Author: Jared Serre

Jared Serre covers local business, public safety and breaking news across Local News Now's websites. Originally from Northeast Ohio, he is a graduate of West Virginia University. He previously worked with Law360 before joining LNN in May 2024.

Events

Former surgeon general discussing ‘epidemic of loneliness’ this week in Arlington

By Jared Serre
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy delivers remarks and answers questions from members of the press in 2021 (photo courtesy Biden White House/Flickr)

One of the nation’s leading voices in public health will speak about issues related to loneliness at an Arlington event later this week.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, will address the “epidemic of loneliness” on Thursday at VHC Health (1701 N. George Mason Drive).

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News

Two more suspects accused of arson after apartment fire near Columbia Pike

By Jared Serre
Apartment fire on S. Quebec Street (via ACFD/X)

Two more suspects have been arrested in connection to a “suspicious” apartment fire near Columbia Pike earlier this year.

Erasbiel Flores, 22, was booked into jail on Sept. 8, according to court records. An alleged co-conspirator, 20-year-old Wilmer Adan Agustin De Leon, was taken into custody the following day.

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News

ACPD: Wanted man drives into fire hydrant while trying to flee

By Jared Serre
Police respond after a wanted man drives into a fire hydrant (photo via SafetyVid)

A wanted man’s attempt to flee law enforcement failed after he crashed his car into a fire hydrant in Arlington Ridge, police say.

Officers spotted the 27-year-old along the 2900 block of S. Glebe Road around 8:40 p.m. He tried to drive off but crashed into a fire hydrant, then tried to flee on foot but fell and injured himself, according to an Arlington County Police Department crime report.

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News

ACPD arrests 15 suspects in Pentagon City shoplifting enforcement effort

By Jared Serre
Police on scene at the Pentagon City mall in 2023 (file photo by Jay Westcott)

Efforts to combat retail theft in Pentagon City led to the arrest of more than a dozen suspects in a single day last month.

The Arlington County Police Department’s “focused enforcement” effort on Aug. 22 resulted in 15 suspects being taken into custody, with charges ranging from petit larceny and receiving stolen property to narcotics violations.

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News

High schooler accused of setting Douglas Park apartment fire using cup of gasoline

By Jared Serre
Apartment fire on S. Quebec Street (via ACFD/X)

An 18-year-old has been arrested in connection to a “suspicious” apartment fire near Columbia Pike earlier this year.

Marvin Adelso Hernandez Lopez is accused of using a 7-Eleven cup filled with gasoline during the May 15 blaze at a garden apartment building in Douglas Park.

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News

Air traffic controller at Reagan National pleads guilty to assaulting co-worker

By Jared Serre
The tower at Reagan National Airport on a sunny day (staff photo)

An air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport has pleaded guilty to assaulting a co-worker in the airport’s control tower earlier this year.

Damon Marsalis Gaines admitted guilt yesterday (Wednesday) to one count of assault and battery — a misdemeanor — in Arlington County General District Court, according to online court records.

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News

Plane had to abandon landing after close brush with helicopter near DCA, NTSB says

By Jared Serre
Ronald Reagan National Airport (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A commercial airliner had to abandon its landing at Reagan National Airport after a U.S. Army helicopter began to ascend above the Pentagon earlier this year, officials say.

The two aircraft experienced a “loss of separation” around 2:30 p.m. on May 1, coming less than half a mile from each other, according to a preliminary report that the National Transportation Safety Board released on Friday.

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News

Makeup artist slain in Virginia Square shooting remembered as ‘everyone’s friend’

By Jared Serre
Renee Baldwin (photos via Facebook)

A longtime makeup artist is being remembered for her friendship and caring nature after her shooting death in Virginia Square earlier this week.

Renee Baldwin, a popular makeup artist at several D.C.-area news studios, was fatally shot Sunday at an apartment building on Fairfax Drive, police said.

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News

Men plead guilty to conspiring in theft of 15 catalytic converters in Arlington

By Jared Serre
A pile of 17 catalytic converters recovered in Anne Arundel County (via U.S. Attorney's Office)

Two men have admitted to conspiring to steal dozens of catalytic converters across the D.C. area, including at least 15 in Arlington alone.

Erick Alfaro Guevara, 46, pleaded guilty yesterday (Wednesday) to one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and sale of stolen goods, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

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News

Former Dept. of Commerce official accused of sexually assaulting subordinate in Arlington

By Jared Serre
Arlington County Courthouse (staff photo by Ryan Cole)

An appointee to the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Biden administration has been accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate at her Pentagon City apartment.

Allegations stemming from a 2023 incident ultimately led to the resignation of Jessica Guadalupe Cavazos after fewer than eight months as the agency’s deputy Under Secretary for Minority Business Development.

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Obituary

Arlington woman killed in five-vehicle crash remembered as ‘beam of pizzazz’

By Jared Serre
Suzie Colbert (photo via Unger Horner Funeral Home)

An Arlington 60-year-old who died in a five-vehicle wreck on the Capital Beltway last week is remembered by many for her kindness and vibrant spirit.

Family, friends and acquaintances recall Suzanne K. “Suzie” Colbert as a world traveler, a devoted football fan, a “beam of pizzazz” and a “ray of sunshine with a contagious smile and a zest for life.”

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News

Four vehicles damaged after car fire leads to explosion in Crystal City

By Jared Serre
Smoke billows from a multi-car fire in Potomac Yard (photo via Dave Statter/X)

Four vehicles sustained damage Thursday after a car fire spread rapidly in a Crystal City area parking lot.

At approximately 10:50 a.m., firefighters were dispatched after two cars were reported to be on fire near the intersection of 33rd Street S and Crystal Drive, near Potomac Yard.

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