Arlington police carA woman was arrested over the weekend after allegedly pepper spraying the owner of a dog that attacked her neighbor.

The chain of events started Sunday evening on the 2400 block of S. Monroe Street, in Nauck.

Police say a woman was bitten in the face by a dog that belonged to a man who was renting a room in her house. The dog attacked the woman after she stomped her feet and tried to take a bone away from it, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The dog’s owner was not at home at the time.

The woman went to the hospital, received several stitches, then returned home and called police to report the dog bite.

Later that night, just past midnight, police were called to the house again. The owner of the dog had returned home and was sleeping when he awoke to find a woman standing next to him. The next thing he knew, the woman was pepper spraying him in the face, Sternbeck said.

Police responded to the house and found the woman, a next door neighbor and friend of the bitten homeowner, hiding in some woods behind the house, Sternbeck said.

The woman, who had reportedly been drinking earlier in the day, was taken into custody but on the way back to the police cruiser she tripped and struck her face on a fence, causing a black eye, according to Sternbeck. An officer was dragged down with the falling suspect and suffered a dislocated shoulder, he said.

Arlington resident Laura Dyckman was arrested and charged with breaking and entering with intent to assault, plus assault and battery by caustic substance. She was held on bond.

The dog, breed unknown, remained in the custody of its owner.


Police car lightsA woman is dead after shooting herself in the chest on her front porch.

The incident happened around 3:00 p.m. outside a home on the 4200 block of 22nd Street N. in Cherrydale.

Police were dispatched to the home after receiving a call from the woman’s therapist, who said her patient was making suicide threats. Moments after police were dispatched, the therapist — who was on the phone with the woman — said she heard a loud bang, according to police radio traffic.

Police arrived first on the scene and found the woman unresponsive outside the house. Medics reported that the woman was dead on arrival from a gunshot wound to the chest.

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, help is a phone call away. Call CrisisLink at 703-527-4077.


Arlington County police carA man was seen casually walking down Wilson Blvd in flagrante delicto Saturday morning.

A woman told police that a man had walked by her on the sidewalk while masturbating, on the 1800 block of Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.

The alleged indecent exposure happened just before noon, in broad daylight.

The man continued walking and police were not able to locate him after the crime was reported.

“The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his twenties, approximately 5’2″ tall and 160 lbs,” according to the daily Arlington County Police crime report. “He was wearing a orange and black baseball hat, black t-shirt and shorts, with neon green ear phones.”


Police car lightsA woman said someone reached a camera into her dressing room at Marshall’s in Pentagon City last Friday.

The incident happened at the Marshall’s at 1201 S. Hayes Street around 6 p.m. on Friday. The woman noticed someone taking pictures of her while she was in the store’s dressing room and reported the incident to the police.

The alleged peeping tom fled the scene before officers arrived and the victim was unable to provide a description of the suspect.

From the daily Arlington County Police crime report.

PEEPING TOM, 150605045, 1200 block of S. Hayes Street. At 6 pm on June 5, a female victim noticed a subject taking pictures of her while in the dressing room at Marshall’s. The suspect fled and victim was unable to provide a description.


Cesar Muz-Moya (photo courtesy ACPD)A man has been arrested and charged with touching a boy inappropriately in a restaurant bathroom.

The incident happened just before 8:00 p.m. Tuesday in a restaurant on the 900 block of N. Stafford Street in Ballston. We’re told the restaurant was the IHOP on the corner of Stafford Street and Fairfax Drive.

Police say a boy entered the restaurant’s bathroom without parental accompaniment and was “pulled into a stall and touched inappropriately” by 53-year-old Cesar Muz-Moya.

Muz-Moya, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual battery and abduction. He was held without bond.

This is just the most recent brush with the law for Muz-Moya.

Earlier this year he was arrested for and later convicted of peeping through a woman’s bedroom window in the Ballston area. He was sentenced to two months in jail.

On May 11, Muz-Moya was arrested and charged with being drunk in public in Fairfax County. His next hearing date in that case is scheduled for August.


Police car lights(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) A man was shot and robbed of his gold chain necklaces during an early morning robbery in the Penrose neighborhood this week.

The armed robbery and shooting happened around 2:22 a.m. Wednesday, on the street along the 200 block of S. Cleveland Street.

Police say the 20-year-old victim was shot in the arm by the robbery suspect and later transported to George Washington University hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“The suspect is described as a white male, between 5’5″-6’0″ tall and 150-200 lbs,” according to a crime report. “He was wearing torn blue jeans, a grey hoodie and grey tennis shoes at the time of the incident.”


Officer-involved shooting on 2nd Road N.The Arlington County Police Department has released a timeline of an officer-involved shooting in Buckingham on May 19.

An officer fatally shot 54-year-old Alfredo Rials-Torres in his apartment on the 4200 block of 2nd Road N. after responding to a 911 call for a domestic disturbance. Two officers and the deceased man’s mother were hurt in the incident.

“The following timeline provides an account of the incident according to officer and witness interviews,” the department said in an email. “The investigation remains ongoing at this time and will be presented to the Commonwealth Attorney in the future.”

10:51:44 – Initial 9-1-1 received by the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center (ECC) for a possible domestic disturbance.  The reporting party informs the dispatcher they hear a female screaming from inside an apartment.

10:54:12 – Two officers are dispatched to scene by ECC for trouble unknown – possible domestic dispute.

10:54:31 – Call changed from trouble unknown to a domestic dispute, older couple in this apartment arguing loudly -possibly drinking

10:55:36 – First officer arrives on scene.

10:56:28 – Second officer arrives on scene.

10:56:39 – Third officer arrives on scene.

·         The first two officers make contact with both parties believed to be involved in the domestic dispute at the front door of the apartment.

·         Male party becomes confrontational with officers and attempts to slam the door closed.

·         One officer places his foot in the door to prevent the door from closing and to avoid losing sight of and contact with the parties involved.

·         Male party raises a metal pole in an aggressive manner, prompting an officer at the threshold to deploy his taser.  The taser deployment was unsuccessful and the officer is struck in the face with the end of a metal pole by the male party.

·         The officer sustains a significant facial injury – a serious laceration.

·         A second taser deployment occurred by the same officer. That was also unsuccessful as one of the prongs struck one of the other officers in the arm, temporarily incapacitating him.

·         The tased officer retreats to the exterior of the apartment building because he is unable to assist with the situation.

·         Physical struggle ensues inside residence with the male party violently swinging the metal pole, prompting the officer to discharge his firearm out of fear for his safety and the safety of others.

·         Three shots were fired, each striking the male party in the upper body.

·         The third officer enters apartment and secures the scene until arrival of EMS.

10:59:54 – The third officer provides radio transmission w/ situational report, to include injuries to two officers & the parties involved in the domestic disturbance.

11:00:22 – EMS dispatched to scene

11:02:39 – EMS arrives on scene

11:10:22 – EMS transports male party to Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) where he is pronounced deceased by VHC medical staff.

11:18:21 – Injured officers transported to Virginia Hospital Center


Aerial view of Rosslyn as seen from a flight arriving at DCA

Parents Located After Boy Found Wandering — A social media post helped Arlington County Police located the parents of a boy found wandering along on 4th Street N. Saturday afternoon. The parents said they both assumed the boy was with the other parent. [WJLA]

Whipple Endorses Schneider — Former County Board member and state senator Mary Margaret Whipple has endorsed Andrew Schneider in the Democratic County Board primary. [InsideNova]

History Center Profiled — Interested in Arlington history? Not too surprisingly, the place for you is the Center for Local History at Arlington Central Library. The center has books, photographs, oral histories, permit records and other local historical resources. [Washington Post]


Port City keg (photo via Facebook)Two full kegs of beer, purchased for a wedding, were stolen from the front yard of an Ashton Heights home over the weekend.

The theft took place early on the morning of this past Saturday, May 23. Police say the kegs had been purchased on Friday for a wedding celebration on Saturday, and were being stored in the front yard of a house on the 600 block of N. Kenmore Street.

The homeowner’s daughter was the one getting married. Upon finding the kegs missing, the homeowner inquired with the future son-in-law and father-in-law, but found out that neither man had moved the kegs, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Neighbors reported that they had heard a car pull up to the house around 3:00 a.m.

The kegs contained beer from Alexandria’s Port City brewery and had a total value of about $170, Sternbeck said.

File photo via Facebook


(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) A man is dead after being shot by Arlington County Police in the Buckingham neighborhood.

Police say officers responded to the 4200 block of 2nd Road N., at the Gates of Ballston apartment complex, just before 11:00 a.m. for an anonymous report of a domestic dispute. Officers arriving on scene heard screaming inside an apartment and entered it.

An officer-involved shooting followed. An adult male suspect was shot fatally — scanner traffic indicates he was shot twice in the chest — by police, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

An officer sustained what is described as a serious facial laceration. He’s currently undergoing surgery at Virginia Hospital Center but is expected to survive, according to Sternbeck.

Additionally, another officer suffered an injury after being tased, and a woman who was in the apartment suffered minor injuries, Sternbeck said.

Police and medics administered aid to the wounded suspect on scene but he was subsequently pronounced dead at Virginia Hospital Center. Neighbors say the man who was shot was a middle-aged Ecuadorian man who lived with his mother and was known for occasional angry outbursts.

Late Tuesday afternoon, police identified the deceased suspect as 54-year-old Alfredo Rials-Torres.

Police are conducting an investigation on scene, photographing and processing evidence. Second Road North is closed to traffic and is expected to remain closed for an extended period of time, but police are allowing residents back into their apartments.

After the shooting the female occupant of the apartment was brought to police headquarters and was being interviewed by investigators.

This was the second shooting on the 4200 block of 2nd Road N. in the past three years. In March 2012 a man was shot twice and seriously injured by a ski-mask-wearing assailant.


Arlington County police car(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) A slim man with blond hair and a red backpack stole another man’s wallet in the Columbia Heights West neighborhood last Friday, according to police.

The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. on the 5200 block of 8th Road S. Police say the man approached the victim and demanded money — but he apparently did not specify how much.

“The victim gave the suspect one dollar and the suspect asked for more,” according to the daily Arlington County crime report. “As the victim was opening his wallet to give the suspect more money, the suspect snatched the wallet and fled the scene.”

“The suspect was described as a white male, approximately 5’7″, slim build with blonde hair wearing a white shirt, grey shorts and a red backpack,” the crime report continued. “The investigation remains ongoing at this time.”


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