Arlington County police are looking for a pair of suspects in a serious assault yesterday evening.
The incident happened Sunday just before 6 p.m., at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and N. Pershing Drive in Buckingham. According to scanner traffic, the victim was beat up by two men and, while he was down, kicked in the head.
The victim was found on the ground, reportedly bleeding from the head. The suspects fled the scene but a witness told police that he had video of the attack.
More, below, from today’s ACPD crime report.
MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2023-06040185, N. Glebe Road at N. Pershing Drive. At approximately 5:51 p.m. on June 4, police were dispatched to the report of an assault just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined the male victim was pushed to the ground and assaulted by the two male suspects. The suspects fled the scene on foot and were not located by responding officers. The victim was treated on scene for serious, non-life threatening injuries and refused transport to the hospital. Suspect One is described as Hispanic male, approximately 25-35 years old, 5’5”-5’6”, wearing a white shirt and white pants. Suspect Two is described as a Hispanic male. The investigation is ongoing.
Also in today’s crime report, a woman allegedly threatened a male victim with a knife along Columbia Pike early Saturday morning.
From ACPD:
ATTEMPTED MALICIOUS WOUNDING (Late), 2023-06030223, 2900 block of Columbia Pike. At approximately 7:45 p.m. on June 3, police were dispatched to the late report of a brandishing. Upon arrival, it was determined at approximately 1:30 a.m., the known female suspect became involved in a verbal dispute with the male victim and a witness. During the dispute, the suspect allegedly approached the victim and brandished a knife before being separated by witnesses. No injuries were reported. The investigation is ongoing.
A Cambodian-American college student partied too hard one night and lived in fear of deportation for decades.
A man whose right to a fair trial was trampled on because, an Arlington County Circuit Court judge said, prosecutors withheld evidence that would have helped his case.
The race to determine the next Democrat-backed Commonwealth’s Attorney has unearthed stories of people whose lives have been impacted by the candidates. They are incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, who recently picked up an endorsement from the Arlington teachers union, and challenger Josh Katcher, who nabbed the support of the Arlington police union.
These stories, identified and amplified by the respective political campaigns, reveal the power of the office to determine the course of someone’s life based on the judgment calls they make.
The Cambodian-American woman who got bad legal advice
Rebelling against her sheltered childhood, Cambodian refugee Lundy Khoy went out partying one night in Ballston in 2000 and was arrested for drug possession.
She agreed to plead guilty because her lawyer said she had no defense and no alternative, and he said doing so would not impact her goal of becoming a U.S. citizen. She got off with probation but the plea led to her arrest in 2003 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Until two years ago, Khoy — who was born in a Thai refugee camp — lived in fear of deportation to Cambodia, a country in which she had never lived. The 42-year-old woman became a citizen last year after her case was resolved, for which she thanks Dehghani-Tafti.
“She literally saved my life and my family’s life,” she said. “For the longest time, we were living in this constant fear of me being separated from my child and husband. It wasn’t something that I ever wanted to have happen.”
Her lawyers asked the court to withdraw the guilty plea because Khoy relied on incorrect information. They argued the court should be consistent, pointing to when the court revoked a guilty plea made after the same lawyer provided the same advice to another immigrant defendant.
“I’d like to think we still could’ve won but having us present a united front to the court made it that much easier for the court to say, ‘We’re going to grant this,'” said Sterling Marchand, Khoy’s new lawyer.
But it was Dehghani-Tafti’s judgment call in a different case that created fuel for Katcher’s campaign.
A slighted mother grieving the death of her son
Braylon Meade was killed by a young man who was driving 95 mph, with weed and some alcohol in his system.
Just shy of his 18th birthday, the defendant was tried as a juvenile. Meade’s mother, Rose Kehoe, denounced this move two months ago and, more recently, in a new ad supporting Katcher. In it, she says Dehghani-Tafti dwelt longer on the future of the young man who killed her son than on justice for the family.
When Charlotte Walsh qualified for the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, she knew it was her last chance to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a finalist.
Little did she know she would come in second place, out of 231 competitors, and win a $25,000 cash prize. She finished behind Florida student Dev Shah, who won with the word “psammophile” and took home $50,000.
“I’m very excited to start high school with this [spelling bee win] being one of the greatest things I’ve done so far in my life,” Walsh told ARLnow on Friday, amid interviews with several TV stations.
Walsh, an eighth-grader from Lyon Park, correctly spelled 13 words — including “akuammine,” “rescissible” and “sorge” — but was unable to capture first place when asked to spell the Scottish word “daviely” (pronounced “dave-yuh-lee“).
Her astonished facial expressions were splashed across newspapers nationally while her rapid-fire approach wowed some spectators.
If you spell akuammine in less than 30 seconds after hearing that word, and the follow-up bathypitotmeter in < 1 second. unbelievable! you both are champions Dev and Charlotte!! #spellingbee #scripps
— RandomRunner (@RandomRunner11) June 2, 2023
The middle-schooler is no stranger to the Scripps Bee. In 2019, she finished in 51st place and in 2022, she climbed to 32nd place. This year’s contest was her final shot at a finalist title, as eighth-graders are the oldest eligible group.
The Fairfax County Council PTA in Merrifield sponsored her after she won the Fairfax County Bee and qualified for the national competition.
Now, spelling bees may be a thing of the past for Walsh, per her Scripps profile. The incoming high school freshman will continue homeschooling, but will be trading a list of 4,000 words to know for books on astrophysics and neuroscience — all while training for a black belt in tae kwon do.
2/2 Announcing our 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalists! #Speller119 Sarah Fernandes, #Speller172 Pranav Anandh, #Speller192Tarini Nandakumar, #Speller213 Surya Kapu, and #Speller223Charlotte Walsh! #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/Jlwba5TonU
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) May 31, 2023
#Speller223 Charlotte Walsh would like to make a public appeal to @taylorswift13. She's loved her for years and still can't get over how good her Reputation album is, especially her favorite song, Getaway Car. #swifties #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/LbEE8PDIXz
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 2, 2023
Two spellers officially remain in the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee. If you haven't tuned out yet, it's clutch time! #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/yYboYUuo0M
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 2, 2023
UnBEElievable! #Speller36 Dev Shah representing the SNSB Region One Bee in Largo, Florida is the Champion of the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee. His winning word? Psammophile. 🐝 #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/ebM8jUU6xZ
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 2, 2023
Moran Switches Prosecutor Endorsement — “Former Congressman Jim Moran withdrew an earlier endorsement of [Josh] Katcher to back [incumbent Parisa] Dehghani-Tafti. ‘Originally, a friend was raising money for Katcher,’ he told the News-Press, ‘but when I told my wife, Deborah Warren,’ who is a deputy director of the county Human Services Department, ‘she told me Parisa is very competent and doing a good job. So I listened to Parisa speak and would [be] up [to] agreeing to switch my allegiance.'” [Falls Church News-Press]
NYC Bagel Maker Coming to N. Va. — “By the end of the year, DC locals will be able to decide for themselves: New York institution H&H Bagels plans to open 10 stores in the District and Virginia as part of a national expansion. The bagels will be kettle-boiled, parbaked, and flash frozen at a new facility in Queens before being shipped in frozen trucks to the franchises, where they’ll be finished in special ovens.” [Washingtonian]
Another Arrest in Arlington Teen’s Murder — “Yesterday, detectives charged Vladimir Garcia Montes, 18, of Falls Church with robbery resulting in death in Monday’s double homicide. Detectives continue to investigate and anticipate more updates to follow.” [Fairfax County Police Department]
Hurricane Season Preparation Tips — “Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1, 2023, and now is the best time to prepare for hurricanes, tropical storms, and flooding.” [Arlington County]
Outdoor Movie Series Starting — “Westpost in Pentagon City is hosting a series of free outdoor movies on Wednesdays in June, starting with ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ on Wednesday, June 7.” [Patch]
VRE Station to Get Toll Funding — “The final pieces of a complex funding plan supporting relocation of the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station in Crystal City are falling into place. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission on June 1 approved a staff recommendation to use incoming tolling revenue from Interstates 95/395 to cover nearly $19 million of the VRE project’s cost in several rounds of funding.” [Gazette Leader]
Plan Calls for Maintaining Tree Canopy — “It appears Arlington leaders are not planning to swing for the fences when it comes to the community’s tree coverage. The county government’s draft Forestry and Natural Resources Plan, which currently is making its way through the review process, calls for maintaining tree-canopy levels at around 40 percent, as they currently are, without proposing actions to significantly boost the numbers, as tree activists seek.” [Gazette Leader]
Sonic Boom at Fighters Scramble — “Fighter jets from Joint Base Andrews were scrambled to intercept a private plane over Virginia on Sunday afternoon, causing a sonic boom that reverberated across the area, North American Aerospace Defense Command officials said. The jets were responding to a Cessna that crashed later in Southwest Virginia.” [Washington Post, Daily Mail]
It’s Monday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. North wind 6 to 9 mph. At night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59. West wind 5 to 7 mph. [Weather.gov]
A man was shot early this morning in Clarendon and police are still looking for the suspect.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m. at a parking lot along N. Highland Street, about 1-2 blocks from the Clarendon Metro station entrance.
It started as a dispute between two people, then ended with at least one shot being fired and the victim suffering a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to police.
More from an Arlington County police press release:
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is investigating a shooting that took place in the early morning hours of June 4, 2023.
At approximately 2:03 a.m., police were dispatched to the report of shots heard. Upon arrival, officers located the adult male victim in a parking lot in the 3000 block of Wilson Boulevard suffering from gunshot wounds and immediately began rendering aid. He was transported by medics to an area hospital for treatment of injuries considered non-life threatening.
The preliminary investigation indicates the victim and suspect were involved in a verbal dispute when the suspect followed the victim to the parking lot and discharged a firearm, striking the victim. The suspect is described as a Black male, approximately 5’5”-5’8” tall, 150-180 pounds and wearing a black leather jacket and black jeans. He fled the scene on a motorcycle following the shooting.
This remains an active criminal investigation and anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] or anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). For additional community resources and contact information, visit our website.
Scanner traffic suggests that the suspect’s motorcycle may have been spotted heading south on I-95 at a high rate of speed.
Eyewitnesses said the shooter fled on a motorcycle… https://t.co/HIu844aAdG pic.twitter.com/mvH48aeY2s
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) June 4, 2023
A water rescue operation is underway along Four Mile Run after reports of a drunk man falling down an embankment.
The incident happened shortly before 4 p.m. behind the Virginia DMV office at 4150 Four Mile Run Drive. Initial reports suggest that the man fell 20 feet onto rocks below, suffering possible broken bones in the process.
The man is said to conscious. Because he’s in a creek bed, the fire department is treating this as a water rescue and a large contingent of fire apparatus — including water rescue and technical rescue trucks and equipment — is responding to the scene.
Update at 4:55 p.m. — The man has been hoisted from the creekbed by firefighters, and is in the process of being loaded onto an ambulance and brought to a local hospital.
FINAL: Patient has been transported to an area hospital with non life threatening injuries. Crews are in the process of clearing the scene.
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) June 2, 2023
With the Yellow Line bridge and tunnel work complete, Metro is upping service on the line.
Starting Sunday, Yellow Line trains will arrive every eight minutes all day, the transit agency says. That applies to a number of Arlington stations, including National Airport, Crystal City, Pentagon City, and the Pentagon.
More, below, from a Metro press release.
Metro ridership is growing, and service improvements are coming to make Metro an even more convenient option for getting around the region. Beginning Sunday, June 4, trains serving the Yellow Line will arrive every 8 minutes all day, open to close, an improvement on the current late-night and weekend frequency of 12 minutes.
With the service improvements beginning Sunday, Yellow Line customers will enjoy less crowded trains and shorter waits – an average of four minutes where Yellow and Green line trains serve the downtown core between L’Enfant Plaza and Mt. Vernon Sq.
Ridership has rebounded on the Yellow Line, up 20 percent following an 8-month closure for construction to rehabilitate the Yellow Line tunnel and bridge. Since reopening, customers have taken more than a million trips on the Yellow Line, which operates between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Sq. stations, and 600,000 trips have been taken over the Yellow Line bridge. Ridership is increasing every week, and ridership at the newly opened Potomac Yard station has been strong with more than 25,000 trips taken to or from the station since it opened May 19.
Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, over 50,000 trips were taken to and from National and Dulles airports as customers took advantage of Metro’s convenient and affordable connection to air travel.
The service improvements coupled with ridership gains are driving a major turnaround for Metro. Starting next week, we’ll have 70 percent more trains in service during peak periods compared to last year, and a 54 percent increase in train trips. More than 17.5 million trips were taken on Metrorail and Metrobus in May, including a 20 percent increase on bus and 43 percent increase on rail over May 2022.
Metro is making frequent service improvements as it works to return more 7000-series trains to the tracks and recovers from a pandemic-driven shortage of train operators. The Yellow Line service improvements come one month after Metro boosted service on the Red Line during peak periods on May 8. Since then, ridership has increased while Red Line customers are enjoying a more comfortable ride in trains that are about 20 percent less crowded.
Metro customers will see additional service improvements later this month on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.
Another Metro change is happening soon. Starting Monday, the north entrance to the Arlington Cemetery station is set to close for about three months due to canopy installation work.
Apartments proposed along Arlington Blvd, near Courthouse, have cleared the next hurdle on their way to final approvals.
Fortis Companies is proposing to remove a lone, single-family detached home, a “significant tree” identified in neighborhood planning documents, and two surface parking lots. In their place, it proposes a nearly 125-foot tall building with 166 new units and 120 residential parking spaces.
This proposal takes over previously approved plans to build a 104-unit, 12-story building on the site.
With this plan, Fortis intends to achieve LEED Gold certification for the building’s sustainability features, to set aside some on-site units for affordable housing and contribute cash to the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund in exchange for additional density.
In addition, Fortis proposes to make streetscape and sidewalk improvements to three of the streets bounding the site: N. Fairfax Drive, N. Troy Street and 13th Street N. Part of the changes to Fairfax Drive include turning it into a cul-de-sac and expanding the planting buffer between the Arlington Blvd Trail and Fairfax Drive.
The project at 2025 Fairfax Drive has undergone preliminary review by citizen commissions.
Through this process, Fortis made some tweaks to the overall design of the site and agreed to increase how much vegetation it will plant on a proposed courtyard so that it feels more like an “urban forest,” land-use attorney Andrew Painter said in a mid-May meeting.
“This is a really nice, elegant and lushly planted solution,” architect Jeff Kreps said at the time.
Final approval meetings by the Planning Commission and Arlington County Board have not been set yet.
If approved, Fortis expects construction to start in mid-2024 and last 24-30 months, with a completion date in late 2026, per a presentation it made in the May meeting.
The developer says it will conduct quarterly outreach meetings with the surrounding community. The 1.8-acre site is bordered by the Woodbury Heights Condominiums to the north, Taft Towers condominiums to the east, Arlington Blvd to the south and the Arlington Court Suites hotel to the west.
The historic Wakefield Manor and Courthouse Manor garden apartment complexes, built in the early 1940s, are also part of the site proposed for redevelopment. An easement was granted over these significant apartments to protect them for perpetuity.
In exchange for protecting these apartments, developer Greystar was able to increase the density of its apartment being built on the former Wendy’s in Courthouse.
Pentagon City’s metamorphosis is continuing.
The second apartment tower in the multi-phase Pentagon Centre shopping center redevelopment is now complete.
The Milton, at 1446 S. Grant Street, is an 11-story, 253-unit building developed by Kimco Realty. So far, it is already 25% leased and move-ins are expected to start this month, a spokeswoman told ARLnow.
Various businesses are expected to move into the roughly 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. In a statement, Kimco Realty says this retail, “carefully curated to complement the neighborhood,” will be announced later this year.
Tenants will have use of a community garden and potting station, two outdoor courtyards with a co-working area, a pet spa with wash stations, a gym and clubroom, per the statement. The building is designed to meet LEED Silver standards for sustainability and was named for Kimco Realty co-founder Milton Cooper.
The first residential tower in the long-term redevelopment of the retail center opened four years ago. The 26-story, 440-unit building, dubbed The Witmer, is located on the other wide of the property, above the second Pentagon City Metro entrance at 710 12th Street S.
Future plans for the area — which Kimco recently updated — propose two office buildings, three more residential towers, additional retail and a hotel, as well as a 30% increase in green space, criss-crossed by planted paths dubbed “green ribbons” in the recently-updated Pentagon City Sector Plan.
In a statement, Kimco Realty Southern Region President Tom Simmons said this new building “offers something new for Pentagon City.”
“The Milton provides residents with direct access to several key sites in Arlington, which has become a huge hub for recent development,” he said, highlighting the essentially complete Amazon HQ2 office complex nearby and the Virginia Tech Innovation campus in Potomac Yard.
The full press release is below.
MedStar is looking to open its first urgent care facility in Arlington at the base of a building in Ballston owned by Marymount University.
The Maryland-based healthcare nonprofit proposes locating the facility in a retail bay near the corner of N. Fairfax Drive and N. Wakefield Street, per an application filed with Arlington County.
In addition to being its first Arlington location, this facility at 1000 N. Glebe Road would be the second MedStar urgent care facility in Virginia, according to Matthew Roberts, a land-use attorney for the hospital.
Along N. Fairfax Drive, MedStar proposes to build a separate lobby entrance for patients and guests, a manager’s office and at least six exam rooms.
“MedStar intends to develop this space with its signature MedStar Health Urgent Care facility,” Roberts wrote. “MedStar will provide illness and injury treatment, as well as preventative care services, at the facility. In addition to use by the adjacent neighborhoods, MedStar anticipates that its facility will (complement) Marymount University’s operations and will be used by its students.”
The facility will be open to the public, including walk-in patients, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week, he said.
It is asking Arlington County for permission to increase the opacity of the windows into the exam rooms so it can protect patient privacy.
“Patient privacy is of great concern to MedStar,” Roberts said. “In addition to exam tables and related furniture, MedStar will install blinds or other window treatments to ensure patient privacy is maintained during examinations.”
The manager’s office and lobby will meet the transparency requirements for retail in Ballston, per the application. Roberts emphasizes that the transparency is not expected to dull activity along the street front.
“MedStar anticipates its urgent care facility will generate foot traffic to the space from students and walk-in patients, and it will maintain a separate lobby entrance to its facility,” he said. “This will serve to generate needed ground floor activation at the Property and in this area of Ballston more generally.”
Cemetery Flyover This Morning — From Arlington National Cemetery: “[Friday] morning, around 11:00 a.m., there will be a flyover in support of a funeral.” [Twitter]
Gun Control Rally on Saturday — “Wear Orange is a time for everyone in our community to come together to show our collective power in addressing gun violence. Arlington Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America invite you to join us for a walk and rally on Saturday June 3, 2023 1:00pm – 4:00pm at Courthouse Plaza. 1-2pm- Gun Violence Awareness Walk to Clarendon Metro & back. 2-4pm- Rally to Honor the Victims and Survivors of Gun Violence.” [Event Calendar]
I-395 Exit Ramp Closure — “Starting Friday night, June 2, the southbound I-395/Route 1 Exit 8C bridge will be closed every Friday night through this fall for work related to the I-395/Route 1 Southbound Exit 8C Bridge Repairs Project… The southbound I-395/Route 1 Exit 8C ramp will be closed from midnight to 7 a.m.” [VDOT]
Maywood Burglary Suspect Arrested — “3300 block of 23rd Road N. At approximately 4:08 a.m. on June 1, police were dispatched to the late report of a breaking and entering. Upon arrival, it was determined at approximately 3:45 a.m., the known male suspect allegedly gained entry to the residence and approached the female victim. She pushed him away and notified another resident of the home who confronted the suspect and he left the residence.” [ACPD]
Sentencing for Fmr. WMATA Official — “An Arlington man was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in the manipulation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s procurement process in favor of a company that was paid more than $1.3 million for items and services.” [Patch]
Free Donuts Today — “America runs on Dunkin’® and this National Donut Day, America runs on free donuts. On Friday, June 2, Dunkin’ die-hards and donut fans can enjoy a free classic donut of their choice, with any beverage purchase.” [Press Release]
How Much Delivery Drivers Really Make — “DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats may be convenient, but whether they’re a winning proposition for anybody can swing on a few dollars. The apps aren’t always transparent about who receives what share of the bill paid by customers. So The Washington Post conducted an experiment, placing identical orders on each app and then gathering receipts from all parties to see how each fared.” [Washington Post]
Air Quality Alert Amid Wildfire Smoke — “We have Code Orange #AirQuality throughout the #Baltimore & #DC region & it’s also forecasted for tomorrow, 6/2. Kids, older adults, & others w/health concerns should limit time outside.” [Twitter, Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Friday — Sunny and hot, with a high near 92. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the morning. At night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. [Weather.gov]
