police | ALXnow

City Council to determine fate of ACPS School Resource Officer program tonight

Published May 3, 2021 at 10:45AM

The Alexandria City Council will finalize their additions and deletions to the fiscal year 2022 budget tonight (May 3), and the future of school resource officers at Alexandria City Public Schools remains in question.

Last week, a majority of City Council was in favor of discontinuing the SRO program and diverting nearly $800,000 to “add mental health resources for school aged children, support staff to the Teen Wellness Center, an additional Behavioral Health Specialist to the ACORP (Alexandria Crisis Intervention Co-Responding Program) Pilot, and other similar needs identified by staff.”

News

ALXnow’s top posts this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published April 30, 2021 at 3:30PM

An Alexandria police cruiser (Staff photo by James Cullum)

It was a busy week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.

Governor Ralph Northam and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Alexandria this week. Northam stopped by Pacers Running in Old Town, and afterward met with Cardona, Mayor Justin Wilson, National Education Association of the United States President Becky Pringle and Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane at Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School. Cardona was at the school as part of his “Help is Here” school reopening tour.

News

JUST IN: High winds knock out traffic lights in West End

By James Cullum

Published April 30, 2021 at 1:05PM

Strong winds have resulted in a power outage in the West End affecting traffic lights and more than 2,300 Alexandria residents.

Alexandria Police are currently placing stop signs at intersections in the West End, including along Duke Street, near N. Van Dorn Street and Sanger Avenue.

News

Man robbed at gunpoint in West End

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 1:45PM

Alexandria Police cruiser (staff photo by James Cullum)

A man was robbed at gunpoint in a residential area of the West End on Tuesday night, according to Alexandria Police.

Police tweeted that at around 11:20 p.m., the victim was walking in the 200 block of Century Place when he was approached by a suspect, who displayed a handgun.

News

Police investigate string of commercial burglaries in the West End

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 9:30AM | Updated April 28, 2021 at 5:41PM

Alexandria police (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria Police are investigating a string of commercial burglaries that occurred in the 600 block of S. Pickett Street in the West End on Thursday, April 22.

Police said that there were five commercial burglaries and two attempted commercial burglaries on the early morning of Thursday, April 22, 2021. The incidents occurred at several businesses between 4 and 5 a.m.

News

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 5:00AM

The Potomac Yard Metro station under construction, April 2021. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Ada’s On The River chef envisions opening his own restaurant someday — “Though it just opened in January of this year, Ada’s On The River in Alexandria’s Old Town has already become the subject of laudatory profiles in national publications and dubbed as one of the best restaurants in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. The reason? Ada’s secret weapon: Chef Randall Matthews.” [Essence]

Alexandria residents arrested in D.C. protest Sunday — “Police on Sunday said Steve Chang, 28, of no fixed address; Michael Klaus, 51, of Alexandria; and Adam Cunningham, 25, of Capitol Heights were arrested and accused of assault on a police officer and possession of a destructive device. Police said the devices included Roman candles, bottle rockets and other fireworks. A male 15-year-old from Alexandria also was arrested and accused of assault on a police officer, possession of a destructive device and possession of a prohibited weapon, which authorities said was an ax.” [Washington Post]

News

Police: Falling death of man in Landmark does not appear to be suspicious

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2021 at 1:00PM

Alexandria police (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria Police say that the recent death of an adult male in the Landmark Area on Sunday morning (April 25) does not appear to be suspicious in nature.

Police found an adult male dead after “an apparent fall” in the 300 block of Yoakum Parkway at around 6 a.m., according to an APD tweet. The area where the incident occurred is full of apartment buildings between Edsall Road and Stevenson Avenue.

News

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2021 at 5:00AM

T.C. Williams completes comeback to win school’s first volleyball state championship — “For a moment, T.C. Williams sophomore Milan Rex was scared. The Titans were trailing Kellam two sets to one in the Virginia Class 6 championship Friday in Alexandria, and the chance at a perfect season seemed to be fading. Coach A.J. DeSain reminded the Titans they belonged in this moment, enabling Rex to lock in. She then powered T.C. Williams to a 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 17-15 victory — the program’s first state title. [Washington Post]

Mayor Wilson defends donation from Planning Commission Chair — “Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek gave Wilson a donation the day after Wilson voted with the majority of council to reappoint Macek to his post. Macek’s employer, the engineering firm WSP, has played a leading role in numerous large projects in Alexandria, including the under-construction Potomac Yard Metro.” [Alex Times]

News

ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published April 23, 2021 at 4:15PM

It was another week full of news in Alexandria. Here are the top headlines of the week.

Our top story was on the 34-year-old Arlington man 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. The investigating officer asked if there was anything illegal in the man’s room, and he reportedly said, “There is some meth in the room, but it’s for personal use.”

News

Chief says April 6 chase investigation ongoing, discusses 2020 crime wave

By Vernon Miles

Published April 23, 2021 at 2:45PM

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.

News

Update: Four arrested, suspect’s mother among wounded in West End shootout

By James Cullum

Published April 23, 2021 at 1:15PM

An Alexandria police cruiser (Staff photo by James Cullum)

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.