A 17-year-old is on the run after being charged with stealing a car in the West End in the early morning of Saturday, September 19.
The suspect, who was from out of town visiting friends, was followed for a half mile by the owner of the car, who held him until police arrived, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The owner of an SUV that crashed into a truck in the West End in August reported that his vehicle was stolen before a hit-and-run.
On the evening of August 13, a passerby reported to police that an unattended silver-colored GMC Acadia crashed into a parked Ford F-150 in the 5700 block of Reading Avenue in the West End.
Just hours after the Ford F-150 was stolen in front of a Del Ray office, the victim’s mother received a call from the thief telling her not to call the police.
The incident occurred at around 2 p.m. on August 25 in the 500 block of E. Braddock Road near the Braddock Road Metro station.
It’s the end of another work week in Alexandria!
There was a lot of crime this week, as police responded to multiple shots fired incidents in the Parker Gray area on September 2. There was also another carjacking in the West End — the latest in a recent uptick that prompted Mayor Justin Wilson to ask the public for help in reducing the number of vehicle-related thefts.
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 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 Mayor Justin Wilson on Monday asked residents to lock up their cars, as the number of stolen vehicles and thefts from vehicles has already eclipsed last year.
“Car thefts and thefts from cars are up considerably in the city,” Mayor Justin Wilson wrote on social media. In the vast majority of these cases cars are left unlocked with valuables in sight and keys in the car.”
(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.
Alexandria Police are investigating more than $40,000 in car parts stolen from BMW of Alexandria in the Landmark Mall parking garage.
On Jan. 17, the sales manager for BMW of Alexandria (499 S. Pickett St.) told police that 10 BMW M-Series sedans and sport utility vehicles stored at the property had been stripped of their wheels and put on concrete blocks. The passenger side front windows were smashed and the lug bolt locks were taken from the glove compartments.
Stolen Vehicle Prompts Police Helo — “The Alexandria Police Department stopped a stolen vehicle in the 3000 block of King Street. A helicopter has been requested to assist.” [Twitter/@AlexandriaVAPD]
Route 7 Bus Lanes Planned — “New plans for rapid bus stations and bus lanes along Route 7 in Northern Virginia show the changes that could come to the busy commuter route over the next decade. A new conceptual engineering report lays out 18 specific bus rapid station locations from Tysons to Alexandria.” [WTOP]
