Jared Serre | ARLnow

Man charged in fatal GW Parkway crash did not have driver’s license, police say

Published February 13, 2025 at 1:15PM

Portion of southbound GW Parkway near the location of a fatal crash on Jan. 1, 2025 (via Google Maps)

The suspect in a fatal New Year’s Day crash on GW Parkway was illegally behind the wheel of his pickup truck, authorities say.

Carlos Jose Hernandez Romero did not have a driver’s license when he fatally struck a woman in an SUV while apparently speeding and driving the wrong way on the Parkway, according to a sworn U.S. Park Police affidavit.

News

Reston man sentenced for Arlington sex crimes, one involving a minor

By Jared Serre

Published February 12, 2025 at 11:15AM

Gavel (Flickr photo by Joe Gratz)

A Reston man has been sentenced to at least seven years in prison for multiple sex crimes in Arlington.

Matthew Coble’s sentencing, handed down Friday by Circuit Court Judge Daniel S. Fiore II, follows his convictions for aggravated sexual battery and indecent liberties with a minor — crimes involving two different victims.

News

NEW: Airport dispatcher filmed bodies of crash victims, police say

By Jared Serre

Published February 11, 2025 at 3:00PM

An American Airlines flight passes over nearly two dozen crosses near Gravelly Point, a tribute to the 67 victims of the mid-air collision over the Potomac River (staff photo by James Jarvis)

An airport dispatcher admitted to illegally recording surveillance footage showing deceased victims after last month’s fatal midair crash, police say.

Maryland resident Jonathan Savoy allegedly admitted to a police detective that he captured photos and videos of crash victims being transferred from a first-responder boat to a staging area at Reagan National Airport, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ARLnow.

News

Ex-community activist sentenced to 30+ years for abduction and sexual offenses

By Jared Serre

Published February 10, 2025 at 9:45AM

Elder Julio Basurto speaks during the County Board recessed meeting in 2021 (via Arlington County)

A former community activist is set to spend the next 30 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting two women he lured into his car in Clarendon.

Julio Basurto, who was convicted of two counts of abduction with intent to defile plus two other sexual offenses, was sentenced Friday to 140 years in prison, though all but 30 years of his sentence are suspended.

News

Teen charged in death of 19-year-old pleads guilty to DUI manslaughter

By Jared Serre

Published January 29, 2025 at 1:00PM

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

The 18-year-old driver in a crash that claimed the life of a 19-year-old in October has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Brooks Thurston Bare admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before the crash in Tara-Leeway Heights that killed Nicholas Rados in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, according to a plea agreement accepted in court.

News

UPDATED: Fatal crash shuts down intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Glebe Road

By Jared Serre

Published January 27, 2025 at 3:45PM | Updated January 28, 2025 at 2:46PM

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

One person is dead and another is fighting for their life after a serious crash Monday afternoon at a Ballston intersection.

Traffic camera footage (below) shows a gray pickup truck traveling eastbound on Wilson Blvd before slamming into another vehicle — which had just turned onto Wilson from N. Vermont Street — around 2:40 p.m.

News

NEW: Former Arlington firefighter pardoned of Jan. 6 charges by Trump

By Jared Serre

Published January 21, 2025 at 10:00AM | Updated February 2, 2025 at 1:16PM

Man identified as an Arlington County Fire Department employee who was charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot

A former Arlington firefighter is among the more than 1,500 people granted pardons under President Donald Trump’s sweeping decision yesterday (Monday).

Brian Holmes, who was accused of assaulting police officers while attempting to enter the U.S. Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, falls under a blanket pardon Trump issued shortly after being sworn in as president.

Around Town

Ex-auto shop on Langston Blvd is replaced with another auto shop

By Jared Serre

Published January 7, 2025 at 2:30PM | Updated January 7, 2025 at 2:57PM

The forthcoming Metro Motor, located off Langston Blvd in North Arlington (staff photo by Jared Serre)

A shuttered auto repair shop on Langston Blvd is being replaced with… an auto repair shop.

Signs for Metro Motor — a D.C.-area chain — now adorn the building at 5618 Langston Blvd, four months after the closure of Westover Service Center in the same space.

News

Charges against soldier accused in pride flag theft dismissed

By Jared Serre

Published December 26, 2024 at 9:45AM | Updated December 26, 2024 at 3:59PM

Security camera footage of a Pride flag being stolen on Jan. 27, 2024 (via Michelle Logan/X)

(Updated at 4 p.m.) The charges filed against a U.S. Army soldier accused in a series of pride flag thefts have been dismissed.

General District Court Judge Cari M. Steele formally dismissed the charges against Matthew Henshaw on Monday following his completion of a restorative justice program, according to defense attorney Damon Colbert.

News

Rapist who murdered Fort Myer Navy sailor is taken off death row

By Jared Serre

Published December 23, 2024 at 2:30PM | Updated December 26, 2024 at 9:11AM

Jorge Avila Torrez, pictured in 2010 (photo via Arlington Sheriff's Office)

An ex-Marine convicted of rape and multiple murders, including strangling a U.S. Navy petty officer to death in Arlington, has been taken off of death row.

Jorge Avila Torrez, 36, is one of 37 federal prisoners who saw their death sentences commuted by President Joe Biden today (Monday).

News

Arlington resident announces bid for Virginia lieutenant governor

By Jared Serre

Published December 20, 2024 at 2:30PM

Victor Salgado, Democratic candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor (photo courtesy Victor for Virginia)

An Arlington resident and former federal prosecutor is running for Virginia lieutenant governor.

Victor Salgado, the fifth declared candidate vying to be the Democratic Party’s nominee in November, knows he’s a political outsider. But he told ARLnow that possible federal policy changes inspired him to enter the political arena.

News

Westover man pleads guilty to keeping explosives inside apartment

By Jared Serre

Published December 19, 2024 at 11:15AM

Investigation involving bomb squad underway in Westover (staff photo by Jared Serre)

A 78-year-old man has pleaded guilty to keeping explosives inside his Westover apartment.

Charles Wallace Peters faces a maximum of 10 years in prison following his Tuesday plea, according to Virginia statute.