A driver who fled from police early Saturday morning in Crystal City then returned, successfully fled again, and returned and tried to flee a third time, police say.
The third time was the charm for officers.
Police say the unusual sequence ended with a foot chase and the arrest of a 19-year-old Springfield, Virginia man near the Pentagon City mall. It followed a vehicle pursuit that originally ended when the suspect crossed the bridge into D.C., but was re-initiated after he inexplicably returned, according to police.
The man is now facing numerous felony charges, including drug possession, three counts of eluding, and attempted malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer for allegedly ramming a police cruiser with his vehicle during the first half of the car chase.
More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:
ATTEMPTED MALICIOUS WOUNDING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT, 2022-08200075, 20th Street S. and Richmond Highway. At approximately 3:54 a.m. on August 20, a patrol officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and attempted a traffic stop in the 2400 block of S. Eads Street. The driver disregarded the officer’s emergency equipment and fled from the stop. At approximately 8:00 a.m., officers observed the vehicle traveling in the area of 20th Street S. and Richmond Highway and attempted a second traffic stop. The driver accelerated, struck a police cruiser with his vehicle, and fled onto Richmond Highway. A vehicle pursuit was initiated and subsequently terminated in Washington D.C. due to the driver’s erratic behavior. Shortly afterwards, officers observed the vehicle reenter the County and reinitiated the pursuit. The driver exited the vehicle in the 800 block of Army Navy Drive and attempted to flee the scene on foot. Following a foot pursuit, officers took the suspect into custody. A search of the suspect incident to arrest yielded suspected narcotics. Adrian Molina, 19, of Springfield, VA was arrested and charged with Attempted Malicious Wounding of a Law Enforcement Officer, Felony Hit and Run, Felony Eluding (x3), Possession of a Schedule I/II Narcotic, Obstruction of Justice and Driving without a License.
Another alleged assault on police happened early this morning in Clarendon. Police say a drunk man started “became disorderly and uncooperative” along the 3100 block of Clarendon Blvd, near some of the neighborhood’s bars, after officers tried to “have him secure a safe ride home.”
From the crime report:
At approximately 1:35 a.m. on August 22, police were dispatched to the report of an intoxicated individual. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the male suspect and attempted to have him secure a safe ride home. The suspect ignored the officer’s instructions and became disorderly and uncooperative. As officers attempted to take the suspect into custody, he actively resisted arrest and a physical struggle ensued. With the assistance of additional officers, the suspect was successfully detained. While being walked to a transport vehicle, the suspect assaulted the arresting officer.
A 27-year-old D.C. man “was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, Public Intoxication and Obstruction of Justice,” ACPD said. “He was held without bond.”
On Sunday afternoon, meanwhile, police arrested a 40-year-old South Carolina man in a Pentagon City parking lot near the mall, after a woman said she saw him in a car exposing himself.
The man has an extensive history of indecent exposure arrests, according to various news reports.
From ACPD’s crime report:
INDECENT EXPOSURE, 2022-08210124, 800 block of Army Navy Drive. At approximately 3:23 p.m. on August 21, police were dispatched to the report of an indecent exposure that had just occurred. Upon arrival, the victim stated she was going to exit her parked vehicle when she observed the unknown male suspect allegedly exposing himself in the car parked next to hers. The suspect was located on scene and taken into custody without incident. Berrino McClary, 40, of Kingstree, SC, was arrested and charged with Indecent Exposure. He was held without bond.
An Arlington woman is facing multiple charges after police say she spit and peed on officers while in the hospital.
The incident started around 3:15 p.m. Monday, when police were called to a business on the 3400 block of Washington Blvd in Virginia Square — the block includes a barbecue restaurant, a grocery store and a convenience store — for a “report of a person drunk in public.”
The woman, identified as 42-year-old Elena Bolonina, was so drunk that medics transported her to the hospital, according to an Arlington County Police Department crime report. That is where the real trouble reportedly started.
“While at Virginia Hospital Center, the suspect allegedly became combative kicking and spitting on officers,” said the crime report. “The subject then urinated on an officer’s foot while being transported to booking.”
Bolonina was arrested and charged with “Assault and Battery on Law Enforcement, Identity Theft, Urinating in Public, Obstruction of Justice and Public Drunkenness.”
Arlington County Police responded to a call for a drunk customer harassing the staff at a children’s shoe store on Lee Highway.
The alleged incident was reported just after 3 p.m. at Bradshaw’s Children’s Shoes, a long-time local business at 4532 Lee Highway, in the Lee Heights Shops.
According to the police dispatch, an intoxicated woman is inside the store, holding an open bottle of wine. She is refusing to leave the store and “keeps demanding adult shoes,” according to the dispatch.
The store requested police to help remove the woman from the premises.
Photo via Google Maps
The Arlington County Board on Saturday will consider making some changes to its ordinance for public drunkenness and profanity.
The prohibition on profanely cursing in public will not change, but the Board will consider changing “drunkenness” in the code to “intoxication,” to include those under the influence of narcotics. County staff is also recommending making the crime a Class 4 misdemeanor, the punishment for which is a fine not to exceed $250.
Currently, county code calls for a fine not to exceed $100 for the first two convictions in a year, and a fine not to exceed $500 for any additional convictions.
“These recommended changes to the penalty portion of the Code are meant to simplify and align the County Code with State Code” staff said of the proposed changes, adding that it will also “clear up any ambiguity or constitutional vagueness with the current language.”
Included in the staff report is the number of arrests for drunkenness and profane cursing last year — and there were quite a few.
“The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) made 664 arrests for individuals either appearing drunk or using profanity in public during calendar year 2014,” county staff reported. “There were instances where individuals were under the influence of other intoxicants; however, enforcement was not possible under this Code section.”
An 37-year-old Arlington man was arrested early Thursday morning after he was found sleeping on the porch of a Lyon Park home.
A homeowner on the 200 block of N. Fillmore Street says he woke up just after midnight to the sounds of someone trying to open the front door. He went downstairs and discovered a man apparently passed out on the porch.
After trying but failing to wake him up, the homeowner called police. In an email, he described to ARLnow.com what happened.
Last night at 12:05 am (early Thursday morning 3/05/15) I was woken up by what sounded like somebody trying to operate the handle on my front door. That was followed by a ring of the doorbell. I walked downstairs and turned on my porch lights to discover somebody slumped over on my porch furniture. I turned on all of the outside lights hoping that would force him to move, but it didn’t work so I called 911 to report it. The operator said she would send medics and police.
A few minutes later one fire truck, one ambulance and one police car arrived. It took them a few minutes to get the man to respond to them. I overheard him tell the officer that he lives at “Pottery Barn,” but eventually I’m pretty sure he said he lives somewhere on Lee Highway.
He was placed in the back of a police cruiser and presumably taken to jail. He was VERY inebriated.
According to Arlington County police spokesman, the man was arrested, charged with being drunk in public and held at the jail until sober.
This past Saturday, in a similar incident, a homeowner in nearby Ashton Heights woke up and discovered a 22-year-old Arlington man asleep and covered in vomit in his dining room.
(Updated at 2:20 p.m. on 12/23/21) A 26-year-old Reston woman was arrested Saturday night after allegedly showing up naked at the Arlington Magistrate’s Office.
Police say Maura [Redacted] arrived at the magistrate’s office around 11:00 p.m. seeking to visit her husband, who had been arrested in Clarendon earlier that day. She was drunk, completely naked and refused to get dressed or leave in a cab, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
Sternbeck was unable to say whether [Redacted] arrived at the office wearing clothes and subsequently removed them, or whether she arrived there naked.
[Redacted] was arrested and charged with indecent exposure and drunk in public. She was held in jail until sober, police said.
(Updated 1:45 p.m. on 12/23/21) A prank turned violent in the Lyon Village neighborhood on Saturday (March 23) when a man reportedly was beaten for drawing a penis on his roommate’s face.
The alleged incident happened on the 3100 block of 17th Street N. According to Arlington County Police, 31-year-old James [redacted] fell asleep on his couch after a night of drinking. He woke up around 5:30 a.m. and became furious when he discovered the permanent marker drawings on his face, police said.
Police say that [redacted], suspecting his roommate, ran upstairs to where the roommate was sleeping and jumped on top of him, repeatedly punching him in the face. The commotion awakened a third roommate, who managed to separate the two.
The victim reportedly waited about an hour and a half to call the police while deciding whether or not to press charges. He did end up calling for help and police charged [redacted] with malicious wounding. The injured man’s eye was swollen shut and bleeding, so the third roommate drove him to the hospital for treatment, according to police.
Cops say the roommates admitted they sometimes play pranks on each other while intoxicated.
Arlington County Police helped to wake up an intoxicated passenger in a taxi cab that had traveled all the way from Ocean City, Md. early Labor Day morning.
Police responded to the cab, which was parked on S. Joyce Street across from Pentagon Row, around 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning. They were told that the passenger was intoxicated and, following the 150+ mile drive from Ocean City to Arlington, the driver was not able to wake him up.
Police arrived on scene and assisted in waking up the man. Within a few minutes, the cab was on its way back to Ocean City.
Lauren Satchell, a manager for the cab company, Ocean City Taxi, said long distance rides like that one are not unheard of. In fact, she said the company handles one or two such requests per week. Recent destinations, according to one driver, included College Park, Md. and New York City.
“We go anywhere, as long as there’s money for the ride,” Satchell said. According to Satchell, passengers on such rides are required to make a $400 cash deposit prior to the trip. If there’s money left over at the end, it’s refunded. Another manager said the ride to Arlington would have likely cost around $350.
As for why passengers would travel such a far distance by cab, we’re told that the reasons vary, but usually involve some sort of emergency that requires them to get somewhere as soon as possible, or a situation that leaves them without transportation home.
“Usually, when someone goes from Ocean City to far away it’s because something happened, like they got pulled over and their license was suspended, or they come down with a friend and their friends left them,” Satchell said.
Satchell said she could not confirm why police were called on Monday, but did say that the company has a policy regarding unresponsive passengers.
“Legally we are not allowed to touch them to wake them up,” she said. “So if we can’t get them up by screaming, our procedure is to call the police department.”
An employee with Metro’s Track and Structures/Systems Maintenance Department was arrested by Metro Transit Police at the Pentagon City Metro station Thursday night, a Metro spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.com this morning.
“MTPD officers on patrol at the station observed a man who appeared to be unsteady on his feet around 5:15 p.m,” Metro spokesperson Ron Holzer said in an statement. “The man began to run as the officers approached. He then struggled with the officers when they apprehended him… He was charged with being drunk in public and impeding an officer with force (assault).”
The employee was off-duty at the time of his arrest, according to Holzer. He was in his uniform but “his shift had ended many hours before his arrest.”
The man was pepper sprayed during the struggle with police. At that point Arlington paramedics were called to evaluate him. After he was evaluated, officers could be seen pulling an empty glass bottle from the employee’s back pocket.
The man, who has not been identified, has been working for Metro since December 2006, Holzer said.
He could be overheard yelling as police officers surrounded him on a public sidewalk near the Pentagon Centre shopping center.
“I’ve been arrested so many times it’s hilarious,” he said at one point.
A man who led a police officer on a foot chase through part of Pentagon City/Crystal City this morning is in custody. Police caught up with him in the parking lot of the Americana Hotel (1400 Jefferson Davis Highway) after a short chase just before 11:00.
Police say the man was intoxicated. He suffered a small cut to his face but refused medical treatment.
The suspect was transported to the Arlington County Detention Center and charged with Drunk in Public and Obstruction of Justice, according to police spokesman Lt. William Griffith.
