police

Event to Explore the Gangs of Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Arlington may have a relatively low crime rate and a reputation for being a idyllic “urban village,” but there are still gangs — including the notorious MS-13 street gang — operating in our midst.

An event next week will remind residents that Arlington is not without gang activity and gang-related violence.

On Tuesday, April 17, Leadership Arlington will be holding a panel discussion entitled “Arlington County Gangs: Exploring the Shadows of Our Urban Mayberry.” Part of the organization’s spring speaker series, the event will focus on “the threats that gang activity present to the Arlington community,” “contributing factors to youth participation in gangs” and “initiatives in place to address gang-related violence.”

The speakers include Robert “Tito” Vilchez of the Arlington County Task Force, a member of the Arlington County Police Gang Unit, and Meredith McKeen of Northern Virginia Family Services.

Gang activity might not be visible to many residents, but it is to many of Arlington’s youth. One in six Arlington Public Schools students know at least one person who is involved in gang activity, according to the event invitation.

The panel discussion will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the WETA building (2775 S. Quincy Street). Tickets are $40 for the general public and $30 for Leadership Arlington members. Lunch is included in the price of admission.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Older ‘Quota’ Memos Released — Arlington County Police Chief M. Douglas Scott continues to insist that the police department does not and never did have a quota system, despite new memos being unearthed which set “goals,” “expectations,” or “levels of production” for arrests and tickets. [WUSA 9, Washington Post]

Documentary About Arlington Freedom Rider — A documentary is being made about Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, an long-time Arlington resident and one of the original Freedom Riders who fought against racial segregation in the South. [YouTube]

Contest Sends APS Teacher to Volcano — Gunston Middle School teacher John Stewart will be taking an all-expenses-paid educational trip to Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii after winning a contest sponsored by Wonder bread. While in Hawaii, at the country’s most active volcano, Stewart will “provide an interactive educational experience to his 8th grade students at Gunston Middle School, which will also receive 25 free tablet computers for the remote lesson,” according to a press release. [7Wonders of the USA Teacher Tour]

Flickr pool photo by Alex

Arlington Man Beaten, Robbed in Baltimore

By ARLnow.com

A 31-year-old Arlington man was beaten and robbed following a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Baltimore, in a story that has now made national news.

The beating was caught on camera and posted to a hip hop website. Several people can be seen punching the man and then stripping him of his clothing, while others stand around, laugh and cheer.

The man, who was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident, eventually made it back to his hotel room. He had no memory of the incident, but noticed that his watch, iPhone and car keys were missing.

Baltimore Police say they’ve already identified one suspect. They’re asking for the public to help identify others.

Arlington Recognizing Emergency Communications Personnel

By ARLnow.com

Arlington is recognizing the employees of the county’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC) — the folks who answer 911 calls and dispatch police and firefighters to emergencies — as part of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. In a press release, the Arlington County Police Department praised the hard work and dedication of ECC personnel.

The week of April 8-14, 2012 is “National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.” This is an opportunity to honor the men and women of the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center who serve as our public safety communication professionals. They are the voice at the other end of the 9-1-1 call assisting a distressed citizen. They are the voice behind the radio when police, firefighters and medical personnel are responding to emergency incidents. We commend them on their tireless efforts to support emergency responders and to provide critical services to the citizens of our state.

Congress proclaimed the second week of April as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in 1991 as a time to remember the critical role dispatchers play in keeping the public and public safety community safe. Today, calls placed to 911 centers across the nation are answered by these professionals to provide support to law enforcement, Fire-EMS, and other government field personnel.

Please join the Arlington County Police Department in thanking the telecommunicators and staff members for their continued dedication, hard work, and ability to multi-task while assisting the community and responding emergency personnel.

TRAFFIC ALERT — Glebe Road Shut Down Due to Accident

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:00 a.m.) Glebe Road was shut down in the area of 5th Street S. this morning due to a head-on collision between a car and a pickup truck

The accident happened just before 9:00 a.m., in front of Arlington Fire Station No. 1. Firefighters had to remove the top of the pickup truck to extricate the female driver, who was reported to be seriously injured. She was brought via ambulance to a local hospital. The driver of the car was reported to be alert and walking around after the accident.

Glebe Road was reopened to traffic around 10:00 a.m.

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Security Breaks Up Sexual Encounter in Mall Bathroom

By ARLnow.com

Police responded to the Pentagon City mall on Thursday for a report of an “obscene sexual display” in a restroom.

The security manager of a department store called police around 11:30 a.m. after finding a man masturbating in the middle of the store’s third floor bathroom. The suspect, described as a 5’9″ black male in his late 20s, was peering at another man in a bathroom stall while masturbating, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. A third man was also present in the bathroom during the incident, watching the other two. The men had deliberately met up in the bathroom for sexual purposes, Sternbeck said.

The suspects all fled the scene before police arrived.

While Sternbeck was unable to confirm the identity of the store involved, a “cruising” website for men seeking sexual encounters contains a listing for the third floor bathroom of the Macy’s store in Pentagon City.

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Man Found Unconscious on Wilson Boulevard

By ARLnow.com

A man suffering from life-threatening injuries was found lying unconscious on Wilson Boulevard early Sunday morning.

The man was found around 1:00 a.m. on the 5300 block of Wilson Boulevard, in Bluemont, suffering from significant head trauma, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. It’s unknown at this time whether the injury was the result of a hit-and-run, a fight or a fall. The man still had his wallet with him, so robbery is not considered a likely motive if he was, in fact, attacked.

The man was taken to a local hospital where surgery was performed to stop bleeding in his brain, Sternbeck said. His injuries are considered life-threatening.

The man is described as a 38-year-old Arlington resident. No other details were available about the incident.

UPDATED: Homeless Man Attacked in Cherrydale

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 5:45 p.m. on 4/9/12) A man has been arrested after a bizarre, alleged attack on a homeless man in Cherrydale on Sunday.

Police originally received a call around 2:00 a.m. for a fight in progress in the 2000 block of N. Kenmore Street, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The victim, a homeless man who had been living in his car in the neighborhood for the past five years, said an adult Asian male had jumped on his car and started attacking him. During the struggle, the suspect — who was drunk — was able to get into the driver’s seat of the car and hit the victim with the vehicle, according to Sternbeck. The suspect then started to drive off but wrecked the car 100 feet away. Undeterred, the suspect ran back at the victim to continue assaulting him.

At that point, Sternbeck said, the victim pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed his attacker in the chest. The suspect ran off and, after arriving at the scene of the fight, police called in a helicopter to search for him. The suspect was not initially located by police but, later, a woman called police to report her boyfriend missing. The boyfriend matched the description of the suspect, and police were then able to locate the suspect in his residence, suffering from a serious chest wound, according to Sternbeck.

The suspect, identified by police as 24-year-old Andrew Lee of North Carolina, was taken to a local hospital for treatment. After an investigation, Lee was charged Monday with attempted malicious wounding and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He’s currently being held without bond at the Arlington County jail. The motive for the attack is unknown at this time, Sternbeck said.

The victim did not require transport to the hospital, according to Sternbeck.

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Teen Arrested for Brandishing Fake Gun at Abingdon Elementary

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) A teen with a fake gun threatened a group of children outside Abingdon Elementary School in Fairlington yesterday afternoon.

Students told police a male suspect approached them, carrying a gun with an orange tip. Police radio traffic reported that while displaying the weapon, which was at first thought to be real, the suspect asked the children if they were ready to die.

The suspect and children all left the scene. However, when police arrived, some of the children returned to describe the suspect and incident.

A short time later, police found a 17-year-old boy in the area matching the students’ description. The teen was arrested and charged with brandishing a firearm on school property, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Although he did not have the weapon with him at the time of the arrest, it was later recovered and revealed to be a BB gun.

Nobody was hurt during the incident. The suspect, who police say is an Arlington Public Schools student, was released to his parents.

WMATA Launches Anti-Sexual Harassment Campaign

By Katie Pyzyk

Metro has officially embarked on an awareness campaign to fight incidents of sexual harassment against people using the system.

“This purpose of this outreach is to let people know that it’s not okay to sexually harass people on Metro,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles on WMATA’s website. “We are encouraging anyone who may be harassed to report the incident to Metro Transit Police.”

Phase one included this week’s launch of an online reporting system. Victims have the option of remaining anonymous, but all reports will be sent directly to Metro Transit Police. An email address, [email protected], has also been set up to allow customers to send photos or video to assist in an investigation.

According to the website, reportable behavior includes “extended leering, sexual comments, indecent exposure, stalking and groping.” Even if an incident doesn’t seem like a crime, victims are asked to still report what happened so Metro can spot trends and try to prevent future crimes from occurring. Right now, WMATA does not track such statistics.

“Prior to this initiative, we were not collecting data on reported harassment that did not rise to the level of a crime,” said WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel. “Over the next few months, we will track the data, develop a baseline for future comparisons, and report statistics publicly on a quarterly basis.”

A number of Arlington incidents of harassment on Metro have been made public over the last couple of years. An apparent repeat offender at the Courthouse station was reported to police by at least one woman whom he grabbed after taking a cell phone photo up her skirt. Another apparent repeat offender has been reported at the Pentagon stop in posts on the advocacy website Collective Action for Safe Spaces.

“The changes that Metro is making to address public sexual harassment and assault is a testament to the hundreds of stories we received on our site,” Collective Action for Safe Spaces Co-founder Chai Shenoy said on WMATA’s website. “We see this partnership as a step in the right direction and a model for other transit agencies around the world to follow.”

As part of the anti-harassment initiative, soon customers will see posters for the campaign displayed on buses and in train stations. Materials will be handed out throughout the system. Metro is also working on enhancing training for its employees on the front lines.

Crime Report: Cash Briefcase Edition

By ARLnow.com

A would-be crime victim said “no deal” to a criminal who tried to steal his briefcase full of cash.

The attempted robbery took place in a Crystal City parking garage. According to this week’s Arlington County crime report, the victim was able to hang on to his briefcase even after the suspect struck him in the back of the head.

ATTEMPTED ROBBERY, 04/02/12, 2400 block of S. Crystal Drive. At 5 am on April 2, a victim was walking from his car to his place of work, when he was struck in the back of the head by an unknown object by a subject. The suspect attempted to steal the victim’s briefcase, which was carrying approximately $1,000 cash, but was unable to get the victim to release his grip. The suspect fled the scene on foot and the victim alerted a building security guard. The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 5’9″ tall and 250 lbs. At the time of the attempted robbery, the suspect was wearing all black, with a black ski mask covering his face.

The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

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