Three men were tied up and robbed last Friday (March 19) evening in the West End.
Alexandria Police reported to the 5000 block of Seminary Road in response to a robbery at gunpoint, and found three men tied up. The men had been robbed, one of their cars was stolen and one of them suffered a non-life-threatening injury.
The city is gradually ironing out the details for what could become a police review board that reshapes some of the community engagement with local law enforcement.
The proposed Community Policing Review Board will be a “civilian body may receive, investigate and issue findings on complaints from civilians regarding conduct of law-enforcement officers and civilian employees of a law enforcement agency serving under local authority,” according to the city website.
What a week in Alexandria.
Our top story this week was on a plan to install hanging gardens in the Carlyle neighborhood.
In a major reversal, Alexandria’s unions are pleased with the direction City Council took on establishing a collective bargaining ordinance at its meeting on Wednesday night.
Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker introduced amendments to the city’s manager’s proposed plan that expanded the scope of bargaining.
The coronavirus pandemic has meant less traffic on Alexandria roadways, fewer accidents and collisions, although there is a noted increase in the number of reported reckless driving incidents.
There was a 67% increase in reckless driving tickets issued by the Alexandria Police Department in 2020 over 2019. There were 184 reckless driving tickets issued in 2019 and 307 in 2020. With 98 incidents so far this year, the city is on track to exceed last year’s number. However, APD started doing eCitations in late May 2019, and as such the 2019 Reckless Driving ticket numbers are incomplete. All other tickets before that point were filled out manually, skewing the numbers as they were not broken up by citation type.
A 26-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 200 block of W. Glebe Road in Arlandria on Wednesday night.
The incident, characterized as a felonious assault, occurred at around 11:30 p.m., and was reported by Alexandria police just after midnight via Twitter.
An 18-year-old Fairfax County man is under investigation for firing gunshots in the West End, and soon faces a series of court appearances on gun-and-driving-related charges.
At around 11 p.m. on November 27, gunfire was heard coming from the front-facing front floor balcony of a home in the 5400 block of Richenbacher Avenue, which is near Holmes Run and about a mile away from Inova Alexandria Hospital.
Animal Welfare League gets 50 cats from Texas shelters — “Among the lingering effects of the winter outages is the strain on animal shelters. According to AWLA, the Texas shelters are seeing a surge in surrendered pets. The animals come from eight animal shelters in Texas. By transferring animals to Virginia, these shelters can better address the continued needs of homeless animals.” [Patch]
School Board public hearing on renaming of T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School on March 18 — “There will be a School Board Public Hearing on March 18 at 5pm, where community members have their final opportunity to sign up to speak or submit comments about the renaming of schools.” [Twitter]
Nothing Bundt Cakes opens in West End — “Nothing Bundt Cakes sells a variety of bundt cakes, bundt cake towers, mini bundt cakes and bite-size bundt cakes. There are nine basic flavors, including traditional vanilla and chocolate, plus marble, confetti, red velvet, pecan praline, white chocolate raspberry, carrot cake and more.” [Alexandria Living]
Councilman Canek Aguirre kicks off reelection campaign — “We have to invest in our school buildings. We have to invest in our city buildings. And that’s definitely something that we have to continue to do because it’s just going to get more expensive.” [Alex Times]
What an eventful week in Alexandria.
Thursday, March 11, marked the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria. As the vaccine rollout slowly improves, the most recent news is the allowance of restaurant workers to get the vaccine. Just over 38,000 doses have been administered in the city, and of that 14,661 residents have been fully vaccinated. The city also wants 80% of residents vaccinated by July 31.
Indecent exposure, smash-and-grab robberies, and speeding on side streets were just a few of the topics fielded by Alexandria Police Chief Michael L. Brown on Thursday night in Del Ray.
Brown spoke to a handful of residents at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square on Mount Vernon Avenue, and said that police have identified a suspect in an incident that occurred last year. The suspect has been arrested in Fairfax County, and police are working to see if he is connected to the 10 indecent exposure incidents in Del Ray since last year.
