police

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

‘SmokeHouse’ Coming to Pentagon City — Two veterans of The Palm restaurant are teaming up to create “Epic SmokeHouse,” described as a cross “between a fine dining steakhouse and a barbecue joint.” The restaurant will reportedly be located inside the Millennium at Metropolitan Park apartment building at 1330 S. Fair Street, near Pentagon City mall. [Washington City Paper]

County Launches ‘Green Streets’ Program — Arlington County has launched a pilot program to build bioretention systems into road medians, in an effort to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff before it reaches the Chesapeake Bay. [Connection Newspapers]

Hundreds Busted in HOV Crackdown — A Capitol Region HOV enforcement crackdown on Tuesday netted nearly 650 traffic summonses and arrests, including nearly 450 HOV violations. In Virginia, the enforcement was conducted by Virginia State Police, Arlington County police and other local law enforcement agencies. [CBS Local]

Expect Heavy Memorial Day Traffic — More motorists are expected to hit the roads in the D.C. area this Memorial Day weekend than at any time since the start of the recession, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. [WJLA]

AIM Offers Video Production Camp — Arlington Independent Media is offering a summer video production camp for youth ages 10 to 13. The two week camp will allow participants to “develop a story idea, write a script, shoot footage, and edit their own short production” with the guidance of media professionals. [Arlington Independent Media]

Flickr pool photo by Damiec

Resident Wakes Up to Find Bullet in Living Room

By ARLnow.com

 

An Arlington woman woke up this morning to find a .45 caliber bullet in her living room.

This incident happened on N. Bedford Street in the Lyon Park neighborhood. A resident of a townhouse called police around 9:00 a.m. after finding that a bullet — likely a stray bullet — had punched through the front of her house and had come to rest on the living room floor. Only the woman and her husband were at home at the time, according to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Detectives were called in and were able to determine the trajectory of the bullet, but have so far been unable to figure out where exactly it came from.

“It could have come from numerous places in a pretty large radius,” Sternbeck said.

A search of the neighborhood this morning did not turn up any clues, but police are looking into a report of a gunshot heard near the 2700 block of Washington Boulevard around 1:00 this morning. The man who called in the gunshot was reportedly intoxicated, and at the time officers were unable to locate anybody else who had heard the shot.

Police are asking anybody with information about the incident to call the Arlington non-emergency line at 703-558-2222.

UPDATED: Suicidal Suspect at Ballston Parking Garage

By ARLnow.com

Update at 3:50 p.m. — The suspect has been safely taken into custody by police.

Earlier: Police and firefighters are on scene at the Ballston public parking garage, where a suicidal suspect is threatening to jump.

The suspect, described as a juvenile black male, is leaning against a railing at the top of the parking structure, near the intersection of Glebe Road and N. Randolph Street. Police have been keeping pedestrians away from the area below where the man is standing, although a small crowd has gathered across the street near the Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Police are now trying to talk to the man, who has been there since around 2:45 p.m. According to scanner traffic, the man threw his phone off the side of the parking structure.

“A negotiator is on scene making verbal contact with the suspect,” said Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Sternbeck said the man had left a behavioral and mental health facility on the 2100 block of Washington Boulevard earlier in the day.

Over the past two years, two people have died after falling from the Ballston public parking garage.

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

 

Man Commits Lewd Act While Watching Children

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) Police are encouraging residents to be on alert for a man caught masturbating in public while watching children across the street.

According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the man was first seen sitting on the sidewalk in between two cars with a newspaper over his lap, in the 1000 block of N. Fillmore Street in Clarendon, on Saturday, May 19. Staff from a restaurant across the street saw the man masturbating as he watched children playing on the restaurant patio.

Witnesses called the police, and one staff member walked across the street to ask the man to leave. He left without causing trouble. Police have not been able to locate him, and want residents to be aware of the incident.

“We’re putting the word out in light of several recent exposure incidents and sexual assaults,” Sternbeck said.

The children and other customers did not see the man; the act was only witnessed by restaurant staff.

He is described as a white man, around 60 years old, with medium length gray hair. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a black shirt, navy shorts and a dark colored hat.

Anyone who might encounter this man, or any other person, performing an indecent act in public is asked to call the police immediately. Police recommend not confronting the offender, as it’s not known if he might try to inflict harm.

Click It or Ticket: ACPD To Step Up Traffic Enforcement

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department will be stepping up traffic enforcement over the next two weeks as part of the national Click It or Ticket campaign.

Thanks to grant money from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, police will be adding traffic patrols and HOV enforcement details around the county starting today. The patrols will primarily target school zones, frequent accident locations and areas identified by citizen complaints.

While the added ACPD patrols will be enforcing all traffic laws, the Click It or Ticket campaign specifically emphasizes seat belt laws, with the goal of “sav[ing] lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.”

From a police press release:

While Virginia’s seat belt use rate increased slightly to 81.8%, up from 80.5% in 2010, there is still much work to be done. According to the DMV Highway Safety Office’s TREDS (Traffic Records Electronic Data System) in preliminary 2011 statistics, there were a total of 765 fatalities – 306 of them were unrestrained at the time of the crash. Of the total unrestrained fatalities (306), 93 or 30.39% of them were between the hours of midnight – 6:00 a.m. with 69.89% or 65 of those 93 between midnight and 3:00 a.m.

Regular seat belt use saves thousands of lives across Virginia each year. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 272 lives in Virginia. An additional 112 lives could be saved with 100 percent seat belt use.

While this year’s Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization runs from May 21st – June 3rd, motorists should know that officers are out enforcing traffic laws, including seat belt laws year round.

ACPD Helps Wounded Veterans Get Segways

By Katie Pyzyk

Fifty military veterans who sustained life altering injuries during combat received new Segway vehicles at a ceremony today in front of the Marine Corps Memorial in Rosslyn.

The charity Segs4Vets arranged to give the vehicles to the wounded warriors, many of whom are amputees. Some of the Segways are specially outfitted to accommodate individual disabilities, such as having a built-in seat for when the user becomes too tired to stand.

Jerry Kerr started the organization in September 2005. He had broken his neck in 1998 and was paralyzed from the neck down. Although he has some movement now, he was told he would never be able to walk again. That prompted him to devote time to investigating what technologies were available to allow him to become more mobile.

“When I became permanently disabled, when I realized that my world had changed forever, I started to learn about what we had, how I was going to get around, how I could interact in society again,” said Kerr.

Kerr has particular interest in technology that aids people without drawing attention to their disabilities. When the Segway came out, he found it fit the bill.

Once Kerr discovered how much his life had improved through the use of a Segway, he got the idea to give one to an injured person returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, and the program has blossomed since then.

The Arlington County Police Department helps out Segs4Vets by providing training to the recipients, many of them coming from Walter Reed Medical Center. This allows the users to learn about the vehicles and get on them right away instead of having to wait for the once-a-year training sessions held in Washington D.C., San Antonio and San Diego.

“It originally started because they needed a place to store the Segways, and ACPD was interested in storing some of them,” said ACPD Retired Captain David Herbstreit. “Out of that, we saw an opportunity to go ahead and step into it a little deeper.”

Herbstreit is one of the founding members of the partnership between ACPD and Segs4Vets. Now, there are nearly two dozen participants in the ACPD. Lt. Mark Belanger is one of them. He’s been assisting for about nine months and has trained 18 Segway recipients, along with their spouses and other family members.

“It’s important that there’s a local group they can turn to,” said Belanger. “It’s nice to get someplace close, they don’t have to wait a year.”

Retired Staff Sgt. Robert Canine is one of the many who traveled from across the country to be at the ceremony. He received his Segway in the fall of 2010, and now volunteers with Segs4Vets.

Canine lost both legs below the knee from an injury he sustained in May 2009 in Baghdad, Iraq. He explained that an armor-penetrating explosive device hit the vehicle he was in, and he feels lucky to be alive.

Canine went through physical therapy at Walter Reed Medical Center for a year and half. He couldn’t walk well on his new prosthetics, but received his Segway within months of returning home. Canine says it’s been a huge boost to his mobility and allowed him to get around outside.

“I could keep up with my son on his bike, I could walk the dog,” said Canine. “It just felt good to be able to do something.”

(more…)

Crime Report: Fighting Back Edition

By ARLnow.com

A woman was sexually assaulted last night as she walked into her apartment building in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. The victim managed to fight back, however, and the suspect left some incriminating evidence at the scene as he fled.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

SEXUAL BATTERY, 05/15/12, 2900 block of S. 13th Street. At 9:33 pm on May 15, a victim was walking into her apartment building when a subject ran up from behind and sexually assaulted her. The victim began throwing punches and was able to take the subject to the ground. As the suspect fled the scene, he dropped his cell phone and car keys. Police have knowledge of the suspect’s identity, but have been unable to locate him at this time.

Police say the incident was not related to a series of sexual assaults Friday night.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

(more…)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New GOP County Board  Candidate — Crystal City resident and Republican activist Matt Wavro has stepped up to run on the GOP ticket for Arlington County Board in the fall. [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Cops Recognized — Five Arlington cops have been recognized by Virginia State Police for their exceptional work in deterring auto theft. The Law Enforcement Office Award competition — which recognizes efforts to combat car theft — is judged by partnering law enforcement agencies, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and insurance industry representatives. [Arlington County]

Remembering Swillers Music — Back in the mid-20th century, Swillers Music was the place in Clarendon to buy musical instruments, sheet music, and even turntables or radios. The bygone store also had its own recording studio. [Library Blog]

Arlington: The Palo Alto of the East?— The Arlington Convention and Visitors Service is touting the our tech-savvy county as “the Palo Alto of the east coast” via Twitter.

Flickr pool photo by Divaknevil

Woman Wakes Up to Find Neighbor Having Sex with Her

By ARLnow.com

A woman says woke up after a day of drinking to find a neighbor having sex with her as her boyfriend slept on a couch nearby.

The alleged incident happened early Sunday morning on the 300 block of N. Oxford Street in Ashton Heights. Police say the female victim and her boyfriend had been drinking earlier in the day at a cookout attended by some residents of their apartment complex. The pair later returned to their apartment and fell asleep on the couch.

According to police, the woman reported that she woke up in the middle of the night to find herself lying on the floor with someone having sexual intercourse with her. In the dark, the woman initially thought the individual was her boyfriend, but then discovered that it was the resident of a neighboring apartment who was on top of her, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The woman and the neighbor were acquainted and had met at the cookout earlier in the day, Sternbeck said. The woman’s boyfriend was reportedly sleeping on the couch next to her and only woke up after the alleged incident.

Arlington resident Federico Alfonso Umana Barrera, 35, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and forgery of a public document.

Update at 9:20 on 5/15/12 — Barrera has now been charged with rape, according to Sternbeck.

Police: Man Sent Ex-Girlfriend Topless Photo of Herself

By ARLnow.com

Update on 10/11/12 — Frye has been convicted of unlawful filming but acquitted of unlawful entry.

An Arlington man has been arrested after police say he sent his ex-girlfriend an authorized photo he took of her topless.

In addition to sending the topless photo, police say the suspect made more than 50 attempts to contact the woman over the weekend, via both phone calls and text messages, and then broke into her Ballston apartment early Sunday morning and started banging on her bedroom door.

The woman called police and the man, identified as 27-year-old Trevor Frye, was later arrested at his residence, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck

Frye is also accused of “yelling inappropriate comments” outside the woman’s apartment. He was held without bond.

Suspicious Package in Aurora Highlands Park

By ARLnow.com

Update at 7:05 p.m. — The suspicious package was “disrupted” by the bomb squad and found to be non-hazardous, according to police.  The scene is in the process of being cleared.

Earlier: Police and the Arlington County bomb squad are on the scene of a suspicious package in Aurora Highlands Park near Pentagon City.

A metallic object with red and black wires coming out of it was found in the park around 4:30 p.m., according to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. A portion of the park and its parking lot has been cordoned off with police tape as the bomb squad uses a remote controlled robot to investigate the package.

One lane of S. Hayes Street is blocked by emergency vehicles between 15th Street and Fire Station No. 5.

 

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