Arlington County is planning to start regular testing of public safety personnel and critical employees, ARLnow has learned.
The county has acquired a rapid testing machine, which is currently undergoing a certification process. Once its accuracy is certified, it will be used to regularly test law enforcement, fire department and emergency communications personnel, as well as public health and other critical county employees.
(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A teenager was allegedly behind the wheel of a car that struck a 10-year-old girl and killed her dog in Arlington’s Donaldson Run neighborhood.
Police confirmed this morning that “the suspected driver has been located.”
The front of a CVS store along Columbia Pike was smashed overnight in what police say was a burglary attempt.
The driver of a car ran into the entrance to the store near Penrose Square, at 2601 Columbia Pike, in the wee hours of the morning. It’s unclear if anything was stolen. The vehicle was found abandoned nearby and the suspect remains at large.
(Updated at 9:50 p.m.) Arlington County police officers who were assisting U.S. Park Police during protests in D.C. have been ordered “to immediately leave,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey tweeted Monday night.
Officers in ACPD helmets could be seen in photos and video (below) assisting with the forceful removal of protesters from around St. John’s Church, an action that involved the deployment of tear gas. Shortly thereafter, President Trump walked to the church and held up a bible, a move dismissed as a photo opportunity by critics and criticized as “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus” by the Episcopal bishop of Washington.
(Updated at 10:20 p.m.) With a 7 p.m. curfew and protesters marching on M Street NW, D.C. police are blocking lanes of the Key Bridge heading towards Georgetown.
Stores and restaurants are boarded up along M Street, in anticipation of another night of protests in the District.
Update at 9:15 p.m. — Arlington police have been ordered to leave D.C., County Board Chair Libby Garvey says.
Earlier: If you were watching cable news coverage of the fiery clashes near the White House last night, you might have spotted “ACPD” on the helmets of some of the riot police.
Police are looking for a man who broke a window at a fast-food restaurant along Lee Highway last night.
The incident happened around 11:30 p.m. on the 5000 block of Lee Highway, according to Arlington County Police. The restaurant is not named but that block is home to a Wendy’s.
About 200 people participated in a peaceful protest against police brutality that marched from Shirlington to Ballston Sunday afternoon.
The event was organized in memory of George Floyd, whose killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis prompted nationwide protests and murder charges against one of the officers.
Dorsey on Death of George Floyd — Arlington County Board member Christian Dorsey posted the following on Facebook Sunday afternoon: “Why is it when we are bird watching, retrieving mail, swimming in a pool, walking down the street, or living in our own homes that you view us as a threat? Why do these routine activities see us being reported to police and losing our lives? It is a question my daughters ask, as do the children of every black person in America. Yet that question needs to be seriously be pondered non-Blacks. We then need you to transform episodic outrage into all-the-time anti-racism.” [Facebook, Blue Virginia]
Apple Store Boarded Up in Clarendon — Workers placed plywood over the entrance to the Apple Store in Clarendon Sunday, as a precaution, after the weekend’s clashes in D.C. [Twitter]
(Updated on 5/31/20) Arlington County Police are investigating an apparent hit and run that claimed the life of a dog Friday.
Around 1:45 p.m. police were dispatched to the area of N. Upshur Street and N. Vermont Street, in the Donaldson Run neighborhood, for a report of a girl and a dog struck by a driver.
In the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of four since-fired Minneapolis police officers, and the fiery protests that have followed, Arlington’s police chief has released a letter to the community.
The letter seeks to reassure residents that Arlington police are well-trained, use force judiciously, and are thoroughly investigated when they do.
Arlington County Police have nabbed four suspects in connection with another series of car break-ins.
The vehicle tamperings occurred around the 6000 and 6100 blocks of Wilson Blvd, in the Dominion Hills and Boulevard Manor neighborhoods, early Tuesday morning. Police say eight mostly unlocked vehicles were entered, and a number of items were stolen.
