The incident happened in Courthouse just after 11 a.m. on Sunday, shortly after the ceremony.
Police say 51-year-old Charles Harris removed flowers from the wreath and left the petals on the sidewalk. He was charged with the crimes of Injuring a Memorial and Drunk in Public.
From an Arlington County Police crime report:
INJURING A MEMORIAL, 160911022, 1500 block of N. Courthouse Road. At approximately 11:16 a.m. on September 11, police were dispatched to the report of a subject destroying the 9/11 Memorial Wreath used during the County’s September 11 Observance. Upon arrival, officers observed the subject removing flowers from the wreath and discarding petals on the sidewalk. Charles Harris, 51, of No Fixed Address was arrested and charged with Injuring a Memorial and Drunk In Public. He was held on a $1,000 secured bond.
Arlington County workers clean up the vandalism that was on Yorktown High School’s turf field
Vandalism on Yorktown High School’s turf field (NOTE: next image is NSFW)
NSFW: Vandalism on the track at Yorktown High School
A new county-owned synthetic turf field at Yorktown High School has been vandalized.
The $1.6 million turf replacement project just wrapped up last week. Over the weekend, a vandal or group of vandals spray-painted the field and the surrounding track and caused some other damage.
“At approximately 7:36 a.m. on August 7, police were dispatched to 2700 N. Greenbrier Street for the report of destruction and vandalism,” Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage told ARLnow.com via email. “An unknown subject(s) spray painted derogatory terms on the field, knocked over several trash cans and a portable restroom. The investigation is ongoing.”
The photos above, taken Monday afternoon, show the cleanup still in progress. Note that photo #3 contains an image that some may find offensive or not safe for work (NSFW).
Arlington County police responded to a series of vehicle vandalisms and break-ins over the weekend.
On Saturday morning, police found “numerous vehicles” in the East Falls Church area with tires slashed and body panels “keyed.”
The vandalism was centered around the 2400 block of N. Sycamore Street, near Bishop O’Connell High School.
From an ACPD crime report:
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, 160702013, 2400 block of N. Sycamore Street. At approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 2, an officer responded to the listed address for the report of a destruction of property to a vehicle. Numerous vehicles in the area had their tires slashed and were keyed. There is no suspect description.
Also on Saturday morning, police investigated a series of vehicle break-ins in the Penrose and Columbia Heights neighborhoods around Columbia Pike. In total, seven unlocked vehicles were broken into but only two car owners reported that items had stolen.
LARCENY FROM AUTO, 160702012, 1600 block of S. Barton Street. At approximately 8:00 a.m. on July 2, an officer responded to the listed address for the report of items stolen out of an unlocked vehicle. Another officer canvassed the area and discovered two other unlocked vehicles that had been entered but nothing was stolen. There is no suspect description.
TAMPERING WITH AUTO, 160702016, 1800 block of S. 9th Street. At approximately 8:45 a.m.on July 2, an officer responded to the listed address for the report of a tampering with auto. Upon arrival, it was determined that someone had entered an unlocked car and stole items of value. Officers canvassed the area and discovered three other unlocked vehicles that had been rummaged through but nothing was taken. There is no suspect description.
Boulevard Manor neighborhood (Bluemont Junction Trail is to the immediate right of the neighborhood.)
Arlington County Police are trying to figure out who is responsible for a series of racist and homophobic graffiti along the Bluemont Junction Trail and around the Boulevard Manor neighborhood.
The graffiti was first spotted last night along the trail, with the N-word and the F-word spray-painted on the trail and other graffiti on rocks and on a trampoline at a nearby property, according to scanner traffic. It was reported that a group of teenagers was responsible for the graffiti, but police were unable to locate the group at the time.
This morning, more graffiti was found around the Boulevard Manor neighborhood, immediately west of the trail.
“At approximately 5:30 a.m., an unknown suspect(s) vandalized numerous items in the Boulevard Manor neighborhood of Arlington,” wrote Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “The vandalism included destruction of property and graffiti.”
“This series is similar to the vandalism on the Bluemont trail yesterday and detectives are investigating whether or not these are linked,” Savage told ARLnow.com. “The graffiti included various derogatory terms to include swastikas, N-word and homosexual slangs. This is an ongoing and active investigation and will include determining if this could be a hate crime.”
The vandalism was widespread around the neighborhood, including properties on the following streets, according to police.
6000 block of 4th Street N.
100 block N. Nottingham Street
Unit block of N. Montague Street (at Washington Blvd)
500 block of N. Montague Street
400 block N. Lombardy
200 block of N. Nottingham Street
500 block of N. Lombardy Street
Along the Bluemont trail, neighbors said the vandals damaged the trail and some neighborhood landmarks.
“I’ve lived here for 40-something years and when I saw the blue on the rocks down here, these rocks have been there forever,” said Debbie Cowell. “If I saw somebody doing it, I definitely would have said something.”
“I have no idea who did it, my guess is kids,” said William Pearson. “A couple years ago this wouldn’t have happened. I think because of the influx of families, my guess it that it’s teenagers being teenagers.”
Additional reporting and photos by Adrian Cruz and Jackie Friedman.
The church has vowed to replace the sign and now it has a message for the vandal or vandals who defaced it.
The Rev. Dr. Katy Dwyer published the following open letter “to the person(s) who altered our sign” over the weekend, inviting them to join a conversation on racial justice at the church Monday night.
Altering the sign we placed on our lawn by deliberately cutting out the word “Black” from the phrase “Black Lives Matter” was a passionate expression. I can make assumptions about what you might have meant by this. However, I can only speculate. This open letter is an invitation for you to join our sacred conversation.
The conversation we have been having has been challenging, powerful, and vulnerable. Those of us who join in the conversation are not all of one mind. We are all learning and growing together. We agree with one another to speak about our own experience, to practice forgiveness, to respectfully challenge one another, and to assume good intentions.
I want to share with you what I heard through your action, and I welcome you to tell me if I am wrong. I will also share my response to what I think I am hearing. I sense anger in your passionate expression. Cutting out the “Black” in this sign sounds like you are shouting “Lives Matter. ALL Lives Matter!” I am aware that when the American Cancer Society is raising money or creating awareness about cancer, no one shouts “All Diseases Matter!” Perhaps you assume that our congregation does not value all lives. Perhaps you feel threatened in some way by positive attention given to the Black community.
Your action this week felt like a contribution to our conversation, and I want to extend the same commitments to you as I do to our other conversation partners from several races and cultures.
Our year-long sacred conversation on racial justice and our public witness that Black lives matter began from a place of compassion and curiosity. Compassion for the Black lives that are being killed, oppressed, and threatened. Curiosity about what our congregation and community might do to help create a more just and equal future.
We meet again this Monday at 7:30 p.m. The topic is Color-Blindness. Most white people think we have two choices: to be racist or to be colorblind. We will talk about whether there might be a more valuable third option.
I hope you will consider joining us. You will be welcome.
A “Black Lives Matter” sign outside of Rock Spring Congregational church was vandalized earlier this week.
The church, at 5010 Little Falls Road near Yorktown High School, says that the word “Black” was cut out of the sign at some point between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
“We notified the Arlington police and we have ordered a new sign to replace the one that has been vandalized,” Rev. Kathy Dwyer told congregants via email (below).
I am writing to let you know that at some point between Tuesday evening at 9:30 p.m. and Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. the sign we have on our lawn inviting people to join us in a sacred conversation on racial justice and stating that black lives matter was vandalized. The word “black” was deliberately cut out from the sign, as shown below. We notified the Arlington police and we have ordered a new sign to replace the one that has been vandalized.
Several people saw the sign or heard about the incident and have reached out. Elizabeth Woolford, a member of Rock Spring and a student at Yorktown High School wrote to me. With her permission, I share the following from her note, “I wanted to share that today is one of the days I could not be more proud to be a member of Rock Spring. I woke up this morning and a group message I am in with 10+ other Yorktown HS members were passionately discussing the recent defacement of our church’s Black Lives Matter sign. I just went on Facebook to discover that several different Yorktown students …had posted about their sadness for the continual resistance we’ve received from our sign. Rock Spring’s discussions and our stand on racial justice are reaching far beyond our church community. For these people, it is a sign (literally) that there are parts of the Arlington community that are working towards a better, just filled, and equal future, and prompting thought filled discussions amongst the future voters and politicians in the high school community. I hope that our sign will once again remain up, as our resilience to resistance is resounding deeply, especially with the teens I know, as a beacon of hope.”
We will continue to bear witness with faith and courage. Our next sacred conversation is scheduled for this coming Monday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Saegmuller Room.
An American flag that was flying outside of American Legion Post 139 in Virginia Square was apparently stolen earlier this morning.
Sharon Walker, the club manager at the post at 3445 Washington Blvd, said she noticed the flag was gone when she went to check on a mural currently being painted on the side of the building. The POW flag, which flies below the American flag, was lying on the ground and the rope that held the American flag was torn she said.
She first thought that someone had saw it on the ground and picked it up, but that didn’t quite add up, she said.
“If someone had picked it up, they’d also pick up the POW flag,” Walker said.
She asked neighbors if they saw a person take the flag, but so far no one has seen anything, she said. This is the first time in her 31 years at Post 139 that someone has stolen the flag.
A mural of an American flag is currently being painted on the side of the building, and artist Scott LoBaido said there is something ironic about the situation — that the flag was stolen while he was painting the huge mural.
“It just broke my heart,” he said. “It just broke my spirit.”
LoBaido is currently on a mission to paint an American flag on a VFW or American Legion post in every state. The Arlington American Legion is the last stop on his 50-state tour and this is the first time someone stole a flag while he was painting a mural.
“It’s the last one I’m doing. It’s Arlington, Virginia. It’s the Arlington National Cemetery,” he said. “That’s what it is all about.”
LoBaido filed a police report online, but he hasn’t heard back from the Arlington County Police Department. He said he hopes one of the buildings nearby has camera footage of the person stealing the flag. He checked in with the building across the street, but it did not have cameras.
“I consider it a hate crime,” he said. “It’s vandalism. It’s against the law.”
Desecrating the flag from an American Legion post doesn’t make a political statement, he said, it only hurts the service members who fight for it.
“You don’t desecrate the flag because you’re hurting the men and women who gave you the right to protest,” he said.
He urges anyone who saw something to call police. If the thief is caught, LoBaido says he knows the perfect punishment: the person should spend a week doing community service at a local VA Hospital to see the type of sacrifices military personnel make for the flag.
“The irony is here we are at Arlington. The Arlington National Cemetery is down the street,” he said.
A flag will “absolutely” fly tomorrow at the American Legion, Walker said, but she was not sure how much it would cost to replace it.
Police are investigating an unusual home burglary in Cherrydale.
The break-in occurred this past weekend, sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning. Nothing was taken from the home — on the 1600 block of N. Randolph Street — instead, someone positioned the two kitchen sink faucets so they were over the countertop, then turned the water on and fled the scene.
The house was being renovated at the time, according to police. An electrician came to the house Saturday morning and discovered a flooded basement and water pouring in from the ceiling.
It was a scene reminiscent of the “wet bandits” from the movie Home Alone.
“They had quite a bit of water in the basement of the residence,” Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told ARLnow.com. “It definitely caused significant damage to the home.”
Water damage to the kitchen, basement, laundry room, main bathroom and ceiling has been estimated at $15,000, Sternbeck said.
The investigation into the crime is “ongoing,” according to Sternbeck, but police are looking into the possibility that the perpetrator was a disgruntled employee recently fired from the renovation job.
La Cote D’Or Cafe in East Falls Church (6876 Lee Highway) reopened last night, after having been closed for a day and a half due to damage from a break-in.
Cris Flores tells ARLnow.com that he was the manager on duty on Monday night. He said sometime after he closed up at 10:00 p.m. and before the first person came in on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., vandals broke into the restaurant.
Flores said wine, liquor, beer and money were stolen from the establishment. The vandals also overturned tables, broke wine glasses and plates, removed food from the refrigerator and scattered it around, and broke wine bottles.
The restaurant closed on Tuesday for the police investigation and for clean-up. They remained closed during breakfast and lunch Wednesday to finish shampooing the carpet, but reopened in time for dinner. Flores estimates that the lost business from being closed, plus all the damage and theft, probably adds up to about a $10,000 loss for the restaurant.
“They did do a lot of damage in the place, it’s not that they just took the money,” said Flores. “But nobody was hurt. That’s the good part.”
Upon reopening for dinner on Wednesday, the restaurant posted a message to customers on its website:
Some of you may have heard about the incident that occurred after we closed on Monday, October 27th. Unfortunately, someone broke into La Cote D’Or and vandalized the establishment. We are happy to say that no one was hurt, and we are reopening tonight for dinner… We thank you very much for your continued support and patronage. We look forward to seeing you all again at your convenience.
The restaurant is open for regular business hours, starting today.
“We’re still trying to get the inventory back to normal, but we are back in business,” said Flores.
Police are investigating the break-in and have not yet named any suspects.
Five Rideshare Drivers Nabbed in Arlington — Arlington police have issued citations to five drivers of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft since June 5, the department says. The drivers were all pulled over for separate traffic infractions and admitted to driving for the services, which are currently operating illicitly in Virginia. [Washington Post]
Teens Arrested for Skate Park Vandalism — Four teenagers have been arrested and charged with causing $35,000 in damage to the Powhatan Springs Skate Park earlier this month. The teens are accused of painting “graffiti containing vulgar language” at the park, which was closed until county crews could clean it up. [NBC Washington]
Arlingtonian Wins, Then Loses at Wimbledon — For the second year in a row, Arlington resident and tennis pro Denis Kudla advanced to the second round of Wimbledon. Kudla, 21, defeated Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan in the first round of the tournament before falling to No. 10 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets. [Wimbledon]
Wine Bar Coming to Rosslyn — Bistro 360, a wine bar and gourmet market from Cassatt’s Kiwi Cafe owner Art Hauptman, is coming to the former Cafe Assorti space at 1800 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. The wine bar will have as many as 140 seats indoors and outdoors. Bistro 360 hopes to open its doors by the end of the summer. [Washington Business Journal]
Graffiti Closes Powhatan Skatepark — Powhatan Springs Skatepark is temporarily closed after “graffiti containing vulgar language” was found. The park will be temporarily closed until park staff can remove the graffiti. No word yet on a reopening date.
Tejada: Three Dems on County Board — At the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner over the weekend, Walter Tejada said pointedly that he is “one of three Democratic county board members,” presumably excluding Libby Garvey. Garvey was also not listed as an “Arlington Democratic Elected Official” in the program. [Blue Virginia]
Dominion Planning New Underground Power Line — Dominion Virginia Power is planning on building an underground power transmission line from Arlington to Alexandria. The $160 million project is intended to address “a local reliability load issue… that could potentially impact neighbors by 2018.” Alexandria officials are expressing objections to the project. [Washington Post]
AYDs Eye South Arlington — Arlington Young Democrats are trying to increase their outreach to women, minorities and to residents of south Arlington. The organization has appointed a new “outreach chair and communications director” who will be in charge of recruiting individuals in targeted groups and “mak[ing] them feel welcome.” [InsideNova]
We, The Pizza Finally Open — It appears that We, The Pizza in Crystal City (2100 Crystal Drive) finally opened over the weekend. [Twitter]
A man has been charged with vandalizing the wreath placed during Arlington’s 9/11 memorial ceremony.
