Reward Paid for Bank Robbery Tip — Arlington County Crime Solvers has paid a reward for a tip received that led to the arrest of a bank robbery suspect. The tipster called a 1-800 number to leave a tip after seeing a press release about the Dec. 6 robbery at Capital One Bank in Ballston Common Mall. [Arlington County]
Williamsburg Middle School Closed Monday — Williamsburg Middle School was closed Monday due to a pipe that burst over the weekend, damaging part of the school. [WUSA 9]
The incident happened just after noon, at the Safeway on the 3700 block of Lee Highway. Police say a man implied that he had a weapon and demanded cash. The store’s manager was able to subdue the suspect and hold him until police arrived.
From this week’s Arlington County crime report:
The incident happened around 2:15 a.m., in the midst of this morning’s snow storm, at the 7-Eleven store at 2704 Washington Blvd.
Police say Antonius Sallis, 33, held up the store, putting a knife to the throat of a clerk with one hand while holding a handgun in his other hand. Sallis demanded Newport cigarettes and cash, then slashed the clerk’s neck before leaving the store, Arlington County Police said in a press release.
Two masked men held up the McDonald’s at 2620 Jefferson Davis Highway early this morning and stole cash.
The two men caught on surveillance cameras entered the fast-food joint about 4:40 a.m. and jumped over the front counter, police said. One man pointed a handgun at employees while the other man served as a lookout. The thieves stuffed cash into a backpack and drove off in a dark sedan. No injuries were reported.
The incident happened on the 4000 block of 5th Street N., near Ballston. Police say the man was peering into the bedroom window of a woman’s ground floor apartment.
From the crime report:
Noormustafa “Noor” Shaikh, a 40 year old Stafford, Va. resident, was still in critical condition as of Friday afternoon, we’re told. He suffered numerous injuries last Tuesday when a Fairfax woman allegedly ran him over with her SUV, as he tried to prevent her from leaving the parking lot of his automotive business on the 3600 block of Columbia Pike.
Alexandra Mendez, 39, was arrested the next morning and charged with aggravated malicious wounding. She was also charged with hit and run for allegedly striking two cars in the parking lot, which prompted Shaikh — a co-owner of MK Auto Sales and Service — to try to stop her from leaving.
Derrick Sutherland, 30, was convicted of aggravated malicious wounding for attacking twins Brian and Tim Kern while they were sleeping outside on June 24, 2013, sending both to the hospital with serious injuries. Sutherland was also homeless at the time, and he was “known to carry a machete,” according to police.
Arlington Circuit Court Chief Judge William T. Newman will hand down Sutherland’s final sentencing in an April 17 hearing, according to Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Lynch, who tried the case along with Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Lindsay Brooker.
Alexandra Mendez was arrested at her home at 6:00 this morning, police have announced. She is charged with aggravated malicious wounding, malicious wounding, two counts of hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license. The 40-year-old victim, a Stafford resident, remains at George Washington University Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.
The man was lying on the ground when police and witnesses say Mendez drove her SUV over him, dragging him several feet before speeding off westbound on Columbia Pike. Mendez also allegedly rolled over another man’s foot in her Toyota Highlander, in the parking lot behind a car dealership and beauty salon on the 3600 block of Columbia Pike.
AFAC dropped off its usual delivery on Friday night at at 2229 Shirlington Road, at the Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corporation, to be distributed to families on Saturday, AFAC Executive Director Charles Meng told ARLnow.com. At some point overnight, according to Meng and police reports, a burglar entered the building and stole about 200 pounds of meat. There is no suspect description.
“Chicken, fish, hot dogs and dried beans were stolen,” Meng said this morning. “We quickly replaced that so that the distribution could go on the next morning. It’s unfortunate, but it’s more of a case where somebody saw an opportunity and saw some food and took it. I suspect it was someone who was more in need of food than anything else.”
Patrick Joseph Friedel, 29, will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession and production of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today.
Friedel admitted to meeting five underage girls over the internet and, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, exchanged sexually explicit images with them, using “persuasion, including sending depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and coercion, including threats to post images online and tell parents.”
Other than a notable bar fight in Ballston, this past week has been a rather slow one in Arlington crime-wise, at least according to the weekly county crime report.
One standout is a reported stolen vehicle. For some reason, someone stole an old purple van a couple of blocks from Campbell Elementary.
The incident happened this past Friday, just after 7:00 p.m. Police say a group of five boys ages 11 to 13 entered the 7-Eleven and stole Slurpees.
When the cashier confronted the suspects, one allegedly brandished a knife and made threats, before fleeing the scene on foot.
