Police have released more information about yesterday afternoon’s armed robbery of the Wachovia Bank in Courthouse.
The Arlington County Police Department’s Robbery Unit is seeking the public’s help to identify a man who robbed an Arlington bank yesterday afternoon.
Update at 11:55 a.m. — News outlets have identified the man who was taken into custody as Yonathan Melaku of Alexandria. Melaku is a Marine Corps reservist, according to Fox News.
Update at 11:00 a.m. — The scene has been cleared and all roads around the Pentagon have reopened.
The BB&T Bank at 5515 Lee Highway was robbed around lunchtime today.
The suspect fled the bank on foot, prompting authorities to lock down at least two schools in the area. Parents of Nottingham Elementary and Williamsburg Middle School students received the following message from administrators today.
A total of 27 decorative flags were burned overnight on a quiet couple of blocks between Quantico Street and Sycamore Street, near Bishop O’Connell High School and Tuckahoe Elementary, according to fire department spokesman Lt. Gregg Karl. Neighbors say the plastic flags were recently placed in yards by the Boy Scouts, an annual Flag Day tradition.
Investigators believe whoever burned the flags did so just before 5:30 a.m. The fires caused the plastic flags to melt onto plants, yards and walkways. No word on a motive, but one neighbor on 27th Street theorized that the vandal or vandals were trying to send a message.
The so-called “Second Chance” program will allow middle and high school students caught with alcohol or marijuana to avoid school suspensions and criminal prosecution. To enter the program, students must be first-time offenders and must have the active participation of their parents or guardians.
Students referred to Second Chance by schools, police, courts or parents will attend an educational, three-day “early intervention” program, as well as a subsequent “booster session.” The time in the program will be considered an excused absence from school. Supporters say that the “second chance” allows students to avoid the negative impacts of school suspensions and other traditional forms of punishment.
Two teenage girls were the victim of perverted behavior on the streets of Arlington over the past week. Last Tuesday, according to the Arlington County crime report, a 14-year-old girl was touched by a man while she was walking home from school.
SEXUAL BATTERY, 06/07/11, 2600 block of John Marshall Drive. On June 7 at 2:30 pm, a 14 year-old female was walking home from school. An unknown male walking in front of her abruptly turned around and touched her chest. The suspect is described as a white male in his late 20’s, 5’7″ and of an average build. He had dark hair and was wearing a white t-shirt, gray mesh shorts, a white baseball cap and black sneakers.
When employees at one of those facilities — the YMCA Arlington Tennis & Squash Center at 3400 N. 13th Street — first heard yesterday that two men had finally been arrested for Carl’s 2009 murder, at least one woman burst into tears.
“We’ve all been sort of waiting around and hoping [police] find who did it,” said Audrey Giberman, who works at the Tennis Center and who formed a close bond with Carl through the years. “He’s always been on our mind. It was a horrible, horrible tragedy.”
Update at 2:25 p.m. — Charges have been filed against a North Carolina man.
Willie Amaz Braddy, 41, of Rocky Mount, N.C., was taken into state police custody and charged with reckless driving and for concealing a weapon without a valid permit. The incident remains under investigation.
The Arlington County Police Department is partnering with Virginia State Police and other local law enforcement agencies to conduct a “Capitol Region HOV Awareness Day.” Officers will be conducting “saturation patrols” during the morning and evening rush hours in an effort to boost enforcement of High Occupancy Vehicle laws on I-395, I-66 and other local highways.
Two HOV Awareness Day operations last year resulted in police issuing more than 2,300 summonses and arresting two fugitives.
Diener, a 57-year-old Lyon Village resident, was found lying dead on a Clarendon street early on the morning of Dec. 29, 2009. Late last year, friends and family held a vigil to mark the one year anniversary of Diener’s death, and to draw public attention to the police department’s continued effort to find clues about the case. With today’s announcement, those efforts seem to have paid off.
The two men arrested are both in their early 20s. One was arrested in Montgomery County, Md. and the other was arrested in the District, according to police.
An off-duty Arlington County Detention Center guard was assaulted by a former inmate outside a 7-Eleven on the 3000 block of Columbia Pike this afternoon, authorities tell ARLnow.com.
The guard, an Arlington sheriff’s deputy, was treated at a hospital after the attack, according to Maj. Mike Pinson of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office. The injured deputy was spotted talking to police officers after the attack while wearing a small head bandage and an arm sling, but Pinson was unable to confirm the exact nature of his injuries.
Police say 28-year-old Juanita Maxwell ignored orders to stay in her vehicle, then refused to comply with other police commands. According to the police report, she called 911 and then fought officers as they attempted to place her under arrest.
Maxwell was charged with resisting arrest and false summoning of law enforcement. She also received summons for an HOV violation and a window tint violation. She was released on a $1,250 bond.
