It’s the end of a busy week in Alexandria!
Our top story was the Del Ray car crash on Mount Vernon Avenue, and there’s some good news to report. The driver, who crashed her car due to a medical emergency, was sent home without any injuries the following day.
The Alexandria chapter of the International Union of Police Organizations has strongly come out against the establishment a community police review board.
In a letter to ALXnow, the union’s leaders, who represent 250 sworn Alexandria Police Department officers (out of 318 in the force), said that the department is a “beacon of honor, respect, and accountability to the residents and visitors of the city.”
Alexandria Police are investigating reports of a man performing lewd behavior in an alleyway in the 2200 block of Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray.
The suspect was seen allegedly masturbating in an alleyway near a number of businesses at around 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 13 and Tuesday, August 25. In the second incident, a woman reported that the suspect ran from the alley and fled the area in a black flatbed tow truck.
City Councilman Mo Seifeldein says that the community police review board proposal going before City Council tonight (Tuesday, September 8) is “dead in the water.”
The proposal from Council was approved unanimously in June, and does not give the review board the ability to independently investigate police misconduct and issue subpoenas if necessary. The request to include the authority was made by the NAACP, Tenants and Workers, and other local groups, Seifeldein said.
A 27-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with illegally shooting a handgun in the Parker Gray neighborhood of Old Town, Alexandria.
The incident in the 1200 block of Madison Street was one of two shootings that occurred in the area on September 2, and police are not releasing the identity of the suspect on the grounds that it will impede their ongoing investigation. Police responded to calls for service of multiple shots fired at around 5:40 p.m.
Alexandria Police are investigating another violent carjacking yesterday in the West End of city, this time in the 3400 block of Berkeley Street near Northern Virginia Community College.
The incident occurred at around 6 p.m. in a residential area across the street from the Alexandria Gateway shopping complex. The unknown suspect approached the victim with a gun and took their car. No one was injured in the incident.
Alexandria Police are investigating smash-and-grab incidents at three ABC stores that occurred at night on August 25 and 26.
“We have had three instances of ABC stores burglarized,” APD spokesman Lt Courtney Ballantine told ALXnow. “All high end liquor. Fairfax (County) has had similar incidents.”
Alexandria Police are investigating another violent carjacking in the city.
The victim is an adult female and was approached early on Tuesday morning at The Reserve of Potomac Yard apartment complex by an unidentified man with a gun in the 3700 block of Richmond Highway.
With vehicle thefts on the rise, Alexandria Police are investigating a violent carjacking in the West End that injured two men and led to a car chase and crash in Fairfax County.
The incident occurred on July 25 around 5 p.m. Two men parked their cars at their homes in the 300 block of South Whiting Street. The two cars, a black 2014 Toyota Camry and a black 2012 Chevrolet Impala were parked at S. Whiting Street (facing Stevenson Avenue) and their owners were unloading them. The engines were left running with the keys inside and were unlocked, according to police.
Alexandria has put another summer work week to rest.
As the City Council enjoys a legislative break, the School Board conducted a virtual meeting to discuss the renaming process for T.C. Williams High School. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., and the board advocate a public engagement process that could result in the board voting to change the name this December, followed by a vote on a specific name next spring. A group of community activists, however, believe that the name should be taken off immediately, since ACPS acknowledged Williams was an avowed racist and segregationist.
Even though it’s just three blocks away, Heather Lesley doesn’t let her teenage daughter walk to the Braddock Road Metro station to meet her when she gets back from work.
“I don’t feel comfortable letting her do that anymore,” Lesley told ALXnow. “My neighbor has bullet holes in the brick wall of their home.”
