lbs. He was wearing green shorts, white polo shirt and sandals at the time of the incident.
On Sunday afternoon, a man in Nauck allegedly threw bleach on several people and then threatened them with a pair of knives, following a verbal argument.
MALICIOUS WOUNDING WITH A CAUSTIC SUBSTANCE, 150712030, 2400 block of S. Shirlington Road. At 1:55 pm on July 12, a subject threw bleach on several victims following a verbal altercation. The subject then brandished two knives and made threatening remarks. Darrell Bailey, 24, of Arlington, VA, was arrested and charged with attempted malicious wounding by a caustic substance.
The rest of the daily crime report, after the jump.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Third District Team will be holding a “Safety & Community Awareness” event next week.
Sgt Damon Washington, who first proposed the free event, said it was part of the department’s effort “to be more proactive and reach out to the community.”
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday, July 18, at Kenmore Middle School (200 S Carlin Springs Road), residents will have access to services such as bike registration and free Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etching for their cars to help prevent theft.
The schedule includes several games, among them a distracted driving golf cart track where participants attempt to navigate the course with “drunk goggles” to simulate varying levels of intoxication and common distractions such as cell phones.
Additionally, ACPD officers have organized “15 Minutes Behind the Badge,” an interactive simulation in which participants will receive a crash course in police training, be outfitted in faux-gear and be dispatched to a staged call in the area.
There will also be a K-9 demonstration, child safety seat checks and, for the younger set of safety-inclined residents, a moon bounce.
Rocklands and Wegmans are providing free food and drink for attendees.
Washington says that more that 75 officers are expected to be in attendance, including some from other police departments.
Arlington County Police and the FBI have released photos of the man who robbed the Capital One Bank at 4700 Lee Highway Monday afternoon.
The photos (above) show the man dressed all in black, wielding a pair of scissors while robbing the bank. His face is covered by what police say is a black cloth.
The suspect remains at large. In an ACPD press release, investigators say they’re seeking tips in the case.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit, along with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a bank robbery suspect captured in surveillance footage.
On Monday, July 6, 2015, at approximately 4:59 p.m., an unknown male subject entered the Capital One Bank branch in the 4700 block of N. Lee Highway and robbed the bank while brandishing a pair of scissors. After obtaining an undisclosed amount of money, the subject fled the bank.
The suspect is described as a male of unknown race and between 5’4″ – 5’7″ tall with a slim build. At the time of the incident, the suspect was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, black pants and no shoes with white socks. He had a black cloth covering his head.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of the bank robber.
The Arlington County Police Department and FBI’s Washington Field Office are investigating this bank robbery and request that anyone with information call the FBI at 202-278-2000 or Detective Munizza with the Arlington County Police Department at 703.228.4171 [email protected]. To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS (8477).
(Updated at 6:15 p.m.) Arlington County Police are on the scene of a reported bank robbery in the Waverly Hills neighborhood.
The robbery was reported around 5:00 p.m. at the Capital One Bank, at 4700 Lee Highway.
Initial reports suggest a man dressed in all black and armed with scissors robbed the bank and ran off with cash. He was last seen heading westbound on Lee Highway.
The man had a t-shirt wrapped around his face during the robbery, according to scanner reports. He was reportedly wearing a black shirt, black pants and white socks with holes in them, but no shoes.
A witness, Bryan Hudzina, was walking his dog in the area at the time of the robbery. He told ARLnow.com that he saw the man run by him, behind the bank.
“As I’m walking… we turn around at the corner of the back of the bank [and see] a gentleman wearing all black, covered face, carrying something,” Hudzina said. “[He] ran to the side of me and headed down toward the back side of the buildings.”
Police officers and K-9 units are searching the surrounding neighborhoods for the suspect. Detectives are talking to employees and witnesses, and processing evidence at the bank.
A pedestrian was struck by two vehicles and killed on Route 50 early Saturday morning.
The incident happened at about 1:24 a.m., on Route 50 at the intersection with Montague Street.
Police say the man was trying to cross Route 50 when he was struck by an eastbound vehicle. He was thrown into the westbound lanes, where he was again struck by a second vehicle.
The first responding police officers arrived on scene and determined that the man was dead. Route 50 was shut down for several hours while police investigated the incident.
Charges are not expected to be filed against the drivers. The man has yet to be identified, but police say he was a white male and believed to be in his 30s.
Graduation Live Streaming Nixed — Arlington Public Schools canceled internet live streaming of its high school graduation ceremonies this year due to budget cuts. Graduation ceremonies has been streamed online for the past two years. [InsideNova]
Police Foot Chase in Pentagon City — Last night, after the Pentagon City mall was evacuated due to a power outage, mall security spotted two men lingering and entering closed stores. Police were given a lookout and one of the alleged suspects was spotted outside the mall. A foot chase ensured and the man was apprehended behind nearby Pentagon Row. No word yet on any changes.
Economic Chief Has a Plan For Arlington — New Arlington Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins says he has a plan for economic growth in the county that will reduce the county’s office vacancy rate from the current 21 percent to 10 percent over the next six years. The plan includes “a mix of much more aggressive marketing efforts, incentives and other government aid, and the help of ‘frenemies’ in competing local governments such as the District and Alexandria.” [Washington Business Journal]
A-Town Plans ‘Sunday Funday’ Summer Kickoff — “Ballston’s rowdiest bar,” A-Town Bar and Grill, will be kicking off its summer “Sunday Fundays” this weekend with “squirt guns, beach balls, popsicles, barbecue, water balloons” and multiple DJs. [Clarendon Nights]
A woman is facing charges after allegedly exposing herself to a police officer.
The incident happened just before 1:00 p.m. on Friday in a park near Drew Elementary School in the Nauck neighborhood.
Police say the woman, 50-year-old Arlington resident Delia Jones, exposed herself to a uniformed police officer. She was subsequently issued a court summons for indecent exposure.
Metro Transit Police pepper sprayed a man who allegedly assaulted a station manager and a police officer in the Crystal City Metro station this afternoon.
Arlington County paramedics were called to the station around 1:30 this afternoon, to treat the suspect after the pepper spray incident.
According to Metro spokesman Dan Stessel, then man had “rammed” the Crystal City station manager while attempting to run through the emergency gate to evade the transit fare. Metro Transit Police officers responded to the station and found the man sitting on the floor in the station entrance area, smoking a cigarette.
“As they began talking to the man, the suspect abruptly kicked one of the officers from his position on the floor,” Stessel said. “The officers moved in to make the arrest, and in that process, utilized [pepper] spray to gain compliance. The suspect was arrested without further incident.”
The man is being charged with assault, for bumping the station manager, and assaulting a police officer. The station manager was not injured.
An argument between two men about the value of a college education ended with one of the men being slashed across the face.
The malicious wounding incident happened Friday night around 8:30 at the Gunston Middle School soccer fields. Police say two men were having a verbal argument when one of them brandished a pocket knife and cut the victim across the face, from the corner of the mouth to the ear.
The slash caused “a fairly large laceration,” according to police, and resulted in significant bleeding due to a cut minor artery. The victim was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where he received 60 stitches.
The suspect fled the scene and the investigation “is ongoing.” The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, about 6’3″ and 220 lbs. At the time of the incident was wearing a pink Nike polo shirt and blue jeans, police say.
The argument started when the men began debating the “worth and importance of a college education,” police say. The suspect became angry during the argument, at which point he pulled out the pocket knife. A crime report did not specify whether the suspect was arguing for or against the value of higher education.
Police investigate a minor accident involving a food truck
Food truck passengers crowding the entrance in front of Boston Market
Food trucks in Courthouse, including one that backed into a car at low speed
A minor parking mishap attracted a crowd of restaurant owners in Courthouse yesterday.
Just before lunchtime, the “KBBQ Taco Box 2” food truck accidentally struck the front bumper of a parked car on the 2000 block of Wilson Blvd, as the truck was trying to squeeze into a tight parallel parking space. There was no damage evident — but police were called and a citation issued, as a small crowd of restaurant owners and mangers gathered.
As it turns out, the car belonged to a delivery driver for the Afghan Kabob House across the street, and this was the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between brick-and-mortar restaurants and food trucks in Courthouse.
The war started last month with the emergence of an unlikely leader on the restaurant side. Bar Concepts, a restaurant consulting company, had been brought in to operate the back bar area of the recently reopened Summers Restaurant. Though Summers is not exactly known as a haven for Courthouse office dwellers seeking a quick grab-and-go bite to eat, Alan Beal, COO of Bar Concepts, zeroed in on food trucks — at least those that parked along Wilson and Clarendon Blvds — as the enemy of local restaurants.
Beal swiftly organized a coalition of about a dozen Courthouse area restaurants who say that the trucks “are running amok” and having “a serious impact on these brick and mortar restaurants” by parking directly in front of their establishments. The collective effort was on display Thursday as owners took turns complaining about parking enforcement to police.
Food trucks, they said, were reserving precious street parking spots in front of restaurants by having workers park cars on the street as early as 6:00 a.m. Some weren’t even feeding the meter, they said.
There’s nothing illegal about reserving street parking spaces in such a manner, the cops said, though they did encourage the owners to call when they did spot a violation like an expired meter. There is also a two hour limit on parking, which is enforced, but there’s a loophole: trucks can simply pull into into another open space after two hours, provided it’s at least 25 feet away from their existing parking space.
With little recourse other than calling in the meter maids, the owners seemed to agree to double down on an unofficial group tactic: encouraging employees to park on the street, thus taking away available parking spaces from the trucks. One owner could be heard telling several employees to be sure to park on the street during their shifts. Another ran across the busy four-lane road when a spot opened up, driving his Mercedes from a small private lot behind his restaurant, making a U-turn and pulling into the open spot, thus boxing out the food truck hoard.
Beal — who was in D.C. during the fender bender fracas — insists that he doesn’t oppose food trucks, only their parking choices. He said trucks park directly in front of businesses, billowing smoke, creating crowds that block the sidewalk and taking away customers. He has been documenting the woes on a YouTube channel.
“No one opposes food trucks, they’re good for consumers and good for the economy,” he said via phone. “The problem is where they’re parked.”
Purposely blocking parking spots, for hours on end, only hurts restaurants by keeping the spots from potential customers, according to Beal. “It is kind of unethical,” he said of food trucks, or anyone else for that matter, reserving street parking spots for commercial gain.
Beal said he has been having constructive conversations with the county about solutions that could work for both restaurants and food trucks. That potential solution — which had until then not been revealed to the media — is creating and enforcing specific areas for food trucks to park in a given area.
Cara O’Donnell, spokeswoman for Arlington Economic Development, said the county is hoping to implement a “street vending zone” pilot program in Rosslyn within a few weeks.
A mundane update to a long-standing Arlington ordinance went viral on the internet yesterday when news organizations started erroneously implying that the county was trying to crack down on public cursing.
As ARLnow.com previously reported, the County Board on Saturday considered — and approved — an update to its public drunkenness and profanity ordinance.
The update, meant to bring Arlington in line with a Virginia law that’s on the books throughout the Commonwealth, replaced “drunkenness” with “intoxication” so that police could charge someone who’s under the influence of drugs, rather than just alcohol. It also made the crime a Class 4 misdemeanor, upping the maximum fine for the first and second offense from $100 to $250, but reducing the maximum fine for each subsequent offense to $250 from $500.
Despite the innocuous intent, news outlets both local and national saw something nefarious in the cursing portion of the law, which has been on the books for years. Among the headlines:
How prevalent are the citations for public cursing? Of the 664 citations issued under Arlington’s public cursing and drunkenness ordinance in 2014, four — or 0.6 percent — were for “curse and abuse.”
Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said that in the rare instance an officer actually does issue a curse and abuse citation, it’s usually as a result of calls from residents about people cussing in front of children.
“It’s not like police are out there looking for people using profane language,” Sternbeck said. “It’s calls from members of the public who are concerned about subjects acting disorderly.”
Sternbeck was able to list the circumstances of three of the four cursing citations issued in 2014.
A public argument between two parties in front of Ballston Common Mall
A group of men cursing in Tyrol Hill Park in front of children, who then cursed at officers after being asked to stop
A driver who repeatedly cursed at a police officer after receiving several traffic violations
“Police are not actively seeking out people using profane language,” Sternbeck repeated. “[The ordinance] was just updated to be in line with the state code.”
It was a relatively busy weekend for Arlington County Police, at least according to the department’s daily crime report.
