Alexandria Police Department

25-year APD veteran Courtney Ballantine now leads Georgetown University Police Department

Published July 7, 2026 at 3:45PM

Georgetown University Police Chief Courtney Ballantine (staff photo by James Cullum)

Former longtime Alexandria police officer Courtney Ballantine is adjusting to a new role after being promoted to chief of police of the Georgetown University Police Department.

All the badges Ballantine wore in Alexandria, from captain on down, sit in a shadow box near his desk. Four days after retiring from the Alexandria Police Department on Aug. 1, 2025, Ballantine put on a new uniform as the deputy chief of police at Georgetown University. A few weeks later, then-chief Jay Gruber got a new job at American University and Ballantine was named interim chief.

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More details released on $35K jewelry smash-and-grab in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published July 6, 2026 at 3:45PM

An Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Cullum)

A 23-year-old Alexandria man heads to court this month after allegedly stealing a necklace and bracelet valued at $34,750 from an Old Town jewelry store and breaking into nearby Christ Church to hide.

Around 10 a.m. on June 4, an off-duty Alexandria sheriff’s deputy was working security at the shop in the 600 block of King Street when she heard banging sounds outside and saw a man in a black hooded sweatshirt steal the bracelet and necklace and flee on foot. The off-duty deputy then chased the suspect into an alley in the 100 block of N. Washington Street, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

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Police: Alexandria child with gun in backpack was left by mom at Reagan National Airport

By James Cullum

Published July 6, 2026 at 2:45PM

Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)

More details have been released regarding an 8-year-old child who was found with a loaded handgun in his backpack after school in the Child Protective Services office at 4850 Mark Center Drive earlier this year.

On Monday, March 2, the child was found sitting alone at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after his mother was arrested for larceny, credit card theft and assault in another area of the airport, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

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West End suspect arrested for apartment burglary one block from his home

By James Cullum

Published July 6, 2026 at 11:45AM

Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)

An Alexandria man goes to court this month after being arrested for allegedly burglarizing a West End apartment a block away from where he lived and using stolen credit cards.

The resident of the apartment in the 5700 block of Dunster Court reported the theft of the credit cards after returning home on the morning of Oct. 9, 2025, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. The victim told police the back door to the apartment was kicked in, the suspect rifled through the kitchen and stole a lockbox from his bedroom closet containing multiple credit cards and a Social Security card.

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Former UPS employee held without bond after 150+ packages stolen from Alexandria facility

By James Cullum

Published July 2, 2026 at 2:45PM

Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A 28-year-old D.C. man is being held without bond after allegedly stealing more than 150 packages from a UPS shipping facility in Alexandria.

The suspect worked at a UPS facility in Hyattsville, Md., for three months in 2022 and 2023, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. From April 4 to as recently as June 15, the suspect was captured on security cameras arriving at the UPS facility at 5601 Eisenhower Avenue in rental cars with Virginia tags and entering the building through a bay door.

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Family of man who died in Alexandria police custody demands accountability at hearing

By James Cullum

Published June 30, 2026 at 3:45PM

Sandra Jones, Allan Tucker II's mother, sits through a meeting of the Independent Community Policing Review Board, June 29, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The family of a man who died in Alexandria Police Department custody last summer is asking for accountability, as the city’s Independent Community Policing Review Board has taken up the case.

The family of Allan Tucker II wants the two arresting officers and their supervisor charged with criminal negligence in his Aug. 15, 2025 death. The 32-year-old Tucker was arrested for public intoxication in the hallway of his apartment complex home and later died in police custody while waiting 35 to 45 minutes in the back of an APD cruiser parked in the sally port of the Alexandria jail.

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Alexandria Sheriff’s Office finds no policy violations in death of man awaiting jail booking

By James Cullum

Published June 29, 2026 at 2:45PM

The William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center (via City of Alexandria)

The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office maintains that it violated no policies when a man arrested for public intoxication died while waiting to be booked into the city jail.

On Aug. 15, 2025, Allan Tucker II died in APD custody in the sally port of the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center after waiting upward of 35 minutes during a Sheriff’s office shift change. In a release put out today (June 29), ASO said that the Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team found “no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Alexandria Police Department or Alexandria Sheriff’s Office personnel.”

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Body camera footage of Alexandria police shooting homicide suspect released

By James Cullum

Published June 24, 2026 at 1:45PM | Updated June 24, 2026 at 2:46PM

Alexandria Police Department Chief Tarrick McGuire talks to reporters at APD headquarters about a May 18 fatal police shooting of a homicide suspect, June 24, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Police Department today (Wednesday) released body camera footage from a fatal shooting of a homicide suspect in the city’s West End last month.

Police Chief Tarrick McGuire also publicly disclosed the names of the victim as 27-year-old Emily Ramirez and the suspect, her boyfriend, 38-year-old Hector Amaya. According to APD, Amaya allegedly shot Ramirez multiple times with a handgun before charging at police and being shot and killed by two APD officers. McGuire characterized the incident as a domestic violence situation and described Ramirez as a T.C. Williams High School graduate and beloved Alexandrian.

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Auditor finds Alexandria police disregarded man’s hospital requests before in-custody death

By James Cullum

Published June 23, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated June 30, 2026 at 3:40PM

Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Alexandria’s independent policing auditor has concluded Alexandria Police Department officers violated performance standards and body camera directives when they transported Allan Tucker II, who died in their custody in the sally port of the city jail.

That’s according to a report Independent Police Auditor Ameratu Kamara released Monday (June 22). Kamara found that the officer who arrested Tucker at an apartment complex in the city’s West End on Aug. 15, 2025, disregarded the 32-year-old Tucker’s multiple requests to be taken to the hospital, even as they drove past Inova Alexandria Hospital.

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Fiery crash in Alexandria follows state police pursuit of driver

By Emily Leayman

Published June 22, 2026 at 9:15AM

Virginia State Police cruiser (staff photo)

A Virginia State Police pursuit ended in Alexandria with a fiery crash into a parked car early Sunday (June 21).

Around 12:57 a.m., a state trooper tried to stop a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on westbound Interstate 495 near Telegraph Road. According to state police, a pursuit ensued when the vehicle refused to stop.

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UPDATED: Two people shot in Alexandria’s West End

By Emily Leayman and James Cullum

Published June 20, 2026 at 9:15PM | Updated June 21, 2026 at 10:51AM

The Alexandria Police Department on scene of a West End shooting, June 20, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Police Department responded to a shooting that injured two people in the West End tonight (Saturday).

The shooting was reported around 7:03 p.m. in the area of 5335 Duke Street and the 100 block of N. Paxton Street. The two adult male victims were taken to the hospital. An APD spokesperson told ALXnow one victim was in stable condition and the other in critical condition.