Garage Burglary Suspects Arrested
Four people were arrested last night after they allegedly tried to steal items from cars in an apartment parking garage.
Three males, including a 17-year-old juvenile, entered an apartment building in the Columbia Heights West neighborhood by following a resident through the front door, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. As they entered they put on masks and gloves and went down to the garage, Sternbeck said.
A resident called police around 11:25 p.m. after observing suspicious individuals looking into cars. Police arrived at the building, on the 800 block of S. Greenbrier Street, and arrested the three suspects inside the garage, Sternbeck said.
A woman, who police say was the getaway driver, was later arrested in a van outside the apartment. She apparently didn’t notice the commotion inside the garage because she was talking on her cell phone when the arrests were made, Sternbeck said.
The two adult men — Charles Messiah of Annandale and Kareem Taylor, both 19 — were charged burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. One was also charged with resisting arrest.
The female suspect, 19-year-old Ciarra Rice of Lorton, was charged conspiracy to commit burglary.
Sternbeck recommended that residents be mindful of individuals trying to gain access to apartment buildings and secured parking garages. He also commended the resident who alerted police to this incident.
Photos courtesy ACPD
Car Crashes into Front Porch of Apartment Building
(Update at 7:10 p.m.) A woman somehow drove her car onto the front porch of an apartment building in the Columbia Heights West neighborhood this afternoon.
The accident happened at the corner of 8th Road S. and S. Emerson Street. A witness tells ARLnow.com that the driver was trying to back into a street parking spot when she lost control, hit the front of a Honda, drove in a U-turn in the front yard of the building and came to rest on the front porch. In the process, the woman’s car took out one of the porch’s columns.
We’re told the small, three-story apartment building is currently vacant.
The woman did not appear injured, though her car suffered significant damage to the drivers side. Firefighters from Fairfax County managed to drive the car off the front porch and into a nearby parking lot.
