police

Crime Report: Creepy Behavior at Ballston Mall

By ARLnow.com

There were two incidents of men arrested for downright creepy behavior at Ballston Common Mall on Monday.

First, a man was arrested for allegedly masturbating while watching women work out at the Ballston Sport & Health Club in the mall.

INDECENT EXPOSURE, 03/05/12, 4200 block of Wilson Boulevard. At 6:20 am on March 5, a subject was seen masturbating in a public area of the mall while he was watching women exercise through a gym window. Alexei Rodriguez, 37, of no fixed address, was charged with indecent exposure and trespassing. He is being held without bond.

Just three hours later, a man was arrested for allegedly hiding inside a stall in the women’s bathroom.

PEEPING TOM, 03/05/12, 4200 block of Wilson Boulevard. On March 5 at 9:40 am, a male subject was found in a female bathroom stall peeping into the remaining area by Mall Security. Jacques Toube, 50, of Riverdale, MD, was charged with peeping and was held on a secured bond.

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

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Suspicious Package Found in Ft. Myer Heights

By Katie Pyzyk

Updated at 3:25 p.m. — The bomb squad has cleared the package and all units are leaving the scene.

Earlier: Authorities are on the scene of a suspicious package in Ft. Myer Heights.

Arlington County police and firefighters are at the scene in the 1600 block of Ft. Myer Drive.

Police say an abandoned backpack was found leaning on a natural gas service box. The bomb squad is heading to the scene to investigate.

Hospital Employee Arrested After Robbery Attempt, Foot Chase

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:05 a.m. on 12/23/21) A Virginia Hospital Center worker has been arrested and charged in a bizarre attempted robbery at the hospital.

Police say 48-year-old Alexandria resident [name redacted], an employee at the hospital’s cafeteria, tried to rob his own employer over the weekend.

According to police, [redacted] took a taxi to the hospital around 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. While the cab waited outside, [redacted] allegedly went to the food service office in the cafeteria, confronted his manager with a knife, and demanded the combination to the safe. When the manager insisted she didn’t know the combination, police say, [redacted] bound her hands and feet with electrical cord, placed the safe on an office chair, and wheeled the chair out to the waiting cab.

The taxi driver became suspicious as [redacted] was loading the safe into the trunk and jumped out of the cab, according to police. At that point, hospital security ran outside. [Redacted] is then accused of getting into the driver’s seat of the cab and trying to drive away. The cab driver, however, somehow managed to jump into the passenger seat of the hybrid taxi and kill the ignition with the press of a button.

Police say [redacted] then fled on foot. Officers quickly located him and, after a brief foot pursuit, [redacted] was taken into custody without further incident, according to police.

[Redacted] was charged with abduction, grand larceny, two counts of robbery, and possession of PCP, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

SUV Rollover Accident on Glebe Road

By ARLnow.com

Firefighters extricated a woman who became trapped in her SUV last night after it flipped on its roof at the intersection of S. Glebe Road and W. Glebe Road, near I-395.

The accident happened just after midnight. Initial reports suggest the SUV clipped or was clipped by a red convertible. Only minimal damage was visible on the convertible.

Firefighters from both Arlington and Alexandria responded to the accident. Arlington police blocked the southbound lanes of Glebe Road during the emergency response.

The extent of the SUV driver’s injuries are unknown. Witnesses say she was bloodied but conscious and moving around. The woman was transported via ambulance to a local hospital.

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Accident Begets Accident at Pike and Glebe

By ARLnow.com

“Rubbernecking” past an accident not only slows down the flow of traffic — sometimes it causes another crash.

That was the case today while police were on the scene of a moped accident at the busy intersection of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road. A man on a moped lost control while trying to stop at a red light, causing him to hit the pavement and injure his jaw.

Police had just finished interviewing the man when the “crunch” of broken glass could be heard from the southbound lanes of Glebe Road. A driver, apparently distracted by the accident response, had gotten into a fender-bender with another vehicle.

Police had the two vehicles — a box truck and a BMW — pull into the nearby Rosenthal car lot so they could take statements from both drivers. No injuries were reported. The moped driver, meanwhile, was bloodied with a bandaged chin but is otherwise expected to be okay.

 

Crime Report: Police Impersonation Edition

By ARLnow.com

A man impersonating a police officer stole cash from a man’s wallet last week after asking to see his identification and vehicle registration. From the latest Arlington County crime report:

IMPERSONATING A POLICE OFFICER, 02/25/12, 3700 block of N Lee Highway. Just prior to noon on February 24, an unknown subject impersonated a police officer and stole $160 cash from a man’s wallet after asking to see identification and vehicle registration. The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 45 years old, 5’9″ tall, with an average build. The suspect was reportedly driving a black convertible Ford Mustang.

Also last week, a burglar entered a residence and stole gear belong to a U.S. Park Police officer.

BURGLARY, 02/25/12, 2100 block of S. 26th Street. Between 10 pm on February 24, and 4 am on February 25, an unknown subject entered a residence and stole various items. Stolen items included a laptop, iPad and U.S. Park Police issued duty gear. There is no suspect description.

The rest of this week’s crime report, along with a previously-reported police impersonation home invasion, after the jump.

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EXCLUSIVE: Police Impersonation Home Invasion Has Bank Robbery Tie

By ARLnow.com

A home invasion armed robbery in South Arlington last week has a connection to a series of bank robberies late last year, ARLnow.com has learned exclusively.

Two men impersonating police officers with a search warrant forced their way into a home on the 300 block of S. Fillmore Street around 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, according to Arlington County police. One of the suspects held the residents — a woman and two children — at knifepoint in the living room while the second suspect, armed with a handgun, ransacked the house. In the end, the suspects made off with nearly $13,000 in cash and jewelry.

A police source has confirmed to ARLnow.com that the house targeted by the two armed robbers was that of Rafi Khan, 23, who was arrested in December and charged with two counts of bank robbery. Both robberies both took place in Arlington over the course of a week.

Khan’s trial is currently scheduled for May. The exact connection between Khan and the home invasion is unclear, but police have indicated that they believe his home was specifically targeted, telling news outlets that the crime was likely an “isolated incident” and that “there’s no reason to believe that this is an ongoing occurrence.”

In a crime report last week, police issued the following descriptions of the suspects.

The first suspect is described as a black male, 6’2” tall, with a medium build and was wearing a black ski mask, sunglasses, a black Northface winter coat and black gloves. The second suspect is described as a black male, 5’5” tall, with a heavy build and was wearing eyeglasses, black coat and black pants.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

DUI Checkpoint on Columbia Pike — As promised, Arlington County Police (and the Sheriff’s Office) conducted a DUI checkpoint on Friday night. The checkpoint was set up near the intersection of Columbia Pike and George Mason Drive. Some 400 vehicles passed through and one DUI arrest was made, according to police.

Arlington’s Bikeshare Strategy — Arlington is currently in the process of creating a six-year strategic plan for the continued growth and utilization of Capital Bikeshare in the county. The plan is expected to be presented to the public in June. An initial draft of the plan includes some data from 2011: the county’s cost per Bikeshare trip ($8.18), average Bikeshare trips per day in Arlington (166 — though Bikeshare didn’t expand into North Arlington until April), and percentage of female Bikeshare members (42 percent). [TBD]

Urban Agriculture in Arlington — County officials plan to establish and appoint members to a new “Arlington Urban Agriculture Task Force” next month. Among other assignments, the task force is expected to focus on a proposal to allow residents to keep egg-laying hens in their backyards. Hen advocates from the Arlington Egg Project recently gave a presentation to the Arlington County Republican Committee and were reportedly well-received by supporters of GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by Mark C. White

Multi-Vehicle Accident on Wilson Boulevard

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:25 p.m.) A multi-vehicle accident has closed a stretch of Wilson Boulevard near Clarendon.

One of the vehicles involved  — witnesses say it was a D.C. taxi cab — lost control while driving toward Clarendon on Wilson Boulevard. The vehicle slammed into a car just outside Arlington Autocare, causing one of the store’s windows to break. It continued through the intersection, took out a traffic light control box, smashed several cars in an auto dealership lot, and slammed into the side of the Doctor’s Building before coming to rest.

At least one person was transported to a local hospital. Initial reports suggest the accident may have happened when the cab driver suffered some sort of medical emergency.

The stretch of Wilson Boulevard between 10th Street and Washington Boulevard is currently closed. Traffic signals at the Wilson Boulevard and 10th Street N. intersection are expected to remain dark for at least several hours while crews work to install a new traffic control box. Police have set up cones in the intersection to allow traffic to flow through, without turning.

A man who was boarding up one of the windows at Arlington Autocare said there were customers inside the store at the time of the accident. According to the man’s account, the cab hit a car in front of the store which was then pushed into the store’s window, breaking it. Had that second car not been there, the man said, the cab may have plowed right into the store, injuring those inside.

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Police Rescue Man After Suicide Attempt

By ARLnow.com

 

Police were able to rescue a man who attempted to hang himself from a light pole tonight.

The incident happened in the area of Walter Reed Drive and S. Pollard Street, near the Ft. Barnard dog park. Police received a call just before 5:15 p.m. for a man sitting on a light pole — about 20 feet up — with a rope around his neck. As officers arrived on scene, the man jumped, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Sternbeck said the man came to rest about five feet off the ground. Officers worked quickly and managed to get the man down. He had a pulse when paramedics transported him to a local hospital, according to Sternbeck.

Police remained on scene to investigate the incident, Sternbeck said. The man’s current condition was not immediately available.

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

Crime Report: Crapper Attacker Edition

By ARLnow.com

Someone broke into an Alcova Heights apartment last week, used the bathroom, and didn’t flush. From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

UNLAWFUL ENTRY, 02/17/12, 3600 block of S. 5th Street. Between 7:45 am, on February 14, and 6 pm, on February 15, an unknown subject entered the victim’s apartment and used the bathroom. There were no items reported missing. There is no suspect description.

According to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the bathroom bandit may not have flushed, but he or she did, at least, turn off the lights.

“An unknown subject defacated in the victims toilet and didn’t flush,” Sternbeck said in an email. “The suspect also turned off interior lights in the residence that were left on… there were no signs of forced entry.”

Sternbeck said he could not recall any similar incidents in Arlington in recent memory. The rest of this week’s crime report, after the jump.

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