theft

Theft Leads to Dirt Bike Chase Through the Valley

By ARLnow.com

Police are looking for a man who stole a dirt bike in the Shirlington/Nauck (Green Valley) area this afternoon.

The man allegedly stole the green and white dirt bike after being dropped off by another man on a moped. Both the moped driver and the alleged dirt bike thief then tried to flee the area.

Police eventually surrounded the Shelton apartments (3215 24th Street S.) and detained a man believed to the moped driver. He was handcuffed, led to an unmarked police car and taken to the station. The moped was found abandoned outside the building.

The other suspect was reportedly followed by one of the victims, who hopped on another dirt bike and chased the suspect through the streets of the Valley. The victim eventually lost sight of the suspect, but was able to describe his appearance to police.

Update at 2:05 p.m. on 7/8/11 — Two men have been charged with theft of the dirt bike, according to an Arlington County police report item.

GRAND LARCENY AUTO-ARREST, 07/07/11, 3800 block of S. Four Mile Run Drive. On July 7 at 2:50 pm, two men stole a dirt bike from a business. Police apprehended both suspects. Reginald Jacobs, 25, of Arlington, and Raymond Young, 21, of Arlington were both charged with Grand Larceny of an Automobile. Young was held on a $500 bond and Jacobs was held on a $1,500 bond.

Crime Report: Middle School Car Thieves Edition

By ARLnow.com

In this week’s Arlington County crime report, a 13-year-old and two 14-year-olds allegedly try to steal cars — during the day — on a busy residential street near Columbia Pike.

ATTEMPT GRAND LARCENY AUTO (SERIES)-ARREST, 05/21/11, the 1200 and 1300 block of S. Courthouse Road. On May 21 at 4:20 pm, three juvenile males were located attempted to steal several vehicles. One 13 year-old and two 14 year-olds were apprehended and taken to juvenile detention. Charges are pending.

Also in this week’s report, two drunk women in Ballston get in a fight over smoking.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY, 05/22/11, 4100 block of Fairfax Drive. On May 22 at 8 pm, two intoxicated woman argued over one of them smoking close to the building and one assaulted the other.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.
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Police Seek Office Theft Suspect

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) Two years ago, Kenneth Earl Tolliver’s face was showing up on local newscasts after he was accused of robbing a 99-year-old woman in her Silver Spring, Md. home. At the time he was also wanted for two other burglary cases involving older residents, as well as other crimes. Now, according to police, he’s a “person of interest” in a series of office thefts.

Tolliver is being sought for questioning by Arlington police after several office burglaries in Rosslyn and Crystal City. Cops say that someone matching Tolliver’s description poses as a maintenance worker or mold inspector, then enters unsecured or “under-secured” offices and takes cash from wallets, purses and petty cash boxes.

According to a letter sent to property managers:

In all cases the suspect has been described as a black male, approximately 5’10”, 160 lbs, 45-55 years of age, with a sunken or long face and has ALWAYS worn a construction or medical style dust mask partially covering his face. The suspect’s MO is that he usually brings with him a notepad or other prop and tells workers that he is inspecting the ceiling tiles for mold or other HVAC issues.

Preliminary investigation into this series has revealed that there are at least 10 additional incidents in the region including Prince William, Fairfax, Alexandria, Falls Church, Vienna and Leesburg. Please be alert and contact the police immediately should you encounter this individual.

Police are encouraging workers in secure offices to not hold doors open for strangers and to check with building management should they encounter an unexpected repair person.

At the moment, Tolliver is not wanted for any crime in Arlington. He is, however, wanted for grand larceny out of Prince William County, according to police.

Missing Neighborhood Sign Found

By ARLnow.com

A granite sign that went missing from the side of Columbia Pike has been found.

The sign (shown above, before it went missing) was placed on the east end of Columbia Heights to announce to drivers that they were entering the neighborhood. On Tuesday we reported that it had disappered.

Christine Nixon, chief of the county’s Neighborhood Services Division, said someone may have tried to steal the sign and then simply gave up.

“Parties unknown at present unscrewed the sign and left it lying in the median,” Nixon said in an email last night. “It’s really, really heavy so I’m assuming that they tried to lift it and couldn’t. Our keen-eyed folks at [the Parks Department] noticed the sign lying there and picked it up and took it to their storage area. So we are going to reinstall it shortly with bolts that can’t easily be unscrewed (and maybe a more attractive rear view).”

The sign would have cost $900 to replace.

Crime Report: Unwanted Intrusions Edition

By ARLnow.com

This week’s Arlington County crime report contains several items of note. On Thursday, a bullet was fired into a Pentagon City apartment. Nobody was injured and nobody knows who fired the bullet.

MISSILE INTO AN OCCUPIED DWELLING 04/18/11, 1300 block of S. Arlington Ridge Road. On April 14 at midnight, an unknown subject fired a bullet into an occupied apartment. No one was injured. There are no known suspects.

Also on Thursday, someone stole packages from two Yorktown-area doorsteps. The packages were found, but not their contents.

LARCENY (SERIES) 04/15/11, 4800 block of N. 30th Street and the 5500 block of N. 34th Street. On April 14 between 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm, an unknown subject stole packages left by the postal service on two doorsteps. The theft was discovered when the packages were found in the street, minus the contents. There is no suspect description.

On Sunday a woman was grabbed and kissed against her will while jogging on the Custis Trail.

ABDUCTION-ARREST 04/17/11, 2000 block of N. Cleveland Street. On April 17 at 5:30 pm, a woman was running on a bike trail when a man grabbed her and kissed her. She broke free of his embrace and fled. The suspect was located by police. Tereso De Jesus Bonilla, 45, of Arlington, was charged with Abduction. He was held without bond.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

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Neighborhood Sign Goes Missing on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

A granite sign, recently installed along Columbia Pike, has gone missing.

The sign announced to folks heading westbound on the Pike that they were entering the Columbia Heights neighborhood. It was installed several months after the County Board approved a $12,500 neighborhood sign project for Columbia Heights.

Christine Nixon, chief of the county’s Neighborhood Services Division, says the sign itself cost about $900.

“They don’t disappear very often because they’re very heavy,” she said. “We do have a fund that we use to replace signs — more often then being stolen they get run into by very, very impaired drivers — so [the department] will be ordering a new one shortly. If the missing one turns up later we will keep it in storage for eventual use.”

Nixon added: “It is frustrating to have County property stolen, particularly since the design and siting process is something that volunteers spend a lot of time on.”

Photos of the sign from two weeks ago are shown below. At the time, we took note of the fact that the aesthetics of the newly-installed sign, when viewed from behind, were a bit lacking.

Crime Report: Road Rage Edition

By ARLnow.com

In this week’s Arlington County crime report, two drivers pulled to the side of the South Carlin Springs Road, near Kenmore Middle School, in an apparent case of road rage. A slap ensued.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY 03/08/11, 200 block of S. Carlin Springs Road. On March 8 at 5:30 pm, the drivers of two vehicles were involved in aggressive driving behavior. Both drivers pulled to the side of the road and an unknown male slapped a woman in the face. The suspect is described as a middle-aged white male with dark blond hair driving a dark colored SUV.

Also in this week’s crime report, a Herndon man was arrested and charged with stealing GPS devices.

POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY-ARREST 03/03/11, 6700 block of Lee Highway. On March 3 at 4:30 am, police stopped a subject in possession of several stolen GPS devices. Anthony Ellison, 25, of Herndon, was charged with two counts of Felony Larceny with Intent to Sell.

The rest of report, after the jump.

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Hundreds of Bikes Stolen in Arlington Despite Cables, Chains

By ARLnow.com

Cables and chains are not an effective theft deterrent for bikes, Arlington Police said in an email to neighborhood newsletter editors today.

As evidence, ACPD said that 390 bikes secured with cable or chains were stolen last year.

“The cables can quickly be cut with a rechargeable cutting tool and the padlocks are easily broken,” police noted in the email, which was sent as part of the department’s effort to reduce the number of bicycle larcenies around the county.

Police say the best way to prevent bike theft is to use a U-lock. See other bike theft prevention tips here.

Cops Nab Cross-Dressing Shoplifting Suspect

By ARLnow.com

Arlington police arrested a shoplifting suspect in Pentagon City last night after two store employees gave chase.

Just after 5:30 p.m., a call came in for two men chasing a woman down South Hayes Street. Later, the person being chased was described in police dispatches as a six-foot tall man dressed as a woman.

The man had allegedly stolen an item from a store in the Pentagon City mall, and the two men were identified as store employees.

The men chased the suspect into a condo complex on 15th Street, across from Costco. Police arrived and apprehended the suspect, who was handcuffed and later placed in the back of a squad car.

The store employees declined to reveal their employer but confirmed that they chased the suspect after a theft.

ARLnow.com was in Pentagon City on another story and was able to arrive at the scene shortly after the incident.

Gone in 90 Seconds in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) How quickly do you think your car would get stolen if you left it directly outside a 24-hour store, on the side of a busy Clarendon street, with the keys still in the door?

Try 90 seconds, according to a woman whose Mitsubishi Eclipse was stolen from outside the 7-Eleven at 3000 Washington Boulevard.

The woman, who we will call “Lucy,” said she and a companion were “in a big rush” when they ran into the store, leaving the keys hanging from the driver’s side door.

“Stupid move on our part, but it was freezing and we ran in for literally 90 seconds,” Lucy wrote in an email. “We were running late and it was a dumb mistake.”

Lucy came out of the store, saw that the car was gone and called the police. The police took a report, but have so far not been able to locate the stolen car.

“[The] good news is we’re fully insured and no one was hurt,” Lucy wrote. “Some valuables in the car, but all replaceable. No sighting by anyone on who stole the car as it probably just looked like an owner since they had the keys.”

Despite being the victim of a crime, Lucy has been able to find humor in the situation. She described her stolen two-door Mitsubishi as “a total s–t car” and noted that “we’re not upset about it… it’s actually sort of funny.”

Lucy added that she hopes others will learn from her dumb mistake.

“We just let our guard down living in the bubble of safe Arlington and want to send out a warning for others,” she wrote. “We’re city folk and only recently joined the more suburban scene (and love it). But, this was a reminder to not be idiots since crime can happen anywhere.”

Crime Report: Apple Store Caper

By ARLnow.com

The Apple Store in Clarendon, with its pricey electronics on display for all to touch and try out, is no stranger to thefts and attempted thefts. Last week things got a little more interesting when one of the suspects allegedly tried to flee from police on foot.

POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY-ARREST 01/12/11, 2700 block of Clarendon Boulevard. On January 12 at 3:30 pm, four men were observed stealing from an electronics store. Police responded and one suspect was apprehended after a short foot pursuit. The three remaining suspects were stopped at the store. Antoine Nicholson, 21, of Washington D.C., was charged with Possession of Stolen Property with Intent to Sell. He was held on a $1,500 bond. Wayne Goodwin, 20, of Washington D.C., was charged with Petit Larceny and Possession of Stolen Property. He was also held on a $1,500 bond.

The rest of the Arlington County crime report, after the jump.

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