An Arlington man was arrested Monday after he allegedly left a receipt at a store he had just robbed.
The incident happened around 2:00 p.m. at a store inside Ballston Common Mall. Police say Matthew Martin, 45, purchased some DVDs at the store. Before he left, however, a store clerk noticed that he was trying to conceal other items that he did not buy, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
At that point, police say, Martin displayed a knife, threatened the clerk and fled the scene without paying for the concealed merchandise.
Police were able to use the identification information from Martin’s receipt for the DVDs he purchased to arrest him at his Arlington home a short time after the crime, Sternbeck said. He was charged with robbery and held without bond.
Someone broke into an apartment in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood over the weekend and stole a “variety of expensive jewelry.”
From this week’s Arlington County crime report:
BURGLARY, 08/24/13, 2600 block of S. Veitch Street. Between 7:45 pm on August 23 and 11:45 pm on August 24, a female victim noticed the screen of the window had been cut and her apartment had been broken into. A variety of expensive jewelry was stolen. There is no suspect(s) description.
Last Thursday, a man was punched in the face and had his cell phone stolen in the area of St. Thomas More Cathedral School.
ROBBERY, 08/22/13, 100 block of N. Thomas Street. At 3:25 pm on August 22, a victim was punched in the face and had his cell phone taken. The suspect fled the scene on foot and is described as a black male in his 20’s, approximately 5’7″ tall and 160 lbs. He had a neck tattoo as well as arm sleeve tattoos. He as wearing an army fatigue shirt, jeans and grey new balance sneakers.
Fish and Wildlife Service Nears Lease Deal in Falls Church — Vornado Realty Trust is reportedly close to securing a lease deal that would move the Fish and Wildlife Service out of Ballston and into Falls Church. The deal would send the agency’s 2,100 employees to 5275 Leesburg Pike in the Skyline area. [Washington Business Journal]
Man Pleads Guilty in Pentagon City Robbery — Walter Douglas, who was arrested in June, has pleaded guilty to a string of smash and grab robberies, including the March 19 Tourneau store robbery at the Pentagon City mall. Douglas admitted he was an organizer of the group that allegedly carried out the robberies, and he pleaded guilty to a federal robbery charge and a robbery-conspiracy charge. He reports the group stole between $800,000 and $1.5 million in high end goods. Douglas will be sentenced on November 8. [Washington Post]
Police Seek Assistance Identifying Thieves — The Arlington County Police Department is requesting the public’s help with identifying two people accused of entering office buildings and stealing wallets. The two are believed to have taken part in a wallet theft in the 4600 block of N. Fairfax Drive on June 25, and another on the 1600 block of N. Wilson Blvd on July 8. They were caught on surveillance video using the stolen credit cards at a CVS store. Surveillance photos of the suspects and police contact information can be found on the press release. [Arlington County Police Department]
Arlington Band Makes Fortune Magazine’s Finals — An in-house rock band at Excella Consulting, a technology consulting firm based in Courthouse, is a finalist in Fortune magazine’s 13th annual Battle of the Corporate Bands. The band, Detached Retina, will compete at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on September 28, along with seven other finalists. The contest’s proceeds benefit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [Excella Consulting]
On the eve of the Fourth of July, police say a man snatched a ring and a number of loose diamonds from a clerk at the Helzberg Diamonds store in Pentagon City Mall.
From this week’s Arlington County crime report:
ROBBERY, 07/03/13, 1400 block of S. Hayes St. At 7:45 pm on July 3 an unknown suspect grabbed a ring and loose diamonds from a clerk at the Helzberg Diamonds store. Suspect is described as a black male, 5’8, 170 lbs. wearing a long sleeved blue shirt and khaki pants.
Miss Arlington Wins Miss Virginia Pageant — Desiree Williams, this year’s Miss Arlington, has captured the crown of Miss Virginia. The Newport News native and Hampton University graduate will compete for Miss America 2014 in September in Atlantic City. Williams performed Cubana Cubana on the piano for her talent and won support with her “Fit and Fun” platform. [Roanoke Times]
Deputy Accused of Murder Denied Bail — Arlington sheriff’s deputy Craig Patterson, accused of murder in the May 22 shooting of Alexandria resident Julian Dawkins, has been denied bail. He’s due back in court on Aug. 6. [WJLA]
Guilty Plea in Smash-and-Grab Robberies — Floyd Davis, 43, of Washington, D.C. pled guilty Tuesday to a role in the smash-and-grab robberies of several high-end retail stores in the D.C. area, including the March Tourneau robbery at Pentagon City mall that cost the store $600,000 worth of merchandise. Davis admitted in Alexandria federal court to scouting the store to see where security guards and patrons were positioned, but said he didn’t break glass or steal merchandise. [Washington Post]
A teenager is facing charges after a robbery that led to what some might call a bit of karma.
Police say a 17-year-old boy took an iPhone from a store employee on the 3200 block of Columbia Pike, then was punched in the face and robbed of the phone by two men he was trying to sell it to.
From this week’s Arlington County crime report:
ROBBERY, 06/25/13, 3200 block of S. Columbia Pike. At 7:50 pm on June 25, a juvenile subject grabbed an iPhone from a store employee and fled the scene on foot. Police located the subject a short distance away bleeding from the left eye after he was robbed of the phone he stole. The juvenile suspect was issued petitions for robbery and grand larceny with intent to distribute.
A man has been arrested and charged in connection with the March 19 smash and grab robbery at Pentagon City mall.
As seen in the above surveillance video released by the Arlington County Police Department, four suspects entered the Torneau store and broke the jewelry case with Rolex watches. The FBI has since taken over the case, and said the suspects got away with 22 watches worth more than $500,000 before fleeing to a getaway car with a fifth suspect.
Last week, Walter A. Douglas was arrested in connection with the robbery, claiming he “did knowingly and unlawfully, conspire, confederate, and agree to delay and affect commerce and the movement of articles and commodities in such commerce, by robbery.” According to the FBI affidavit, Douglas has a history of robbery, grand theft and grand larceny in the D.C. metro area. The document connects him to seven other high profile robberies in the region between December 3, 2012, and April 30, 2013, for which he has also been charged.
The affidavit states that an informant contacted the ACPD on April 10 and claimed Douglas was responsible for the Pentagon City robbery, and possibly for others. The informant reported hearing Douglas speaking with another man, the recently arrested Floyd Davis, about high end watches and rings.
Davis was reportedly arrested early last month, but the list of alleged crimes in his affidavit did not directly name the Pentagon City incident. Davis was, however, mentioned in the Douglas affidavit for having been in the immediate area and in contact with Douglas around the time of the Torneau robbery.
Evidence against the men includes cell phone records showing Douglas and Davis in frequent contact with each other on or around the days of the robberies. Cell phone records also place one or both men near the locations of several of the robberies at the times they occurred.
Additionally, the FBI matched cars spotted at a couple of the robberies with those Douglas apparently rented around the time of each incident. Records show he rented a grey Dodge Charger — like the one investigators saw in the Pentagon City surveillance video — four days before the robbery. The vehicle was returned the day of the robbery.
An FBI spokesperson would not comment on the possibility of other arrests in the case because the investigation is still active.
A man accused of stealing an iPhone in the Buckingham neighborhood on Sunday is probably regretting his decision to flee toward Ballston.
Police say the suspect, 19-year-old Chauncey Myers of D.C., grabbed a victim’s iPhone on N. Glebe Road in the Buckingham neighborhood, then took off in the direction of Ballston. The alleged crime happened around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, and the 22 officers who were providing security at the Taste of Arlington festival in Ballston were notified that the suspect was heading their way.
Numerous officers fanned out from the festival, and the suspect was arrested at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and N. Vermont Street, three blocks from the Ballston Metro station.
Myers was shirtless, out of breath and cursing at officers at the time of his apprehension, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. He was charged with robbery and “failure to ID.”
The officers working at Taste of Arlington were paid by festival organizers, Sternbeck said.
(Updated at 2:05 p.m. on 12/23/21) Rebuffed when he tried to rob a convenience store on Columbia Pike, police say an Arlington man vented his frustration by proceeding to trash the store.
The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) night. Police say German [Redacted], 49, entered Miguel’s Q-Mart on the 5500 block of Columbia Pike and demanded money from a store employee.
“When the employee refused, the subject proceeded to light coffee filters on fire and announced that no one could leave the store,” according to the Arlington County Police crime report.
The man started throwing mangoes and avocados at store employees and a 16-month-old child, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. He tipped over the store’s shelves, destroyed merchandise, broke the store’s slushie machine, and partially melted a television with the flaming coffee filters, Sternbeck said.
“He literally destroyed the entire store,” said Sternbeck.
Store employees barricaded themselves in a room inside the store during the incident, but the store’s manager was eventually able to subdue the man and hold him to the ground until police arrived and placed him under arrest.
[Redacted] was charged with arson, attempted robbery, four counts of abduction, felony destruction of property, and three counts of assault and battery. He is currently being held without bond.
The store employees suffered minor injuries, Sternbeck said, but the baby was unharmed.
A 19-year-old man allegedly chased, assaulted and attempted to rob a victim on the 1400 block of N. Courthouse Road in Courthouse.
The incident took place in broad daylight, at 12:35 p.m. yesterday (April 23), on the same block as Arlington County Police headquarters and the Arlington County jail.
From this week’s Arlington County crime report:
ATTEMPTED ROBBERY, 04/23/13, 1400 block of N. Courthouse Road. At 12:35 pm on April 23, a subject asked a victim for money. The victim stated that he did not have any money and walked away. The suspect then chased the victim and struck him several times in the face. Diavonte Dejean Barlow, 19, of Alexandria, VA was arrested and charged with attempted robbery and assault and battery.
The Arlington County Police Department has released surveillance video of Tuesday’s smash and grab robbery at Pentagon City mall in the hopes the public can help identify the suspects.
The video shows four subjects entering the Tourneau retail store at 10:37 a.m. on Tuesday (March 19). Police say they headed directly to the Rolex watch display case. One of the subjects used a hammer to break the front side of the glass display case to gain access to the merchandise. Before fleeing, the four subjects managed to grab 23 Rolex watches, worth approximately $609,000. Police say the four suspects were in the store for less than 30 seconds.
All four subjects are described as being black males wearing ski masks and hooded jackets. Three were wearing all dark clothing and suspect four was wearing a red hooded jacket and dark pants. A fifth person was reportedly waiting in a getaway vehicle on the S. Hayes Street side of the mall. The vehicle is described as a charcoal gray four-door sedan.
If anyone has information on the identities and/or whereabouts of these individuals, please contact Detective Paula Brockenborough of the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4241 or at [email protected]. To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS (8477).
An Arlington man was arrested Monday after he allegedly left a receipt at a store he had just robbed.
