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Police Investigating Armed Robbery Near Ballston

by ARLnow.com | October 4, 2012 at 2:50 pm | 4,756 views | 32 Comments

Police are on the scene of a reported armed robbery just south of Ballston.

The incident happened just after 2:30 p.m. According to initial reports, two young men in their 20s, dressed in all black, stole a cell phone from a victim near the intersection of Glebe Road and 4th Street N. One of the men brandished a handgun during the robbery, while the other implied a weapon.

Nobody was injured during the robbery. Police are searching the area for the suspects.

Columbia Pike Trolley

If only we could have assailant calming-devices installed in this area.
- MC 703
  
  Haha funny joke! Armed robberies are great in that they offer so many opportunities for trolley digs!
that guy

wow, brazen! and that is a very busy stretch of road for cars and pedestrians…
Not Me

For a cell phone??

Multi-felony for a cell phone. Wow, these guys must be SMART.
- Dee
  
  yeah but it was an iPhone 7
CW

Who steals cell phones?! They lose value faster than you can put them up on ebay.
- JohnB2
  
  They had a feature on Channel 7/8 over the summer where there’s a guy in/around the Chinatown Metro that will give you $50 for iPhones, no questions asked. Snag a couple a day and that’s a pretty good thug salary.
bobco85

Geebus, I biked through there around 2 pm today! I usually take the service road on Glebe and turn onto 4th Street. Usually there are cars sitting on either side trying to turn onto or cross Glebe.

Did the robbery occur on the northeast or on southwest side of that intersection?
arlhomeowner

I guess they missed out on the free Obama phones….
Tumblebum

Undoubtedly, a ruse by the police to draw in unsuspecting county tag violators, maybe even a speeder. There, it’s done and we can get on with the criminal issue.
JimPB

A variation: The victim was carrying a cell phone and packing heat (carrying a concealed gun) when two robbers suddenly confront him, one with a handgun aimed at him, the other implying a handgun also aimed at him. The robbers get a cell phone and an expensive, well carried for and loaded hand gun.

A extension of the story. Another heat packing citizen across the street observes the robbery and closes the distance to the robbery site. As the robbers start to leave, the citizen draws and aims his piece and calls on the robbers to freeze in place and raise their hands. They don’t, and gun fire occurs. The robber with the displayed hand gun goes down in seconds, the other starts to flee but goes down about a quarter block away. The citizen enforcer empties his handgun with both the several bullets that hit (and went through) the robbers and other bullets ricocheting, doing damage to property and injuring a number of citizens (shades of NYC), several seriously.

Justice was presumably done for the robbers. But what’s the justice for the citizens who were hit?
- MC 703
  
  The wounded citizens should thank the armed citizens for preventing escape.
- OO
  
  You watch a lot of action movies, eh?
- torsionbar
  
  A better variation: The victim was carrying a cell phone, when two robbers suddenly confront him. The victim begins singing kumbaya, and the two assailants spontaneously join him in song. The three embrace each other and talk about their feeling for an hour or so, then share a local fair-trade organic vegan snack.
  - MC 703
    
    This sounds less likely to happen than the original story.
- Marc
  
  The second heat packing citizen across the street would be charged and rightly convicted of multiple counts of murder.
  
  Each bullet that strikes an additional person, would be probably be another count of attempted manslaughter.
  
  Every time you fire a gun, you are legally responsible for the bullet that leaves the barrel.
  
  You can’t go around shooting off guns. The only time you can is when there is a reasonable chance of loss of life, limb, or grave bodily harm (e.g. rape). In Virginia, it is illegal to fire to protect property.
  - torsionbar
    
    Being confronted by two armed assailants does constitute “reasonable chance of loss of life, limb, or grave bodily harm”. So yes you would be well within your rights to shoot. This is a robbery after all, i.e. a crime against a person. Not a burglary, which is a property crime.
    
    Obviously you are responsible for where the bullets ultimately end up, so as a 3rd party standing on the other side of the street, it would be unwise to try and interject. Citizen #1 however (cell phone owner) could certainly defend himself, with lethal force if necessary, against the armed assailants. Virginia does not have a “stand your ground” statute like some other states do, however the courts have almost always ruled in favor of the victim acting in self defense.
    - Marc
      
      I was referring to the 3rd party who was shooting at these people as they ran away.
      
      Yes it is reasonable to shoot someone, if they draw a gun on you. However, the odd of you getting your gun out of a holster before being shot are slim to none. If you haven’t had any training, then you may not realize this. Look up the Tueller drill. I went through this many years ago. Realizing that a person with a weapon, within 21 feet of you is a threat is a real eye opener.
- What if?
  
  I bet if you look at the crime history in Arlington you will find cases of criminals using a gun to rob or kill someone. I also bet it you look to see how many citizens legally carrying (concealed or openly) have shot someone (protecting themselves or others) you would not need to worry about ricocheting bullets.
  
  You might find cases of police missing a suspect and hurting others (like in NY) but a citizen that is legally carrying is not as likely to be in shootouts to begin with.
- http://www.thelibertyzone.com INF
  
  Yeah, because THAT happens often. *rollseyes*
  
  In the vast majority of armed self defense cases, the weapon is merely brandished.
  
  Nice paranoid hoplophobia, though.
Tumblebum

Wow! That was an exciting story.
Leeway Heights

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Guadalarlington.
- Country Club Hills
  
  Is this a play on Guadalcanal or Gudalajara, which would be assumptive that the assailants were from Mexico?
  - http://www.thelibertyzone.com INF
    
    Only to those perpetually looking to be offended. Guadalajara happens to be one of the most crime-ridden areas of Mexico with los Zetas domination. It means there’s been a crime increase here.
Civic Activist

For decades, the corner of N. Thomas and N. 4th has been a reliable street drug market in Arlington — one block away [second best pot prices/quality in the whole metro region]. Perhaps construction there has temporarily dislocated the businessmen; perhaps a phone was not all that was taken.
- nom de guerre
  
  I understand how one could identify the location of an open-air drug market but exactly how do you know about the prices/quality of the pot? Especially in the “whole metro region.”
  - SouthPikeGuy
    
    You can’t think of ways that someone would know that?
- zzzSleeper
  
  And you know all this how?
Inmby

I think that open air market corner is now occupied by million dollar Townhomes. The times are a changin
GodFila

First we had Bait Car…

Now we need Bait Victim.

You know — someone that has perma connect
with their (de)vice, is not paying attention to
their surroundings, and thus incapable of seeing
harm coming.

Oh, wait, that is half of the Ballston daytime
population.
Buckingham Victim

Thanks for the “affordable housing.”
Gen Lee

How about a description of the perps? Is that too much to ask?

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