No arrests have been made as Alexandria police continue to investigate the shooting of two men in the Carlyle neighborhood last month.
The incident occurred in the parking lot of a gated apartment complex in the 2600 block of Foundry Way at around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16. A witness told police that they heard seven gunshots, looked out a window and saw a newer model white Mercedes Benz four-door sedan with tinted windows speed out the front gate, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
Upon arrival, police found the victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the upper right thigh, according to the search warrant affidavit. They also found six shell casings in the parking lot.
The victim told police that he got into an argument while asking with a man with a face tattoo for directions, according to the search warrant affidavit.
“(The victim) and the subject exchanged words in an aggressive tone, at which point the subject pulled out a gun,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “When (the victim) observed the gun, he started to run. He then heard a gunshot and felt (a) bullet strike his upper leg from behind.”
A possible suspect vehicle with three people was pulled over by police less than a half-mile away in the 2900 block of Eisenhower Avenue. Soon after pulling over the vehicle, a man walked over from the parking lot and told police that he’d been shot in the arm, but offered no details on how it happened. The officer helped the man make a tourniquet.
“While (an investigating officer) was speaking to the driver outside of the vehicle, a male emerged from further east in the parking lot,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “The male was quickly walking towards the traffic stop, approached the officers and stated that he was shot.”
Police investigated the area from which the second victim walked and found a white Mercedes Benz parked nearby. Inside they saw blood stains on the front seats and saw a tan and green handgun “under the rear of the front passenger seat in plain view,” and the vehicle was seized, according to the search warrant affidavit.
The incident remains under investigation, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
APD officers are investigating an aggravated assault shooting in the 2600 block of Foundry Way. Two adult males sustained gunshot wounds, both were transported. No suspects at this time. Anyone with information should call 703-746-4444. pic.twitter.com/8e54JK8wrw
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) February 17, 2024
A 50-year-old sex offender is being held without bond after allegedly abducting a woman in Old Town and sodomizing her, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The victim told police from Inova Alexandria Hospital on Feb. 1 that she met the suspect on the evening of Jan. 29 while riding on the King Street Trolley. The victim told police that he told her about his prior military service and that they talked for several minutes before they decided to get coffee at Bob & Edith’s Diner (1743 King Street).
After midnight, the victim and the suspect walked out together, after which she told police that he grabbed her by the hair and told her to kiss him.
The victim said that the suspect tried to pull her pants down and forced her to perform oral sex on him, according to the search warrant affidavit. The victim told police that the suspect stopped her when he began suffering chest pains.
Police identified the suspect after looking at surveillance footage from the restaurant. They also found three days earlier, on Jan. 26, that he was taken to a local hospital “due to chest pain from consuming narcotics,” according to the search warrant affidavit.
Michael Kristopher Sheckles, of Newburg, Maryland, was arrested on Feb. 21. He is being held without bond and goes to court April 3 for abduction with intent to defile and sodomy.
Sheckles is a registered sex offender with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, he was convicted of sodomy and indecent assault in 2000 and misdemeanor sexual battery in 2007, according to FDLE.
A 30-year-old man is being held without bond for allegedly stealing juice drinks and assaulting an employee from a West End 7-Eleven.
On Feb. 7, the employee at the store at 6120 Lincolnia Road called 911 to report the incident, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. The victim told police that the suspect walked into the store, took three-to-four juice bottles and then walked out without paying and sat across the street at a bus stop.
“The victim followed the unknown suspect outside the store to the bus stop across from the 7-Eleven,” police said in the search warrant affidavit. “The victim demanded the suspect return the merchandise. The suspect put the bottles down on a nearby parked vehicle. As the victim leaned forward to grab the bottles the suspect punched him several times in the face. The suspect then took the bottles and fled the scene.”
The victim sustained a broken nose, a hematoma on his forehead and lacerations near his left eye and nose, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Churchill Oluwole Hamid was arrested on Feb. 15 for the incident and is being held without bond. He was charged with malicious wounding and petit larceny and goes to court on April 3.
Alexandria is getting $3.5 million in federal funds to pay for public safety, transit, affordable housing and flooding infrastructure projects, Northern Virginia Congressman Don Beyer (D-8th) announced today.
“Even in the minority amid a divided and chaotic Congress, I am laser focused on helping my constituents and benefitting Northern Virginia,” Beyer said in a statement.
Beyer secured a total of $13 million federal funding in the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which the House of Representatives approved on Wednesday, to pay for 15 projects in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County. The Senate is expected to approve the legislation next week, Beyer’s office said.
The Alexandria projects are:
$1 million for on-route electric transit bus opportunity chargers. The funding would be used to fund the construction and implementation of up to two on-route opportunity fast chargers within the City of Alexandria, which would support charging requirements of a full 100% Zero Emissions Battery Electric transit bus fleet. The chargers would be constructed in strategic locations throughout the City and the DASH bus network to help ensure that the future fleet of 100+ Zero Emissions transit buses can meet the demand of DASH’s 24/7 service, serving the community of Alexandria
$963,000 for the Virginia Tech “Smart Mobility Lab.” The funding would be used to establish Smart Mobility Lab (SML) operations and invest in initial research and technology development where gaps exist to attract and leverage industry engagement. The SML will be sustained in future years through publicly and privately sponsored research from industry and government partners. Some smart mobility technologies that may be deployed in the SML include: a data exchange system for integrating data from various systems deployed in the SML while providing security and appropriate access for research and development opportunities; smart intersection solutions that identify conflicts and improve vulnerable road users’ safety; adaptive lighting on roadways that adjust with changing weather conditions and traffic; implementation of customizable features (like real-time red light patterns changes) to accommodate traffic flow; and the analysis and creation of mobility hubs to connect multiple modes of transportation and make commuting easier.
$670,000 for a pilot program for crime and violence prevention. This supports funding enhanced technology, including In-Car Cameras, Fixed License Plate Readers (LPRs), and Surveillance Trailers, in the City of Alexandria. This funding will assist Alexandria’s law enforcement agency in its ongoing efforts to reduce incidents of violent crime and gun violence in the Alexandria community. The Alexandria Police Department will use these funds to invest in cutting-edge technology and equipment that will significantly enhance its ability to deter, respond, investigate, and successfully prosecute violent crimes.
$850,000 for the restoration of affordable housing at the 1022 Pendleton Street Boarding House. The project will allow the City of Alexandria to work with property owners to preserve unique, affordable housing in our community while renovating a building with historic, cultural and architectural significance. The boarding house currently includes 8 housing units with deeply affordable rents, as well as shared living space and room for the restoration of retail/commercial space original to the property.
(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) A man was arrested this morning after a fight at the Covanta Waste-to-Energy Facility that resulted in a handgun allegedly brandished and man getting pepper-sprayed.
The incident occurred at around 8:15 a.m., according to Alexandria Police Department dispatches. An employee of the facility at 53001 Eisenhower Avenue reported to APD that trash truck drivers were arguing with each other, and that one sprayed the victim with pepper spray and that another suspect brandished a handgun.
Three suspects were located nearby in a trash truck, held at gunpoint and then apprehended, according to dispatch.
APD said that one man, Chaka Cook, was arrested and charged with felony assault with a caustic substance. No weapons charge was made.
The victim refused medical attention, according to dispatch reports.
A 15-year-old Northeast D.C. boy was arrested Friday and charged with felony murder while armed in last year’s shooting death of Nasrat Ahmad Yar, a former interpreter with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, who fled the Taliban in 2021 with his wife and four children and moved to Alexandria.
Yar was working as a Lyft Driver in D.C. on July 3, 2023, when he was shot and killed just at around midnight in the 400 block of 11th Street NE. Video footage near the scene showed four young people running through an alley after the shooting. One of them said, “You killed him,” and another responded, “He was reaching bro.”
D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith announced the arrest on Friday, and said that video of four teens running from the scene was instrumental in making an arrest.
“Thank you for providing information to bring us to this point in respect to the closure in this case,” Smith said.
Assistant Police Chief Leslie Parsons said that police are still looking for several other suspects allegedly involved in the incident.
“There are still several outstanding suspects who were involved in this tragedy, and we encourage anyone with information on those suspects to come forward,” Parsons said. “The reckless actions of these teens cost a man’s life and shattered a family just starting out on their journey in this country.”
A GoFundMe supporting the Yar’s family has so far raised $525,630. Hundreds attended his funeral in Fredericksburg, including Army officers Yar served with, the Washington Post reported.
Washington D.C. resident Dykwon Perry Davis has been indicted by a multi-jurisdictional jury on two felony charges: abduction with intent to defile and attempted rape.
Davis is charged with the attempted abduction in the Potomac Yard neighborhood earlier this month. On Feb. 3, Davis allegedly attacked a woman who had just parked her car on the 2200 block of Main Line Blvd and attempted to pull her into an alley. Davis allegedly tried to remove the woman’s pants but she was able to fight him off.
The Alexandria Police Department (APD) — the lead investigative agency — said a suspect was arrested a few days later.
According to a release from the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney:
These charges will be tried before the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria. The Abduction charge carries a potential maximum penalty of life in prison. The Attempted Rape charge carries a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Davis is currently in the custody of the Washington, D.C., Department of Corrections, pending extradition to Virginia to face these charges. A trial date will be set after Davis is arraigned.
The D.C. Department of Corrections told ALXnow it does not release booking photographs to the press.
Image via Google Maps
A 29-year-old Washington, D.C. man was arrested last month for allegedly stealing a $1,300 necklace from the First Cash Pawn shop in Alexandria’s West End and then trying to resell it the following day at the pawn shop’s Arlington location.
The 14-karat gold necklace was reported stolen from the shop at 516-C S. Van Dorn Street on August 19, 2023, and the suspect allegedly pawned it the following day at the First Cash Pawn at 89 N. Glebe Road in Arlington, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The suspect and his girlfriend were videotaped at the Alexandria location waiting to be served. The male suspect is seen showing a clerk the functionality of a television that he wanted to sell, while the female suspect then allegedly took an envelope that contained the necklace from the counter, according to the search warrant affidavit.
The female suspect was not arrested. The male suspect was arrested on Jan. 19 and released the following day on a $2,000 secured bond. He was charged with three felonies — receiving more than $1,000 in stolen goods, selling more than $1,000 in stolen property and conspiracy to commit larceny. Each count is a Class 5 felony punishable by one-to-10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.
The suspect goes to court on March 1.
Twenty three Alexandria middle schoolers and eight Alexandria City High School students were arrested in the first two quarters of this school year, according to a report that the School Board will receive Thursday.
There were also 213 incidents requiring a police response, including five weapons-related incidents, 43 students needing EMS assistance, 56 fights/assaults and three reports of sexual assault.
Weapons seized include three stun guns/tasers, a pellet gun and a knife.
There were 17 students arrested in the first two quarters of the 2022-2023 school year (last year), and 41 arrested in the final two quarters, totaling 58 arrests and resulting in a 26% increase in students arrested over the previous school year.
Of those arrested so far this year, 20 of them were Black students, making up 55%.
There were 95 incidents reported at the Alexandria City High School campuses, 70 incidents at the city’s two middle schools (Francis C Hammond and George Washington Middle Schools), 35 incidents at elementary schools and 13 incidents at K-8 schools.
There were also 118 police calls for service — 56 at the high school campuses, 46 at the middle schools, four at K-8 schools and 12 at elementary schools.
Incidents in the first semester of this school year include:
- 57 incidents characterized as “other” (including two students discussing weapons, four cases of disorderly conduct, two reports of public intoxication, one fraudulent 911 call)
- 56 fights/assaults
- 43 injuries that required medical assistance
- Five confiscated weapons
- Nine controlled substances
- Nine threats (verbal/cyber/social media)
- Six missing student reports
- Four reports of suspicious activity
- Three alarms pulled
- Three reports of sexual misconduct
- Six thefts
- Seven reports of possessing prohibited materials
Alexandria’s City Council unanimously approved releasing $657,629 to allow the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center to continue operating, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy about it.
Council was told that the detention center (200 S. Whiting Street) has seen a dramatic increase in usage over the last year, and that the center is pursuing a pilot program with National Capital Treatment & Recovery to introduce a substance abuse recovery program to the unit. They were also told that an unused portion of the facility was being studied for future use.
“I would say at least 50% of our children have experimented with fentanyl,” Johnitha McNair, the detention center’s executive director, told council. “It is highly addictive, so many of them come in with needs to have addiction and withdrawal and treatment services provided immediately.”
The fate of the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center has been uncertain for years. Last year, City Council placed the funds into a reserve account until city staff could provide recommendations that:
- Optimize capacity within Northern Virginia for Juvenile Secure Detention services
- Leverage available physical plant capacity for alternative uses
- Pursue new regional partnerships for use of facilities and staffing
Mike Mackey, director of the city’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Service unit, said that the center has reached its capacity of 46 youth over the past year. He also said that detention-eligible cases involving Alexandria youth increased 66% last year, and 100% involving Arlington youth.
“By comparison… in 2020 the average daily population was 12,” Mackey told Council. “In 2022 it was nine, and in this fiscal year the average daily population is 26. The center has seen the population go up to its capacity of 46. Today there are 38 youth 17 of whom are from Alexandria, 10 from Arlington.”
But Mayor Justin Wilson, before Tuesday’s vote to release the funds, chided Earl Conklin, chair of the detention center’s commission and Arlington’s director of court services, for not bringing concrete proposals on new programs and services at the facility to Council.
“Where’s the proposal?” Wilson asked. “If it requires capital investment, bring us something. I, for one, have been yelling asking for that for eight years, and all I hear is, ‘We have ideas. We’re talking about these ideas.’ Where’s a proposal? I mean seriously, if it requires some investment, if it requires something to drive that forward — help me help you — what are we not doing to make that happen?”
Conklin replied, “I think the primary message the board has gotten was of closing the (detention) center.”
“That’s not true,” Wilson interrupted. “Let me be crystal clear. As the one who has been the instigator on this, I have never said that this is about closing the facility. It has always been about how do we optimize the capacity that we have in the region, and whether that means consolidation in Alexandria, consolidation in other jurisdictions, repurposing part of the facility, whatever, it’s not been about closing the facility.”
The detention center is regulated by the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice and overseen by the Juvenile Detention Commission, which is made up of two members from Arlington, one from Falls Church, and two from Alexandria. It first opened in 1958 and houses youth with serious offenses and behavioral issues from Alexandria, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church. The center saw a 72% reduction in the number of juveniles in the facility between 2006 and 2019, prompting a reduction of beds at the facility from 70 to 46 in 2016, according to a cost-benefit analysis by the Moss Group.
The facility is also home to an unlocked shelter for up to 14 at-risk children.
Deputy City Manager Yon Lambert told council that any proposed programming changes will be presented this fall. In the meantime, Lambert said that an assessment of the detention center will be submitted to the General Assembly in October.
“If we have any budget requests, then we can process it in the fall so that the staff and the (city) manager and council can determine if its viable,” Lambert said.
Vice Mayor Amy Jackson said that the facility needs to remain open.
“We need it now more than we ever did,” Jackson said. “The numbers were decreasing. and then here we are. They’re increasing again more than they have in years.”