(Updated at 5:30 p.m.) FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents are conducting a terrorism investigation at a house in Douglas Park.
The FBI, NCIS and Arlington County Police are on the scene on the 1600 block of S. Randolph Street. Earlier, agents could be seen talking to two men outside the home, where the FBI says it was executing a search warrant.
This week’s Arlington County crime report includes several cases that may serve as important lessons for criminals. For instance, if you’re going to (allegedly) shoplift from The Gap, leave the 16 bags of cocaine at home.
POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE (COCAINE), 02/10/12, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At 3:15 pm on February 10, a subject entered The Gap clothing store and placed items in a bag and left the store without paying. Store security detained the suspect for shoplifting. Upon arrival of officers, a further search of the suspect was conducted and a sandwich bag with 16 smaller bags of cocaine were located. Andreus Womack, 19, of Washington, D.C. was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute and petit larceny.
Just after 3:15 p.m. police received a call for a fight on the 800 block of S. Highland Street, near the Career Center. By the time officers arrived school security already had two suspects in custody, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
Security had also removed a handgun from the waistband of one of the suspects involved in the fight. The weapon and five rounds of ammunition were secured by police, Sternbeck said.
Chopper Called in for Suspect Search — The U.S. Park Police Eagle 2 helicopter hovered over the Claremont neighborhood — near Wakefield High School — for about half an hour last night while assisting Arlington County Police in a search for several armed robbery suspects. The chopper assisted police and K-9 units on the ground in the search for the suspects in a armed robbery on the 1000 block of S. Frederick Street, in the Columbia Forest neighborhood, according to ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Police eventually arrested three men in connection with the crime, according to police radio traffic.
Board to Consider ‘Pipestem’ Lot — The County Board is expected to decide this weekend on a controversial development proposal in the Leeway Overlee neighborhood. A developer wants to build a large new home on a parcel of land set back from the street and only connected to the street via only a thin driveway strip known as a “pipestem.” Neighbors have been fighting the plan, but to some degree state law — which emphasizes the rights of property owners — prevents the Board from completely blocking development on the lot. [Sun Gazette]
This week’s Arlington County crime report contained a number of notable items. Among them:
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, a suspect tried to flee after police found 32 grams of crack cocaine during a traffic stop on S. Glebe Road. Police used a Taser to help stop the suspect, identified by police as 41-year-old Deron Brown of Washington, D.C. Brown was charged with possession with the intent to distribute.
A man is facing a possible 93-year prison sentence after being found guilty of raping an Arlington woman while she slept.
D.C. resident Ronald P. Berton, 37, was accused of crimes against two young Arlington women in 2008 and 2010. On Sept. 26, 2010, prosecutors say Berton entered unlocked first-floor apartment on the 2500 block of 20th Street N., where he found a woman sleeping. Berton raped the woman then stole items from the apartment and fled the scene. The woman, who had been drinking that night, did not wake up during the rape, but later woke up and found a condom next to her.
Around 11:30 a.m. the President arrived at the fire station via motorcade and took the stage to announce his new $1 billion initiative, which he highlighted during the State of the Union address last month. The program particularly targets veterans who have served since 9/11 — a group whose unemployment rate is currently hovering around 13 percent.
“Our veterans are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we’ve got,” said the President. “These are Americans that every business should be competing to attract.”
Obama to Appear in Arlington on Friday — President Obama will deliver a speech about the economy at Arlington’s Fire Station 5 on Friday. The fire station is located on S. Hayes Street in Aurora Highlands, a couple of blocks from Pentagon City mall. [Washington Post]
Three Candidates Running for School Board — There are now three Democratic candidates running for two open Arlington County School Board seats: Emma Violand-Sanchez (incumbent), Noah Simon and Larry Fishtahler. Arlington Democrats will endorse two candidates at a May caucus. [Sun Gazette]
This week’s Arlington County crime report contained several incidents of frightening crimes against women. Among them:
RAPE, 01/25/12, 3000 block of Columbia Pike. Between 2 and 3 pm on January 25, a female victim was raped by a known suspect in a hotel room. The suspect is in custody.
(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) A parking attendant was found dead in Rosslyn this morning.
A security guard found the man without a pulse and not breathing at the entrance to a garage at the Waterview Building (1919 N. Lynn Street). Police were called around 5:45 a.m.
The suspect has been known to find his victims through contact on internet sites and online advertisements. He is described as a black male, 35-45 years old, 5’7″-5’9″ and 160-180 pounds.
An incident two weeks ago is the latest in what may be a string of crimes by the same suspect. The victim told police she had been hired by the suspect from an online advertisement to perform sexual acts in a Crystal City hotel room. When the suspect arrived at the room, the victim asked him to leave. The victim was forced to stay in the room against her will and perform unwanted sexual acts. She was able to escape and immediately went to the police.
Jackie Carter was charged with disorderly conduct following an incident on April 30, 2011, in which she booed a Bowen McCauley Dance Company performance at Kenmore Middle School. The incident was detailed by the Afro newspaper last week, and then picked up by the Washington City Paper on Friday.
The performance, which featured live music by a Kenmore Middle School band, included a dance number that Carter said she found to be “racist and offensive to African-Americans and African American women especially.”
