Four male juveniles were arrested after a brief chase from a stolen car in the West End on Tuesday afternoon, prompting four schools to go on lockdown, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
The incident occurred at around noon near the 1400 block of N. Beauregard Street. Police recovered a handgun from one of the suspects, according to dispatch reports.
“While conducting the traffic stop, all individuals from the vehicle fled,” APD said in a release. “Additional Officers were dispatched to the area to locate the suspects. During the search, APD Officers found four juvenile male suspects and took them into custody. APD recovered one weapon.”
The charges against the minors include drug possession with intent to sale, a concealed weapons charge, illegal weapons possession, and other weapon offenses, according to APD.
Anyone with information about this incident can call the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
The incident prompted four nearby schools to go into “secure the building” mode. Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School (1701 N. Beauregard Street), William Ramsay Elementary School (5700 Sanger Avenue), John Adams Elementary School (5651 Rayburn Avenue) and the Early Childhood Center (5651 Rayburn Avenue) went into “secure the building” from 12:15 to 12:35 p.m.
On Monday afternoon, three juveniles were arrested after an estimated 40 shots were fired. The shots were fired in an alleyway in the 1200 block of Madison Street, a block away from the Braddock Road Metro station, and no one was injured. Also that day, shots were fired at a Bradlee Shopping Center bus stop, which is near Alexandria City High School.
News Release:: The Alexandria Police Department Makes Arrest in Stolen Auto Case
On Tuesday, April 18, APD Officers attempted to make a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle from Fairfax County near the 1400 block of N. Beauregard Street.
Read more : https://t.co/OjySFEPAsi
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) April 20, 2023
Image via Google Maps
An Alexandria man is being held without bond for an alleged carjacking in the West End on Saturday night (Feb. 18).
At around 8 p.m, the 32-year-old male victim was allegedly held at gunpoint and carjacked in the 300 block of N. Ripley Street in the West End. Police were dispatched to a fight outside of an apartment complex, and were advised that the suspect had a firearm.
Anthony Jermainte Harris, 36, was arrested at the scene and charged with was charged with robbery, weapon possession by a felon, illegal discharge of a weapon, carjacking and attempted abduction.
No one was injured in the incident, and a firearm was allegedly found on Harris when he was arrested.
Harris goes to court on April 14.
Map via Google Maps
The owner of car stolen from the 200 block of N. Ripley Street says that his keys were stolen from his unlocked apartment in the early morning of Jan. 2, 2023 (via Google Maps)
A 25-year-old Alexandria man faces multiple charges after being found with a stolen car and allegedly running away from police earlier this month.
The car owner told police that someone must have entered his unlocked apartment and gotten the keys to his 2015 white Honda CRV between midnight on Jan. 1 and 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2, according to a search warrant affidavit. The Honda owner then checked a GPS tracker, which showed it parked a mile-and-a-half away in the 5600 block of Derby Court in the Mark Center area.
Police went to the address and found the male suspect getting a black jacket out of the backseat of the stolen Honda. The suspect “took off running” when he saw police, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Police could not confirm whether the suspect arrested was the same as the person who stole the car.
“(The officer) was unable to find any information on who stole the vehicle at this time and (the suspect) was not currently driving the vehicle when it was located,” police said in the search warrant affidavit.
The suspect was arrested and charged with driving on a suspended/revoked license, public intoxication, entering a stolen vehicle, preventing law enforcement from making an arrest and possession of Schedule I/II drugs. He was released from jail on Jan. 6 on a $2,500 unsecured bond and goes to court on Feb. 23.
Map via Google Maps
Two Manassas men arrested in November for allegedly stealing air bags in Arlington are also suspected of committing 11 similar acts in Alexandria, according to police.
The 43-year-old and 25-year-old suspects were arrested on Nov. 13 in Arlington and charged in connection with three airbag thefts committed that day. The suspects are also accused of 11 similar incidents in Alexandria between Aug. 25 and Oct. 31, 2022, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The 11 incidents occurred in parking garages in the 4500 block of Strutfield Lane, in a West End residential area full of apartment complexes. Police obtained numerous videos of the two suspects smashing vehicle windows and removing airbags. The suspects allegedly drove a black Honda Civic with Virginia tags and a distinctive chrome dual exhaust — a detail that led to their eventual arrest.
In early November, a license plate reader hit on a black Honda Civic with the same tags in connection to a possible airbag theft in D.C., police said in the search warrant affidavit. The responding officer also noted the dual exhaust system of the vehicle.
The suspects were arrested on Nov. 13 after allegedly smashing the windows of three vehicles and stealing airbags in the 2100 block of Columbia Pike in Arlington. The 43-year-old suspect posted bond and the 25-year-old is being held without bond.
According to the Arlington County Police Department:
Upon a search of Suspect One incident to arrest, a glass breaking tool was located. Upon a search of the suspect vehicle, burglarious tools, a radar detector and air bags were recovered. [A suspect], 25, of Manassas, Va. was arrested and charged with Destruction of Property (x3), Tampering with Auto (x3), Grand Larceny (x2), Possession of Burglarious Tools, Possession of Stolen Items with the Intent to Sell, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny (x2), Carrying a Concealed Weapon and Possession of Radar Detector. [A suspect], 43, of Manassas, Va, was arrested and charged with Destruction of Property (x3), Tampering with Auto (x3), Grand Larceny (x2), Possession of Burglarious Tools, Possession of Stolen Items with the Intent to Sell and Conspiracy to Commit Larceny (x2).
Both suspects go to court for the offenses on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
A DoorDasher‘s car has not yet been recovered after being stolen in broad daylight during a home delivery in Old Town on Wednesday.
The incident occurred just after noon in front of a home in the 400 block of N. Alfred Street, near the intersection with Princess Street. The blue Toyota was stolen when the DoorDash driver left his car open and running while making a delivery.
The customer reported the incident on social media, and said that the car was stolen by suspects driving a dark four-door sedan missing a rear passenger side window. Photos of the vehicles were captured with a DoorCam.
“He dropped off the food and someone got in his car and took off with it,” the customer reported on social media.
Police provided no information on the incident, except to say that it remains under investigation.
“We sent everything to the police and to the poor DoorDasher,” the customer wrote. “Otherwise watch out this just happened.”
A Washington, D.C. man is in custody after an armed carjacking and eluding police in Alexandria’s West End on Friday morning (Dec. 16).
The incident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. in the 500 block of S. Van Dorn Street in the city’s Landmark area. Police said that the suspect brandished a handgun and that the 29-year-old male victim went to the hospital, but was not injured.
Donte Thomas, 32, was arrested about a mile away and charged with use of firearm while committing a robbery, buying/receiving a stolen firearm, eluding police, providing police with a false identification and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
Thomas is being held without bond and goes to court on Jan. 23.
Notification:: There is a heavy police presence in the 500 block of South Van Dorn Street. This is in response to a robbery from person. The victim was transferred to the hospital with minor injuries. APD is on the scene and investigating. pic.twitter.com/v9RYI1YPal
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) December 16, 2022
A Washington, D.C. man is behind bars after allegedly stealing a car from a lot in an industrial area of the city and fleeing from police.
The incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 22. Police received a call that several people were moving vehicles in the fenced in parking lot of a car repair business in the 3200 block of Colvin Street.
Police arrived and saw the 22-year-old suspect allegedly climb a fence to the lot and get into a Dodge Ram with its lights on, according to a search warrant affidavit. When police made their presence known, the suspect allegedly ran on foot from the scene and was arrested a short distance away.
Another suspect stole a red Ford Mustang and was not arrested.
The suspect told police that “he received a key fob for the Dodge Ram from the unknown suspect operating the Mustang, whom he claimed not to know the identity of,” police said in the search warrant affidavit.
“The suspect was to drive the Dodge Ram ‘somewhere in Maryland,'” police said in the search warrant affidavit.
“I was told, texted, to go to a certain place,” the suspect allegedly told police.
The suspect was charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident, fleeing from law enforcement and grand larceny. He released on recognizance and goes to court on September 28.
A 33-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of vehicle parts in residential parking garages in Fairfax County and Fairfax City.
Dustin Bradley Drake was apprehended by Fairfax County Police.
Drake, who is a multiple felon, was charged with grand larceny, eluding police, possession with intent to manufacture a schedule I/II substance, destruction of property possession of burglarious tools, and driving on a revoked license.
The first theft was reported on April 19 in the 5800 block of Trinity Parkway in Centreville.
“The victim went out to their vehicle earlier in the day and it wouldn’t start,” police said in a search warrant affidavit. “The victim saw that the hood of the car had been tampered with, and that he couldn’t close it properly. When he opened the hood, he found that his car batter was missing and that the wires to the vehicle’s horn were cut.”
Security footage showed two cars — a Nissan Murano and Jeep Cherokee — piggyback behind residents who drive into the secured parking garage. The suspects then parked on the fourth floor of the garage, parked and started pulling on door handles, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Three days later, on April 22, another person reported a theft from their vehicle in Fairfax County. Among the items stolen were a car battery, an air intake system and air filter — amounting to about $7,000 in damages, police said in the search warrant affidavit.
Then, on April 29, Fairfax County Police responded to the 4400 block of Market Commons Drive in the City of Fairfax after a man reported that his truck was broken into and that two handguns were stolen.
“Security footage of the parking garage sowed a Nissan Murano enter the parking garage and exit a little over an hour after,” police said in a search warrant affidavit.
The suspect’s vehicle was soon spotted and the suspect was arrested. The Nissan Murano is being held as evidence by the Alexandria Police Department.
“During an interview after his arrest, Mr. Drake admitted to law enforcement officers that there were stolen items contained inside his vehicle,” police said in the search warrant affidavit.
Drake has multiple court dates this month.
Alexandria’s Part 1 crime rate is up, and it’s mostly due to an increase in larcenies and thefts from cars.
Police released the city’s Part 1 crime statistics for 2022 on Tuesday, and included are the reported numbers of homicides, rapes, robberies, grand larcenies from vehicles, and aggravated assaults.
Overall, crimes against people and property in the city are up 7%, when compared to the first five months of last year.
There has been one homicide in 2022 — a 25-year-old man who was found dead on the sidewalk in the West End in March. There were two homicides in the city in 2021 and four homicides in 2020.
Below are Part 1 crimes for the period of January 1 – May 11 for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022:
Crime Type 2020 2021 2022 Homicide 0 0 1 Rape 5 2 1 Robbery 32 34 34 Aggravated Assault 73 76 63 Burglary 46 81 54 Larceny 791 753 845 Grand Larceny from Auto 91 77 98 Total 1,038 1,023 1,096
Larcenies are on the rise, with 845 incidents reported in the first five months of the year — a 12% increase over last year. Thefts from automobiles are also up 27%, with 98 incidents reported.
The city saw a 19% increase in Part 1 crime in 2020, which then fell by 2% in 2021:
Crime Type 2020 2021 Change Homicide 4 2 -2 Rape 14 9 -5 Robbery 88 83 -5 Aggravated Assault 208 241 33 Burglary 126 186 60 Larceny 2,475 2,420 -55 Grand Larceny from Auto 357 268 -89 Total 3,272 3,209 -63 (-2%)
DNA evidence has linked a stolen handgun left in a car to a 32-year-old Alexandria felon, who now faces upward of two years in prison.
The .45 caliber Para Ordnance 1911 pistol was reported stolen from a car in Centreville on August 28, 2021, according to a search warrant affidavit. The same gun was recovered September 2, 2021, by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police in an abandoned car that was reported stolen from Arlington.
The gun owner told police that he owned the gun for years, had not shot it in more than two years and did not allow anyone else to handle it, according to a search warrant affidavit.
More than six months later, on March 11, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science returned a certificate of analysis with a DNA profile of the suspect.
The suspect, who has more than 10 felony convictions, was arrested on April 11 — eight months after the gun was reported stolen. He was charged with petit larceny and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The latter charge carries a minimum sentence of two years in prison.
The suspect is being held without bond in the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center and goes to court on June 18.
