The District of Columbia’s attorney general has responded to a scathing letter to D.C. officials sent by Virginia AG Jason Miyares (R).
Miyares suggested that the District is soft on crime, endangering Virginia residents who visit as well as neighboring jurisdictions like Arlington. The letter was sent as “a direct response to the tragic murder of Christy Bautista,” an Arlington woman stabbed to death in a D.C. hotel room, allegedly by a man with an extensive criminal history.
(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) No defendant under 18 years old has been tried as an adult in Arlington County since Parisa Dehghani-Tafti became Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2020.
For Arlington’s top prosecutor, this is an important reform. It keeps children in a system designed for guiding them, and holding them accountable while providing rehabilitative services.
County, Feds in Court Over Land — ” A trial underway in federal court will decide whether the U.S. government must pay up to $21 million to compensate a Virginia county for a parcel of land taken to expand Arlington National Cemetery… At issue is how much money, if any, the federal government must pay to Arlington County for the nine acres (3.6 hectares) of land it took from the county to accommodate the expansion.” [Associated Press]
TSA Stops Woman With Gun at DCA — “Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) prevented a Spotsylvania, Va., woman from bringing her loaded handgun onto her flight early this morning (April 10). The .380 caliber gun was loaded with five bullets.” [Press Release]
Someone in Arlington is apparently shooting rabbits with a blow dart.
Two rabbits, each with darts stuck in their bodies, were spotted by residents along the 700 and 800 blocks of N. Barton Street in Lyon Park earlier this month, according to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Animal control officers have been trying to capture the rabbits to provide medical treatment.
Two men are in police custody after a carjacking Friday night.
The carjacking was the tenth reported in Arlington so far this year, and the fifth in which a BMW was taken in the Crystal City and Pentagon City area.
Potomac Rail Bridge Price Going Up — “Virginia’s plan to double capacity for trains over the Potomac River is moving ahead amid inflation that has driven up the project’s cost and contributed to a $389 million budget shortfall, state transportation officials said. Construction of a new Long Bridge is projected to cost nearly $2.3 billion, up nearly $240 million from a year ago.” [Washington Post]
Arrest at Ritz Carlton — From Dave Statter: “@ArlingtonVaPD needing help to arrest a drunk & disorderly person is something often seen at the bars on Wilson Blvd (a bit too often). Not the norm for the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City. But this was the scene around 1 a.m.” [Twitter]
Arlington County police are investigating yet another carjacking in the Crystal City area.
Initial reports suggest that a group of suspects, including one armed with a gun, carjacked a dark blue BMW X6 around 8:50 p.m. The victim reported the carjacking to employees at the CVS (2400 Richmond Highway) who then called police.
An early morning dispute over parking led to a gun being brandished and a car being stolen.
That’s according to today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.
An Arlington program that lets emergency patients opt to be taken to an urgent care has only been used about a dozen times since its launch two years ago.
In April 2021, the Arlington County Fire Department implemented a new EMS model referred to as Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) at the behest of the Arlington County Board.
Neighbors Worry About Centuries-Old Tree — “Residents are growing concerned about the future of one of the oldest trees in Arlington’s Penrose neighborhood, a large white oak tree that could be as old as the United States. The tree, in the backyard of a Penrose home that was recently put up for sale, likely survived the Civil War and could have been starting its life as a sprout in the late 1700s around the time of the Revolutionary War.” [Patch]
Counties Monitoring Ruling Fallout — “The Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) is advising its member localities, including Arlington, to hunker down and take a very close look and see if any measures they enacted during the first 15 months of COVID might be in peril following a Virginia Supreme Court ruling. At issue is the March 23 court opinion invalidating Fairfax County’s zoning rewrite – known as zMOD – because its adoption in early 2021 did not follow public-comment rules still in place at the time and not changed by the General Assembly later that year.” [GazetteLeader]
Seven years after ending its substance use treatment options for youth, a local facility is poised to resume providing some outpatient services.
National Capital Treatment & Recovery CEO Debby Taylor tells ARLnow that Arlington County approached the center about providing therapeutic services to youth in the county after 14-year-old Sergio Flores fatally overdosed at Wakefield High School. The center has since obtained licensure to provide intensive outpatient and outpatient services and could be ready to debut its programming this spring.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) has sent a scathing letter to D.C.’s mayor and city council today, accusing them of jeopardizing public safety due to lax law enforcement.
The letter follows the stabbing death of an Arlington woman in a D.C. hotel room this past weekend. The Yorktown High School alum was pronounced dead in the room and the suspect, a 43-year-old man with an extensive criminal history, was taken into custody and charged with murder.
