A new restorative justice program is focusing on the needs of people who have suffered domestic and sexual violence in Arlington.
The pilot initiative, launched by the nonprofits Restorative Arlington and Doorways through a $1.5 million federal grant, offers more pathways to justice for survivors of intimate partner violence, stalking and dating violence.
The first incident happened around 10 a.m. on a Tuesday in September. A woman was walking on the Custis Trail when she noticed a man following her. The man then caught up to her and groped her, before fleeing, according to Arlington County police.
Then, on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 9, the man followed two different women in Clarendon and Courthouse, even following them into businesses, prompting calls to police, according to ACPD.
Man Sentenced for Harassing Arlington Woman — A 47-year-old I.T. worker from New England has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for stalking and harassing an Arlington mom and her 16-year-old daughter. Bruce Stimon was accused of emailing the woman’s friends and saying she had an STD; posting her name, photo and work phone number on prostitution sites, secretly recording a video of them having sex, posting it on porn sites, and sending it to her daughter’s Twitter friends; and repeatedly slashing her tires. [WJLA]
Arlington Hotel Tax Passes House — A bill that would restore Arlington’s authority to levy a 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge has narrowly passed the Virginia House of Delegates. The bill earlier passed the state Senate, but the House bill contains a three year sunset provision that wasn’t in the Senate version, meaning the House and the Senate will need to hash out a combined bill in order for it to reach the governor’s desk. [Richmond Sunlight]
An Arlington man has been arrested after police say he sent his ex-girlfriend an authorized photo he took of her topless.
In addition to sending the topless photo, police say the suspect made more than 50 attempts to contact the woman over the weekend, via both phone calls and text messages, and then broke into her Ballston apartment early Sunday morning and started banging on her bedroom door.
