police

Crime Report: …in the Back Edition

By ARLnow.com

In this week’s Arlington County crime report, police say a man in the Columbia Forest neighborhood was stabbed in the back by young woman after he refused to give her money to buy drugs.

MALICIOUS WOUNDING-ARREST, 08/24/11, 1000 block of S. Frederick Street. On August 24 at 5:30 am, a woman stabbed a man in the back when he refused to give her money to buy narcotics. The two people were acquainted. Melissa Diaz Marty, 21, of Arlington, was charged with Malicious Wounding and Possession of Cocaine. She was held without bond.

On Monday, a woman walking down the street in the Westover area was hit in the back by an egg thrown from a passing vehicle.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY, 08/29/11, 5700 block of N. 16th Street. On August 29 at 8:30 pm, a woman was walking when an unknown subject threw an egg at her from a passing vehicle. The egg struck her in the back. The suspect vehicle is described as a dark colored four-door sedan.

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

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Attempted Sexual Assault Near Courthouse

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Police are looking for a man suspected of trying to sexually assault one woman and improperly touching another last Friday.

The crimes took place near the Rosslyn and Courthouse areas.

Police say the man is first suspected of running up to a woman on the 1700 block of N. Quinn Street, near the 7-Eleven store, and grabbing her buttocks. That happened around 11:20 Friday night.

Then, a half hour later, the man allegedly knocked a woman to the ground on the 1800 block of N. Veitch Street, a couple of blocks from the Courthouse Metro station. Police say the man covered the woman’s head with his shirt, pulled at her shirt and “asked for sex.” Another woman who was walking with the victim ran off and called police. Police describe the crime as an attempted sexual assault.

Here are the two incidents as described in Monday’s daily police report:

ATTEMPT SEXUAL ASSAULT, 08/27/11, 1800 block of N. Veitch Street. On August 26 at 11:50 pm, two women were walking when an unknown man ran up to them. He knocked one woman to the ground covering her head with his blue plaid shirt. The suspect pulled at her shirt and asked for sex. The second female ran and called police. The suspect is described as an African American male in his late 20’s and 5’10”. He was wearing a white t-shirt and carrying his other shirt.

SEXUAL BATTERY, 08/26/11, 1700 block of N. Quinn Street. On August 26 at 11:20 pm, a woman was walking when an unknown man ran up and grabbed her buttocks. The suspect was a man in his 30’s with a dark complexion, 5’10” with a thin build. He was wearing a blue or green plaid button up shirt. This suspect is similar in description to the above incident.

New Door-to-Door Sales Scheme Raises Red Flags

By ARLnow.com

We’ve heard via email and Twitter that there’s a new door-to-door scam making its way around Arlington.

The sellers claim to be helping out “inner city kids,” perhaps by asking you to purchase books, according to tipsters. They also might mention something about “motivational speaking.” In the end, they ask for a large sum of money.

At least one resident called police after a visit by the salesmen. No word on which company or organization they claim to represent.

Police Investigate Reported ART Bus Hit and Run

By ARLnow.com

Police are investigating a possible hit and run involving an Arlington Transit bus.

A driver told police that an ART bus hit his driver’s side door near the intersection of S. Courthouse Road and 2nd Street, then continued on its way. No injuries were reported.

Police arrived to interview the driver and take photos of the car. A representative from Forsythe Transportation, which contracts with the county to run the ART bus fleet, also arrived and talked to police. Later, a passerby told ARLnow.com that a No. 42 ART bus was offloaded at S. Courthouse and 2nd Street as police inspected it.

Earlier this summer Forsythe fired a number of striking ART bus drivers and went on a hiring spree to quickly replace them. We’re awaiting comment from the county’s Department of Environmental Services, which is responsible for the county’s transit services.

Update at 10:45 a.m. — The ART web site reports that all buses going through S. Courthouse Road are “late due to… police activity.”

EB Lee Highway Shut Down Due to Downed Power Line

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 8:30 a.m.) Both lanes of eastbound Lee Highway have been closed at George Mason Drive this morning.

The closure is due to power lines that were knocked down by a tractor trailer, according to police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Dominion is on the scene and expects to have the lines repaired by 10:30 a.m. More than 150 Dominion customers are without power in the area due to the downed lines.

Eastbound Lee Highway traffic is being diverted onto southbound George Mason Drive. Cars are not being allowed to turn left at the intersection, to ensure that traffic moves smoothly through the area.

Courtesy photo

Crime Report: Assault and Coffee Edition

By ARLnow.com

A woman was arrested at the Pentagon City mall on Saturday for allegedly throwing a drink at a coffee kiosk employee, according to this week’s Arlington County crime report.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY, 08/20/11, 1100 S. Hayes Street. On August 20 at 6 pm, a woman threw a drink at an employee of a coffee kiosk. Jennel Solomon, 27, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault and Battery. She was released on a summons.

The accused drink thrower was charged with assault and battery. On Friday, a woman was arrested and charged with assault and battery, police say, for forcefully grabbing a co-worker by the arm in Rosslyn.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST, 08/19/11, 1600 block of Wilson Boulevard. On August 18 at 6 pm, two women argued at their place of work, and one grabbed the other by the arm forcefully. Ashley Cauthen, 25, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault and Battery. She was held on a $1,500 bond.

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

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BREAKING NEWS — Arlington PD Arrests Suspected Bank Robber

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:20 a.m.) Arlington County Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing up to six banks in Arlington this summer.

D.C. resident Peter Cifala, 57, was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of bank robbery.

“Though the suspect is charged with one robbery at this time, the robbery is believed to be related to a series of five other bank robberies that occurred over the past three months in Arlington County,” police said in a statement.

Authorities say Cifala was nabbed thanks to tips and increasingly detailed surveillance images.

“The pictures got progressively better,” police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal said. “The investigation was greatly assisted by citizens who called the police department with tips, and a tip from the Arlington County Sheriff’s Department”

“We’re happy,” Nosal added. “[The arrest] is going to be reassuring for bank employees and people who go into banks.”

Cifala was apprehended with the help of the Northern Virginia Violent Crimes Task Force, police said. He’s currently being held in the Arlington County Detention Center.

Cifala has a long rap sheet that includes more than 20 criminal convictions in Virginia, including nine separate grand larceny, attempted larceny and petit larceny charges in Arlington between 1991 and 2002.

Update at 1:45 p.m. — We’re told that a sheriff’s deputy in the Arlington County Detention Center’s booking room recognized the most recent surveillance photo of Cifala.

UPDATED: Man Killed After Car Falls On Him

By ARLnow.com

A man was seriously injured after a car on which he was working fell on top of him in the Douglas Park neighborhood of South Arlington.

The man reportedly had the car propped up on a small jack when something when wrong and the vehicle fell on him. Police, firefighters and paramedics responded and managed to remove him from underneath the vehicle, a Toyota Camry sedan.

Police aren’t commenting yet on the man’s condition, but initial reports suggest his injuries were very serious. The incident happened in an apartment parking area off of the 1100 block of S. Thomas Street.

Update at 5:00 p.m. — Police have now confirmed that the victim died from his injuries.

The Arlington County Police Department is investigating the death of a man that occurred this morning.

At approximately 11:40 a.m., police and medic units were called to the 1100 block of South Thomas Street for a person injured while working on a motor vehicle. Upon arrival, it was apparent that the person was deceased. The victim has been identified as Miguel A. Interiano, 63, of Arlington. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone who has information about this incident is asked to call the Arlington County Police Department Tip Line at 703 228-4242, or Detective Cynthia Garcia at (703) 228-4195.

County Employee Recounts Chasing Down Robbery Suspect

By ARLnow.com

By night, Juan Rivera is a mild-mannered conga player and salsa dancer. By day, he’s an undercover crime fighter.

At least, that’s the role Rivera played Tuesday, when he helped to chase down a man who tried to rob a woman at an ATM machine in Courthouse Plaza.

Rivera, an employee in the county’s Commissioner of Revenue office, had just picked up sushi across the street from his office when he saw a man running and someone yelling “thief!” Dressed in a shirt and tie and still holding his to-go box of sushi, Rivera gave chase. Soon, he was joined by two other men, one of whom was calling police on his cell phone. The suspect, a tall, physically imposing man in his mid-20s, tried to flee into a nearby residential neighborhood.

“We went after him, he hid [behind] some houses, and I was like, hey he must be in one of these houses, because he just turned around the corner and disappeared,” Rivera recounted. “So we went looking and he was there. There was some verbal confrontation between him and the other person who was chasing him. Then he ran back into the houses, jumped a couple of fences to keep going, and we were right behind him and jumped a couple of fences, too. When he got to the last fence, which was really high, the police came from the left-hand side and caught him.”

So why did Rivera decide to chase after the man, ignoring the potential danger involved?

“To me, that’s just common sense. That’s just how i do things,” he said. “If someone gets robbed, to me, the people should react in a helpful manner. But there were only three of us that reacted. I didn’t go to tackle the guy… but at least participate in assisting this person who was just robbed.”

“It’s kind of sad to see how little participation there was,” Rivera continued. “I live in Columbia Heights in D.C., and if that would have happened there that guy would have not gotten farther than a block. People over there, they’re going to participate. The men there, if something happens to a woman, they just go.”

“Some kids might just do it for the fun of beating someone up,” he added with a laugh.

Once the suspect was in police custody, Rivera headed back to the office, slightly sweaty but with his sushi still in hand. He told his supervisor what happened, and was granted an extra 15 minutes to finish his lunch. Then, he got back to work. Yesterday afternoon, the victim — also a county employee — came and thanked him.

As it turns out, the suspect never got any of the victim’s cash. She was able to break free from the suspect’s choke hold, cancel the ATM transaction and yell for help, according to police. The suspect, identified as 26-year-old James Williams of no fixed address, has been charged with attempted robbery as well as grand larceny, from a previous warrant.

As for Rivera, he’s taking his five minutes of fame — which included an interview with NBC4 — in stride. After all, he’s already used to the spotlight, given that he plays the conga in two bands.

“It’s not a big deal to me,” he said of the new-found attention.

Crime Report: Serial Groper Strikes Again

By ARLnow.com

In this week’s Arlington County crime report, the serial groper who targets Eastern European lifeguards strikes again.

 SEXUAL BATTERY, 08/12/11, 3400 block of S. Utah Street. On August 12 at 9:20 am, an unknown man approached a female lifeguard from behind while she was unlocking the pool gate and touched her breasts. The suspect was a white male between 25 and 35 years of age, 5’10” with a medium, muscular build. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt, khaki knee length shorts, a dark blue baseball cap and large black sunglasses.

That same day — Friday, Aug. 12 — a man in a van exposed himself to a teenage boy in the Buckingham neighborhood.

EXPOSURE, 08/12/11, 4200 block of N. Henderson Road. On August 12 at 7 am, a 17-year-old male was walking to the high school when and unknown man in a vehicle exposed himself to the juvenile. The suspect was driving a brown van and was described as a white male in his 40’s, with a chubby face, a “buzz cut” and glasses.

The rest of this week’s crime report, including the world’s most innocuous series of car break-ins, after the jump.
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Clearest Photos Yet of Serial Bank Robbery Suspect

By ARLnow.com

The guy suspected of six separate bank robberies in Arlington this summer might be getting a bit sloppy.

Arlington Police have released new surveillance images of the man, whose face can — for the first time — clearly be seen despite a low-slung cap and a pair of stylish sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

The images were taken during a robbery yesterday afternoon at the BB&T Bank at 3001 N. Washington Boulevard in Clarendon. It’s the second time the man is suspected of robbing that particular branch, and the fourth time he’s suspected of robbing a BB&T location.

Here’s what police had to say about the crime, in a press release.

The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is seeking the public’s help to identify a man who robbed an Arlington bank yesterday afternoon. This suspect related to five other bank robberies that have occurred in the past three months in Arlington County.

The suspect entered the BB&T Bank in the 3000 block of Washington Blvd at approximately 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, August 17, 2011. He announced a bank robbery and demanded money. After receiving cash, the suspect fled on foot.

The suspect is described as a white male with brown hair, approximately 50 years old and 5’9” with a thin build. At the time of the robbery he wore a gray t-shirt, khaki pants, brown belt, a light colored hat and sunglasses.

Anyone who has information about this robbery or the identity of the suspect is asked to call the Arlington County Police Department Tip Line at 703 228-4242, or Detective Donald Fortunato at (703) 228-4197. Det. Fortunato can also be reached by email at [email protected].

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