At a community meeting earlier this week, police grappled with public concerns over last year’s spike in crime and addressed some of the causes behind it.
The elephant in the room was the shots fired call on April 6 that ended with a chase into D.C. and one of the suspects died after jumping off an overpass. On that topic, some seemed hopeful that Brown could shed more light on what happened.
More details have emerged regarding a West End shootout last fall. Four adult males have been arrested in connection with the incident, and ALXnow has discovered that a mother of one of the suspects was shot in the arm and didn’t report it to police.
As previously reported, at around 5 p.m. on September 13, Alexandria Police responded to reports of 10-15 gunshots fired in the 3100 block of S. 28th Street near Ft. Ward Park.
Joseph McCoy was lynched at the corner of Lee Street and Cameron Street in Old Town 124 years ago today. The incident was recognized in a small ceremony Friday morning with a group of residents and Mayor Justin Wilson.
This weekend, City Hall will be lit in purple in memory of the 19-year-old McCoy, who was arrested without a warrant and then murdered on April 23, 1897. A mob of white residents stormed the Police House (now City Hall), where McCoy was being held after being accused of sexually assaulting three women. He was shot, stabbed and hanged from a lamppost.
A number of Alexandria politicians support the guilty verdict against last year’s murder of George Floyd.
Mayor Wilson that Floyd’s memory will be honored in Alexandria when it improves the inequities associated to wealth, education, housing, health and injustice experienced by residents of color.
City Council unanimously approved the creation of an eight-member community policing review board [CPRB] at its public hearing on Saturday.
City Councilman Mo Seifeldein proposed the CPRB ordinance last year, and said that its creation is long overdue.
TikTok captures promotion for first Hispanic Alexandria Fire Department battalion chief — “‘Hi dad, it’s Nicholle,’ the voice said before listing all the other people in the room. ‘It is my honor to announce your promotion to battalion chief.'” [7News]
Emergency alert at 10 a.m. announcing 16+ eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine — “On Monday, April 19, around 10 a.m., #Virginia will be issuing a Wireless Emergency Alert System message alerting everyone 16+ that they are now eligible to register for a #COVID19 vaccine under phase 2. More information: bit.ly/3mXUfTC #VaccinateVA” [Twitter]
It was another busy week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.
This week, ALXnow profiled Mayor Justin Wilson and his opponent, former Mayor Allison Silberberg. The pair are facing off in the June 8 Democratic primary, and have vastly different ideas on city governance.
A 23-year-old Washington, D.C. man faces at least two years in prison for allegedly breaking into two Alexandria pharmacies late last year.
The suspect will go to court April 28 on two counts of entering a structure to commit larceny and stealing more than $1,000 from the Walgreens at 1517 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray on Dec. 8, 2020, and the MedPlus pharmacy at 5130 Duke Street in the West End, on Dec. 18.
A 34-year-old Arlington man was charged with distributing methamphetamine after reporting to police that he was the victim of an armed robbery in his fifth floor room at the Embassy Suites in Old Town.
On March 24, at around 7:15 a.m., Alexandria Police responded to a 911 call and met the suspect in the lobby. He told police that he’d just been robbed of money by a man with a knife in his room. He also said that a backpack belonging to a friend of his was stolen.
Nuisance crimes fell nearly 15% last year in Alexandria, and it’s largely due to the decriminalization of marijuana and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to police.
On Friday, the Alexandria Police Department released its stats on Nuisance crimes, which are “unreasonable and unlawful use of property, which causes inconvenience or damage to others.” They include destruction of property/vandalism incidents, drug offenses and disorderly conduct.
An Alexandria man and woman suspected of stealing clothes from Del Ray vintage shop La Brocante were chased and tracked down by locals before being arrested on Saturday evening.
The 59-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman were arrested and charged with petit larceny-shoplifting after getting their location from witnesses on what was otherwise a beautiful night along Mount Vernon Avenue.
