It was another busy week in Alexandria.
Our readers overwhelmingly responded to Sunday’s protest at the Alexandria home of acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and the story has more than 380 comments. This week also saw its first homicide, which occurred in the West End, in addition to a number of crime events in the Braddock area.
Alexandria Police are investigating a series of smash-and-grab burglaries at seven businesses in the West End and along Eisenhower Avenue.
Assistant Police Chief Don Hayes did not say what was stolen would not comment as to whether the city is experiencing a crime spree.
Alexandria Police are investigating a violent carjacking that occurred on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 14, in the 300 block of Euille Street in Old Town.
The victim, who was interviewed by police at the hospital with a non-life-threatening head wound, told police that he was approached by three men as he parked his car near his home, according to a search warrant affidavit. The men asked the victim for a ride, and he told them that he was not an Uber driver. One of the men then started hitting the back of the victim’s 2016 blue Honda CR-V and the victim stayed in the car. The suspects then walked away in the direction of Royal Street.
Beyer Says Acting Homeland Security Chief Should Resign — “Ordering the occupation of US cities, seeking the escalation of violence, and intentionally risking American lives over peaceful protests and graffiti is unfathomable and unacceptable. Acting Secretary Wolf must resign immediately or be fired.” [Twitter]
Del Ray Used Book Store to Open in August — “Piles and boxes of thousands of donated books crowd Donald Alexander’s house as he prepares to turn his vision for a used bookstore in Del Ray into reality.” [Alexandria Living]
Alexandria’s development of a community police review board is too insular and groups representing the city’s minority populations are not being consulted, says Alexandria NAACP President Christopher Harris and community advocates.
“It appears to be an insular process,” Harris told ALXnow. “I would think that at the least out of courtesy you would reach out to the NAACP to get feedback and input, given that most of the people affected are members of the African American community.”
A pair of incidents — racist threats at a local martial arts champion and a man spitting at a local coffee house owner — were the prevailing stories Alexandria.
Alexandria Police told ALXnow that a suspect in the incident was found and taken into custody, but ultimately was not identified and “received services.”
Alexandria Police are investigating a robbery from a person in the city’s West End early on Thursday night.
At around 6:30 p.m., a person was struck by a chair inside a business in the 200 block of S. Van Dorn Street and robbed of personal items. The victim received minor injuries.
An Alexandria nonprofit is working to get every state to improve its background checks on gun purchasers, and Democratic lawmakers are taking notice.
Safer Country was founded in 2019 by Alexandria attorney Paul Alan Friedman with the mission of taking firearms away from dangerous people. Friedman said that progress was made in the general assembly’s last session, but there is a ways to go.
Alexandria Police are investigating an assault that put an Alexandria minor with non-life-threatening injuries on June 3 in the Del Ray/Rosemont area.
The incident, which was first reported by the Alexandria Times, occurred at around 10 p.m. in the area of Russell Road and Rosecrest Avenue. The victim was jumped by two suspects while walking home from a friend’s house, according to Alexandria Police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine.
An Alexandria man was shot late Monday night in the 700 block of North Fayette Street. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and drove himself to the hospital, according to Alexandria Police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine.
“There were a couple of cars that got damaged and hit with bullets holes damaged,” Ballantine told ALXnow. “The male subject took himself to Alexandria Hospital with a gunshot wound that was non-life-threatening.”
(Updated at 4:30 p.m. on June 9) Alexandria Police say that more than half of the crime increases in ALXnow’s recent report are attributable to larcenies from vehicles during the pandemic and 36 incidents at the Target store at 3101 Richmond Highway.
“The 80% increase in larcenies at Target year-to-date (45 in 2019 vs. 81 in 2020) is because the store significantly increased their loss prevention staff in January 2020,” Alexandria Police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine told ALXnow. “This has helped identify more shoplifters, but it does not necessarily represent an increase in shoplifting.
