crime | ARLnow.com

Pharmacy Owner Sentenced to Prison For Fraudulent Billing, Illegal Drug Dispensing

Published September 30, 2019 at 11:00AM

Gavel (Flickr photo by Joe Gratz)

A pharmacy owner with stores in Arlington and Alexandria has been sentenced to four years behind bars for falsifying insurance claims and illegally dispensing opioids.

Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, 29, was sentenced to prison on Friday after law enforcement accused him of running a get rich quick scheme by billing insurance companies for prescriptions he never filled, and in some cases, were never prescribed by a doctor to the patient. Officials say Chowdhury, who did not have a pharmacy license, dispensed medications and billed insurance companies at his two pharmacies between August 2015 and February 2016 using identities he had stolen from licensed pharmacists.

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Officials, Activists Ask County to Make Mental Health Docket More Inclusive

By Airey

Published August 16, 2019 at 3:45PM

Public Defender Brad Haywood (right) during a 2019 panel on jail diversion (file photo)

Officials and activists are asking the county courts to make a newly-proposed mental health jail diversion program more inclusive.

Arlington and Fairfax public defenders joined several advocates during a Thursday evening meeting about the proposal, and urged county officials to broaden the mental illnesses diagnoses accepted in the program and not require plea bargains as a participation requirement.

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State Trooper Charged With Mishandling Firearm, Obstructing Justice

By Airey

Published August 5, 2019 at 4:30PM

File photo

Arlington prosecutors are pressing charges against a Virginia State Police sergeant accused of accidentally firing a gun and not reporting the incident.

Steven Mittendorff is set to go on trial for the charges in the Arlington Circuit Court on October 10, Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos told ARLnow today (Monday.)

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Crime Report: Theft at Ballston IHOP

By ARLnow.com

Published August 1, 2019 at 11:00AM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:51AM

A waitress at the Ballston IHOP restaurant was robbed of cash on a weekday morning this week.

The alleged crime happened around 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Police say a man approached the waitress and “stole a billfold containing an undisclosed amount of cash from her hand,” before running off.

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Crime Report: Indecent Exposure Arrests Along Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2019 at 9:45AM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:51AM

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Two Arlington men were arrested for separate indecent exposure incidents along Columbia Pike over the past week.

The first happened early Friday morning at the intersection of the Pike and S. Glebe Road, when a man allegedly approached a woman in her vehicle and exposed himself, according to this week’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.

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Residents, Officials Ask for More Time to Review Mental Health Court Program

By Airey

Published July 19, 2019 at 1:30PM

Three judges answered questions during the behavioral health docket meeting, including Fran O'Brien, Daniel T. Lopez, and Jason Rucker (Staff photo by Airey)

Some officials and residents are asking for more time to review a jail diversion program for people with mental illnesses, saying the county developed it without enough public input.

About a hundred people gathered in the County Board’s meeting room Wednesday afternoon for a meeting called after activists requested a chance to weigh in on the new criminal justice program. Attendees expressed general support for the “Behavioral Health Docket” but worried about its requirement that participants plead guilty to participate, adding that the county needed to listen to more members of the public before finalizing the program.

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Police Investigating More Car Thefts, Break-ins

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2019 at 2:30PM

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A recent spate of car thefts and break-ins in North Arlington is continuing.

Arlington County Police are investigating two car thefts and seven car break-ins in the Lyon Park neighborhood this week. The crimes were first reported Wednesday morning on the 2900 block of 2nd Street N. and the 300 block of Edgewood Street, about a half mile south of Clarendon.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 10, 2019 at 7:30AM

Latest Flood Stats — “As of Tuesday morning, the Department of Environmental Services had received 151 calls about damage to private property, storm drain backups, indoor flooding and roadway flooding; The County also investigated more than 30 drainage complaints.” [Arlington County]

Record-Setting Rain Rate — “The 3.30 [inches of rain] recorded between 8:52-9:52 a.m [at Reagan National Airport] was Washington, D.C.’s highest hourly precip report in records dating back to 1936.” [Twitter]

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Arlington County Considering Jail Diversion Program for Mentally Ill

By Airey

Published July 9, 2019 at 3:30PM | Updated July 9, 2019 at 4:39PM

Arlington's detainee intake

Arlington County is considering a new program to divert people with mental illnesses into treatment instead of jail.

The proposed program would waive incarceration for people with mental illnesses who are convicted of non-violent misdemeanors if they agree to an intensive treatment program supervised by a judge. All the officials who spoke to ARLnow about the program supported it, but some weren’t aware the county was working on the program and said they had little opportunity to add input.

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Crime Report: Spate of N. Arlington Car Break-ins Continues

By ARLnow.com

Published July 3, 2019 at 10:45AM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:51AM

Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

There has been a recent increase in reports of car break-ins in residential portions of North Arlington, with more than a dozen vehicles broken into this week.

Arlington County Police reported this morning that around 10 vehicles were tampered with in the Bellevue Forest neighborhood in the early morning hours.

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Crime Report: More Vehicle Tamperings in N. Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published June 27, 2019 at 4:30PM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:51AM

Police cars (file photo)

For at least the second time this month, there has been a series of vehicle tamperings in a North Arlington neighborhood.

The latest series of incidents happened in the Donaldson Run neighborhood, after the previous series of vehicle break-ins in Dominion Hills.

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Four Arrested at Bob and Edith’s on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2019 at 1:30PM

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Four people, all in their 20s, were arrested after a wild incident early Sunday morning at Bob and Edith’s Diner on Columbia Pike.

According to Arlington County Police, police were called to the business around 3:30 a.m. and found one of the diners “yelling verbal profanities and acting aggressively towards staff.” While escorting the suspect out of the business, three of his dining companions allegedly attempted to interfere with the responding officer and a scuffle ensued, ending in backup arriving and helping to arrest the group.