Jared Serre | ARLnow

Teen sentenced for Arlington DUI crash that killed W-L graduate

Published March 28, 2025 at 2:30PM

Arlington County Courthouse (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

The 18-year-old responsible for a rollover crash that claimed the life of an Arlington 19-year-old in October has been sentenced to two and a half years behind bars.

Brooks Thurston Bare received his sentence for DUI involuntary manslaughter yesterday (Thursday) following emotional statements from the parents of victim Nicholas Rados.

News

Prosecutors drop case against store employee accused of slashing shoplifter

By Jared Serre

Published March 19, 2025 at 2:30PM | Updated March 19, 2025 at 3:06PM

The 7-Eleven store located at 201 S. Glebe Road in Arlington Heights (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Arlington prosecutors have declined to pursue charges against a convenience store employee accused of slashing an alleged shoplifter with a knife.

The 24-year-old employee faced two misdemeanor charges stemming from the Dec. 16 incident, in which he allegedly pursued and confronted two men who left a 7-Eleven in Arlington Heights without paying for beer and other items.

News

Rear-end crash damages four vehicles, blocks lanes on Route 50

By Jared Serre

Published March 18, 2025 at 3:15PM | Updated March 18, 2025 at 3:57PM

Local authorities respond to a crash at the intersection of Route 50 and Park Drive (via traffic camera)

A read-end collision on Arlington Blvd (Route 50) caused delays in the Arlington Forest neighborhood today.

Just before 11:30 a.m., a dark-colored SUV collided with the rear of a stopped vehicle in a line of cars at the road’s intersection with Park Drive, traffic camera footage shows.

News

Security guard sentenced to one year for shooting teen trespasser at Key Bridge Marriott

By Jared Serre

Published March 11, 2025 at 9:00AM

Security vehicle at the Key Bridge Marriott on May 31, 2024 (staff photo)

A security guard who shot and wounded a trespassing teen at the Key Bridge Marriott site in Rosslyn will spend the next year behind bars.

Ahmed Namnoom, 54, was sentenced to the maximum five years of incarceration on Friday for unlawful wounding, though Circuit Court Judge Daniel S. Lopez suspended all but one year.

News

Trial date set for substitute teacher accused of sexual relationship with student

By Jared Serre

Published March 10, 2025 at 2:45PM | Updated March 10, 2025 at 3:26PM

Booking photograph of Timothy McGhee, via ACPD, over a file image of Washington-Liberty HS

A trial date has been set for a former Washington-Liberty High School substitute teacher accused of taking indecent liberties with a high school student.

The trial of Timothy McGhee, 47, is scheduled to begin in Arlington’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on April 23.

News

Columbia Pike bank robbery suspect accused of attempted heist the day before

By Jared Serre

Published March 6, 2025 at 2:30PM

Emergency vehicles on scene of bank robbery at Wells Fargo near Columbia Pike (via traffic camera)

A man accused of robbing a Columbia Pike bank last week is also suspected of trying to rob a bank in Alexandria the day before.

Steve Jamal Smith has a history of attempted heists, court records show. He was convicted back in 2017 of unsuccessfully trying to rob two banks on the same day.

News

Men charged after allegedly BASE jumping from Ballston apartment building

By Jared Serre

Published March 5, 2025 at 1:15PM

The Meridian at Ballston Commons apartment building (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Two alleged thrill-seekers are facing charges after reportedly sneaking onto the roof of a Ballston apartment building and parachuting off of it earlier this year.

Around 10 p.m. on Jan. 2, a 30-year-old and a 26-year-old are alleged to have jumped from the roof of the Meridian at Ballston Commons apartments, descending more than 200 feet before landing on N. Stuart Street.

News

Ballston shooting suspect had illegally modified handgun, police say

By Jared Serre

Published March 4, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated March 4, 2025 at 1:45PM

Booking photograph of Malachi Rawlings and the Placemakr Marymount Ballston at 1008 N. Glebe Road (via ACPD and Google Maps)

A D.C. man accused of initiating a gunfight at a Ballston apartment building early New Year’s Day did so with an illegally modified handgun, according to police.

The handgun that Malachi Rawlings allegedly used was equipped with an extended magazine and an auto sear device, “converting [it] from semi- to fully automatic,” an officer wrote in a criminal complaint.

Around Town

Kitchen fire forces Turkish restaurant near Ballston to close, but not for long

By Jared Serre

Published March 4, 2025 at 11:15AM

Firefighters respond to Istanbul Grill in Ballston (staff photo by Jared Serre)

A Turkish restaurant near Ballston closed due to a kitchen fire yesterday (Monday) but intends to open today.

Multiple fire trucks arrived at Istanbul Grill around 1 p.m. yesterday after a reported structure fire at 4617 Wilson Blvd.

News

Former W-L coach acquitted of sex crimes, still faces second trial

By Jared Serre

Published February 25, 2025 at 1:45PM

Arlington County courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A former Washington-Liberty High School coach has been acquitted of two sex crime charges involving a former player.

George Porcha, who was the head girls basketball coach at the Arlington school from 2000-03, still faces another trial for similar charges this spring.

News

Arlington teen, out on bond from stabbing charge, arrested in Falls Church robbery

By Jared Serre

Published February 20, 2025 at 2:30PM

Police response to multiple stabbings on Columbia Pike in December 2023 (photo courtesy Matthew Young)

An Arlington teen awaiting trial over his alleged role in a 2023 stabbing has been arrested on a robbery charge.

Police took Kamron Tartt, 19, into custody in Arlington’s Green Valley neighborhood on Feb. 6, shortly after he was identified as a person of interest in a robbery, an ACPD spokesperson told ARLnow.

News

Driver in fatal Ballston crash remains hospitalized, police say

By Jared Serre and Dan Egitto

Published February 19, 2025 at 9:00AM | Updated February 19, 2025 at 9:55AM

A crash at the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Glebe Road in Ballston (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

The driver of a pickup truck involved in a fatal crash in Ballston last month is still hospitalized, local officials told ARLnow.

A criminal investigation into the incident, which killed a 32-year-old doctoral candidate and snarled traffic in Ballston for hours, is still underway, Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow.