police

Arlington Hires New Police Spokesman

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department has hired a new spokesman.

Dustin Sternbeck is taking over the role of Public Information Officer later this month, as the ACPD spokeswoman for the past 4 years, Det. Crystal Nosal, is heading back to the department’s patrol division. Nosal, a familiar face on local news broadcasts when a significant crime or accident happens in Arlington, is a uniformed police officer while Sternbeck comes to the department as a civilian employee.

Sternbeck was formerly a uniformed Public Information Officer for the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management. More recently, he served as the spokesman for Northern Virginia Community College.

Police Seek ‘Armed and Dangerous’ Suspect

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:55 a.m. on 12/23/21) Arlington County Police are looking for a suspect who they describe as “armed and dangerous.”

Police say 43-year-old [name redacted] has been charged with Malicious Wounding in connection with an assault back in mid-December, but is currently at large. [Redacted] — described as a 5’10”, 230 lbs African American male — is known to frequent Arlington’s Buckingham neighborhood, police say, and should be considered armed and dangerous.

“Anyone who has information about the whereabouts of [redacted] is asked to call the Arlington County Police Department immediately at 703-558-2222, or Detective Michael Austin at 703-228-4183,” police said in a news release. “Det. Austin can also be reached by email at [email protected].”

According to investigators, [redacted] was one of several suspects who assaulted a man on the 4200 block of N. 2nd Road in Buckingham, just south of Ballston, early on the morning of Dec. 17, 2011. One suspect was arrested at the scene but [redacted] got away, according to police.

A police spokesman was unable to provide any additional details about [redacted’s] alleged involvement in the assault.

Crime Report: Assault With Food Edition

By ARLnow.com

Early Monday morning, a convenience store clerk on Columbia Pike was assaulted with “various packaged food items” by a man who wanted to use the store’s phone. From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

ASSAULT AND BATTERY, 01/02/12, 4900 block of Columbia Pike. On January 2 at 3 am, an unknown man assaulted a convenience store clerk with various packaged food items when the clerk refused to let the suspect use the store phone. The suspect is described as a black Ethiopian male, in his 30’s, 5’8″ and 180 lbs. He was wearing a black jacket, jeans and a white knit hat.

Also on Monday, a small store on S. Glebe Road was robbed at gunpoint by two masked men.

ROBBERY, 01/02/12, 1600 block of S. Glebe Road. On January 2 at 5 pm, two men entered a small store. They brandished a handgun and stole money from the cash register before fleeing. The first suspect wore a gray hood over his head, a dark cloth covering his face, jeans, and black shoes with white shoelaces. The second suspect was wearing a gray or green jacket, jeans, a cloth covering his face, and a hood over his head.

Early Tuesday morning, a man attempted to carjack a taxicab in Lyon Village.

ATTEMPTED CARJACKING, 01/03/11, 1700 block of N. Barton Street. On January 3 at 2:20 am, an unknown man assaulted a taxi cab driver. The suspect choked him and attempted to drive off in the cab. The suspect hit another car, and then fled the area on foot. The suspect is described as a black male, late twenties to early thirties and approximately 185 lbs. He was last seen wearing a black jacket with a black snow cap.

The rest of the weekly crime report, after the jump.

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UPDATED: Missing Teen Couple Found in Fairfax County

By ARLnow.com

Update at 4:15 p.m. — Police have just announced that the missing couple has been found unharmed in Fairfax County.

Earlier: Arlington County Police are asking for the public’s help in locating a teenage couple that have been missing since yesterday afternoon.

Police say Nathalie Benitah, 14, and Christian Manzano, 15, both left their Arlington homes around 4:00 p.m. yesterday. Christian called his parents around 7:00 last night, but the couple has otherwise not been seen or heard from since.

“Detectives do not believe that their disappearance is suspicious, as Nathalie and Christian left together willingly,” ACPD said in a news release. “Due to the severe cold, police want to locate the couple as soon as possible.”

“Nathalie is a white Hispanic female, 5’1″ and 130 lbs. She was last seen wearing a red jacket, purple shoes and was carrying a purple polka-dotted backpack,” police said. “Christian is a white Hispanic male, 6’1″ and 180 lbs. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, black jeans and a black knit cap with a ‘Dallas Cowboys’ logo on the front. Christian was also carrying two backpacks; one was camouflage print and the other was orange and black.”

Anyone with information about either Nathalie or Christian is asked to call the Arlington County Police Department at 703-558-2222.

Photo courtesy ACPD

Window Broken During Fight at Bob & Edith’s Diner

By ARLnow.com

An early morning fight resulted in a broken door, a broken window and two arrests at Bob & Edith’s Diner on Columbia Pike over the weekend.

Police say Zachary Szabo, 23, assaulted Jamel Toms, 26, inside the restaurant around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31. Toms then “became disorderly, broke the restaurant door, and threw a glass sugar container at a plate glass window, shattering it,” according to the daily Arlington County police report.

Toms, of Alexandria, was charged with “Releasing a Missile Into an Occupied Dwelling” and two felony counts of Destruction of Property. He was held on a $10,000 bond.

Szabo, of Woodbridge, was charged with Assault and Battery. He was held without bond.

The damage to the restaurant was still visible as of yesterday evening.

Four Arrested After Restaurant Melee

By ARLnow.com

Four men were arrested Friday night after a large fight broke out at Las Delicias Restaurant, on the 1600 block of S. Walter Reed Drive.

Police say a group of men assaulted several people at the restaurant around 9:30 p.m. One of the victims was assaulted with a shovel, causing a serious leg injury, according to police.

One suspect, 35-year-old Carlos Diaz of Woodbridge, was charged with malicious wounding. Three other suspects — Ricardo Palacios, 28, of Fairfax; Jose Machuca, 38, of Woodbridge; and Juan Machuca, 40, of Woodbridge — were all charged with assault by mob. All suspects were held without bond.

Following the fight and the arrests, police used crime scene tape to cordon off part of the restaurant’s front patio, where chairs and tables could be seen strewn about. Police then took photos of the scene and towed away a white pickup truck from the parking lot.

Hat tip to Brendan L.

Arlington Records Rare Murder-Free Year

By ARLnow.com

Update on 1/2/12 — Arlington County has indeed recorded a murder-free year in 2011. It is the first year on record without a reported homicide in Arlington. Available police records started in 1960.

Earlier: If Arlington can go 36+ hours without a homicide, it will be the first year since at least the 1950s without a single recorded murder in Arlington County.

Available police records, which go back to 1960, show at least one homicide has been reported in each of the past 51 years. In fact, there have been 273 homicides in Arlington since 1960 — for an average of about 5.4 homicides per year.

The number of homicides in Arlington has declined since the early 1990s. In the six years between 1990 and 1995, there were 56 homicides in Arlington. Between 2006 and 2011, there have been 13 homicides, as illustrated below.

  • 2006: 4
  • 2007: 2
  • 2008: 4
  • 2009: 2
  • 2010: 1
  • 2011 (as of Dec. 29): 0

The District of Columbia is also experiencing a decline in murders. With 108 reported homicides as of Dec. 29, the District is on track to have the lowest murder tally since 1963.

Crime Report: Surprise Guest Edition

By ARLnow.com

In this week’s Arlington County crime report, a real estate agent got a bit of a surprise upon entering a for-sale property and discovering someone sleeping there.

UNLAWFUL ENTRY-ARREST, 12/23/11, 500 block of S. 25th Street. On December 23 at 9:30 am, a realtor found that a subject had broken into a property and was sleeping there. Lorenzo Brown, 19, of Landover, MD, was charged with Unlawful Entry and Destruction of Property. He was held on a $5,000 bond.

This week’s crime report also includes several items we’ve already told you about: the arrest of a bank robbery suspect, the robbery of a gas station, several arrests on Christmas Day. See the rest of the report after the jump.

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Busy Christmas Day for Arlington Police

By ARLnow.com

Sunday was a busier-than-usual Christmas Day for Arlington County police.

Among the incidents reported: a police cruiser window was smashed, a Courthouse area business was broken into and a gas station was robbed at gunpoint. All three incidents resulted in arrests.

From the ACPD daily crime report:

DOMESTIC ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST, 12/25/11, 5600 block of S. 7th Rd. On December 25 at 1 am, a man assaulted his wife. He was extremely disorderly during arrest and kicked out the window of a police cruiser. Carlos Villatoro, 30, of Arlington, was charged with Felony Destruction of Property, Domestic Assault and Battery, Possession of Marijuana and Curse and Abuse. He was held without bond.

BURGLARY-ARREST, 12/25/11, 2300 block of Wilson Blvd. On December 25 at 7 am, two men were seen breaking into a business. They were apprehended at the scene by police. Mohamed Alim, 19, of Alexandria, and Adil Gour, 19, of Fairfax, were both charged with Burglary. They were held without bond.

ROBBERY-ARREST, 12/25/11, 4100 block of Four Mile Run Dr. On December 25 at 12:15 pm, a man entered a gas station and robbed the cashier of money an cigarettes while brandishing a handgun. The suspect then fled in a while that a second person was driving. Both suspects were apprehended by police. Liban Jama, 23, of Arlington, was charged with Armed Robbery and Use of Firearm in the Commission of a Felony. Earl Brown, 27, of Arlington, was charged with Armed Robbery. They were both held without bond.

Huge Crowd Prompts Urgent Call for Police at Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Arlington has joined the list of locales around the country and around the region where the early morning release of a new pair of sneakers resulted in chaos.

The release of the retro, $180 Nike Air Jordan XI sneaker drew large crowds at malls from coast to coast. Early this morning, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City was no exception.

A crowd of 500-600 people mobbed the mall in pursuit of the coveted shoes, according to Arlington County Police. We’re told the mall had only one security guard handling crowd control when police were first called to assist. When officers arrived, they encountered a chaotic scene. At about 5:00 a.m., an officer frantically declared a “signal one” — requesting urgent assistance from all available units.

Eventually police were able to restore order. A few officers stayed on the scene to assist in the distribution of the sneakers, we’re told.

Photo via Nike

Police Identify Arrested Bank Robbery Suspect

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:50 a.m. on 12/23/21) Arlington County Police have released the identity of the man arrested yesterday following a bank robbery in Clarendon.

Police say 23-year-old [name redacted] of Arlington has been charged with two counts of bank robbery — one for yesterday’s robbery of the PNC Bank at 2601 Clarendon Blvd and one for last week’s robbery of a Bank of America at 3401 Columbia Pike.

“The investigation is ongoing, and other charges may be pending,” police said.

According to public records, [redacted’s] listed address is a $500,000 home on S. Fillmore Street in Penrose. [Redacted] is currently being held in the Arlington County Detention Center.

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