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An Alexandria Police cruiser (Staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Police Department arrested four teens for a robbery and assault at the Bradlee Shopping Center (3646 King Street) last month.

The victim, also a teenager, was bleeding from the face after being punched near the McDonald’s around 8:40 a.m., according to scanner traffic. The victim told police the suspect took his shoes and wallet. The victim was transported to the hospital.

“Two juvenile city residents were charged with assault and two other juvenile city residents were charged with robbery and assault,” police said in a release.

Police confirmed to ALXnow that the suspects were “in their late teens.”

The Bradlee Shopping Center McDonald’s has been a hot spot for crime, with multiple assaults and the murder of Alexandria City High School student Luis Mejia Hernandez in 2022.

Alexandria City Public Schools leadership said earlier this year they would crack down on truancy and students skipping school at the Bradlee Shopping Center, while the Alexandria Police Department said it would be increasing its presence at the shopping center after school hours.

The incident is still under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Michael Whelan via phone at 703 746 6228, email at [email protected], or call the non-emergency number at 703 746 4444.

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Alexandria police cruiser (File photo by Jay Westcott)

The arrest of the driver of a stolen vehicle caused a temporary lockdown at William Ramsay Elementary School (5700 Sanger Avenue) earlier today.

Police said in a release that a stolen vehicle was recovered and the driver was arrested.

According to the release:

Currently there is a moderate police presence outside of William Ramsay Elementary School at 5700 Sanger Avenue. A stolen vehicle was recovered and the driver is in custody. There was no threat to students and faculty, however, the school is on temporary lockdown until the investigation concludes shortly.

William Ramsay Elementary School Principal Michael Routhouska said in an email to families that the school was on “secure the building” status from 12:35-12:42 p.m. today:

At about 12:35 p.m. today, William Ramsay Elementary School (Ramsay) was briefly placed in “secure the building” status in response to nearby police activity (unrelated to school operations). Ramsay resumed normal operations by 12:42 p.m.

The decision to secure Ramsay was taken out of an abundance of caution. “Secure the building” means that the school day continues on a normal schedule inside the school but no one is allowed to enter or leave the school while the building remains secured. An Alexandria City Public Schools video provides more information on what happens when a school is placed in “secure the building” mode.

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Alexandria Police outside the Exxon gas station at Mount Vernon and E. Monroe Avenues, where the suspect in a stabbing death was arrested, Nov. 12, 2022 (staff photo by James Cullum)

A man was stabbed to death Sunday afternoon in Del Ray, and a suspect is in custody, according to the Alexandria Police Department.

APD was notified at around 4:25 p.m. that a person was stabbed in the 2700 block of Dewitt Avenue near E. Raymond Avenue, according to the police scanner. The suspect was described by police as a Black male with a medium complexion in his mid-30s and wearing a gray pullover sweatshirt and dark pants.

At 4:56 p.m., APD had the suspect at gunpoint nearly a mile from where the incident occurred, at the Exxon station at the corner of E. Monroe and Mount Vernon Avenues. Police said via dispatch, while searching for the suspect, that he is known to frequent Old Town, the Mount Vernon corridor and Potomac Yard.

ALXnow is awaiting more details from APD on the suspect’s identity, as well as the victim’s. More information is expected when the department puts out a press release, an APD spokesman told ALXnow.

This is the seventh homicide of the year in Alexandria.

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Police at shooting scene near 5563 Holmes Run Parkway (staff photo by James Cullum)

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested by the Alexandria Police Department on charges related to an armed robbery and shooting in September that left one victim hospitalized.

On Sept. 22, a male victim, age 21, was seriously injured in an armed robbery on the 5500 block of Holmes Run Parkway. The Alexandria Police Department (APD) said the victim was left in serious but stable condition after being shot in the robbery — scanner traffic at the time indicated the man was shot in the shoulder and the back of the neck.

Earlier this week, APD announced:

On October 7, 2023, the Alexandria Police Department arrested a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with this incident. The juvenile was charged with aggravated malicious wounding and two counts of robbery.

This investigation remains active.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact Detective Brandon Smith via phone at 703 746 6159, email at [email protected], call the non-emergency line at 703 746 4444 or upload digital media via the evidence page: here. Tips can be anonymous.

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An Alexandria man was arrested in the 3200 block of Commonwealth Avenue for drug and weapon possession, wearing a mask in public and eluding police on Sept. 26, 2023 (via Google Maps)

The days of being required to wear masks in public are definitely over. An Alexandria man is being held without bond for allegedly selling Schedule I/II drugs, wearing a mask in public and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

The Alexandria Police Department arrested the 25-year-old suspect after responding to a drug complaint outside an apartment building in the 3200 block of Commonwealth Avenue in the city’s Del Ray neighborhood, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The suspect allegedly wore a black ski mask and had black backpack when he was approached by police.

“After a brief foot pursuit, (the suspect) was stopped by the officers and taken into custody,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “During a subsequent search of (the suspect’s) person and belongings, a loaded firearm was discovered in the backpack. Further, a large amount of United States currency and suspected narcotics were also seized from his person.”

The suspect was charged with selling Schedule I/II drugs, selling drugs while possessing a firearm, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, wearing a mask or hood on private property and resisting arrest. He goes to court on Oct. 20.

Map via Google Maps

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A man was arrested at a Del Ray apartment building Tuesday morning after allegedly trying to flee from police.

Arlington police flagged a vehicle with Maryland tags as being associated with a suspect wanted for attempted murder and followed the vehicle into Alexandria, according to scanner traffic.

The vehicle pulled into the parking lot of Grace Episcopal School around 10:30 a.m. and the driver fled on foot, initial reports suggest. After a brief search Virginia State Police located the suspect and engaged in a foot pursuit that ended at The Aspen apartment complex at 3201 Landover Street.

VSP arrested the suspect in the building around 10:45 a.m., according to scanner traffic.

The nearby Charles Barrett Elementary School was placed on “secure the building” status due to nearby police activity, per Alexandria City Public Schools.

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A 34-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with allegedly attempting to abduct a woman in Old Town earlier this month.

At around 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, a 30-year-old woman flagged down an APD officer just outside the Firehook Bakery at 430 S. Washington Street to report she was the victim of an attempted abduction and assault, according to the police scanner.

Xavier Cooper, 34, was arrested on Sept. 29 and charged with abduction with intent to defile. Cooper is being held without bond in the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center, according to APD.

On Sept. 15, the Alexandria Police Department said that it was aware of social media reports regarding the incident. APD did not refute anything that was reported below on NextDoor:

On sept 1, 2023, Friday of Labor Day weekend, a woman was walking across Wilkes Street and South Washington (Street) toward Firehook Bakery and a man following her grabbed her from behind and violently threw her to the ground, then put her in a choke hold and dragged her behind the bakery into the alley. A man in a car at the light turned down Wilkes (Street) and confronted the assailant and (the) woman ran to his car until police arrived. This was reported by police as a robbery and a kidnapping abduction. The gas station across the intersection got it on camera. The assailant has not been arrested.

The investigation is active, and anyone with information can call Detective Michel Matteson at 703-746-6721 or by email at [email protected]. Digital media can be uploaded here. Tipters can remain anonymous.

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An Alexandria man was charged with brandishing a firearm in the 100 block of N. Grayson Street on Sept. 5, 2023 (via Google Maps)

A 46-year-old Alexandria man was charged with two counts of brandishing a firearm earlier this month after allegedly pointing a CO2-powered handheld pistol at a contractor working in his West End home.

On Sept. 5 (Tuesday), the contractor called police after the resident, Greco Gomez, allegedly brandished a firearm against him. The victim told police that he was working in the basement and took the trash outside and was “shocked” when Gomez allegedly threatened to shoot him, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The victim told police that Gomez allegedly pulled a black pistol from his waistband, pointed it at the victim’s abdomen, turned and then walked back to the entrance of the two-story house. At the front door, Gomez, who is a tenant in the home, then allegedly turned around and pointed the pistol at the contractor again, according to the search warrant affidavit.

Police found that Gomez is a convicted felon prohibited from owning firearms and charged him with two counts of brandishing a firearm, according to the search warrant affidavit.

No firearm was found. Instead, police searched his room and confiscated a Byrna SD handheld pistol, three magazines, four empty ammunition tubes and boxes of CO2 cartridges, according to a search inventory.

The Byrna SD is legal in all 50 states, and does not require a background check for purchase. It costs $379.99, and has an effective range of 60 feet, according to Byrna. The company says their pistols are not firearms, since they are powered by compressed CO2 cartridges, like airsoft and paintball guns.

Byrna also sells three different types of hard plastic “Less-Lethal Self-Defense Ammo,” featuring “some of the strongest chemical compositions on the market,” the company said on its website. Additionally, the kinetic projectiles the company sells can reportedly break the side glass window of a vehicle from 30 feet away.

According to Byrna, the physical effects of being shot by one of their projectiles include: “Burning in the throat, inability to breathe, shortness of breath, nausea and excruciating physical pain.”

Gomez goes to court on October 10.

Via Google Maps

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A police chase began at the intersection of Duke and S. Reynolds Streets and ended with a crash at the intersection of Duke Street and Cockrell Avenue on Aug. 30, 2023 (via Google Maps)

A 29-year-old Maryland man faces multiple charges after allegedly fleeing police in a stolen car in Alexandria’s West End.

The incident occurred at around 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30. Police found that a white Kia Forte with Virginia tags driving in the area of Duke Street and S. Reynolds Street was stolen, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

Police said that the theft of the Kia was “consistent” with other thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles from a TikTok challenge, where suspects break into vehicles and use a USB cord to start them.

“The Kia Forte vehicle was found to have a busted rear driver side window and damaged and missing steering column cover where the ignition is normally located,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “These damages appear to be consistent with those observed on the current TikTok car theft challenge.”

At a meeting with the City Council yesterday, Police Chief Don Hayes said that as of Aug. 31 there were 118 Hyundais and Kias stolen in the last year, which he attributed to a combination of software flaws and the TikTok challenge.

The suspect in the Kia then allegedly led police on a nearly two-mile chase before crashing into a fire hydrant near the intersection of Duke Street and Cockrell Avenue.

“The vehicle travelled east along Duke Street and attempted to lose the officer but crashed at a fire hydrant at the intersection of Duke Street and Cockrell Avenue,” according to the search warrant affidavit. “The Alexandria police officer commanded the subject to stop but he refused and continued running.”

A female passenger in the vehicle later told police that the suspect is an acquaintance and wasn’t aware that the vehicle was stolen, according to the search warrant affidavit. The woman was not charged.

The suspect was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, fleeing from law enforcement, falsely identifying himself to law enforcement, driving without a valid license, hit-and-run (property damage) and reckless driving.

The suspect was released on Sept. 7 on a $6,000 unsecured bond and goes to court on October 11.

Via Google Maps

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A man was charged with peeping into a dwelling in the 700 block of N. Howard Street on Aug. 27, 2023 (via Google Maps)

A 28-year-old Alexandria man was charged with peeping into a dwelling last month in the West End.

Police were alerted after midnight on Sunday, Aug. 27, that a man was allegedly peering through the windows of a lower-level apartment in the 700 block of N. Howard Street. A witness told police that the suspect would hide when anyone approached and then would return to the window, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The suspect allegedly ran from police and then jumped into his Toyota Rav4 a few blocks away, turned off the lights and hid in the trunk area, according to the search warrant affidavit.

The suspect “admitted he had been looking into the window at the incident location and fled from police upon their arrival,” according to the search warrant affidavit.

The suspect then reportedly told police that he “has a prior peeping tom conviction from 2020, also in the City of Alexandria,” according to the search warrant affidavit. Those previous charges against the suspect were dismissed in Nov. 2020, according to court records.

The suspect was charged with peeping into a dwelling, arrested and released that same day on a $5,000 unsecured bond. He goes to court for the alleged offense on Oct. 10.

Via Google Maps

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