Fairfax County police are looking for the burglar or burglars who broke into three stores in downtown McLean over the weekend.

The McLean Hair Center (1438 Center Street), Figuroes Salon (1439 Center Street) and McLean Pizza (1434 Center Street) all were broken into overnight on Sunday (June 30) and had cash taken, according to police.

Elsewhere, police said someone broke into the Rosenthal Nissan Mazda of Tysons Corner dealership (8525 Leesburg Pike) and stole a 2017 Hyundai Accent and a 2016 Nissan Altima around midnight on Saturday (June 29).

Image via Google Maps

Fairfax County police are looking for the burglar who stole two Infiniti cars from a Tysons car dealership.

“Someone broke into the dealership and stole a 2011 Infiniti G35 and a 2010 Infiniti FX35,” according to the crime report.

The incident occurred around 1 a.m. on Thursday (June 20) at the Infiniti dealer (8527 Leesburg Pike).

Image via Google Maps

The Vienna Police Department is offering tips for how to prevent stolen cars and vehicle tampering after a recent spate of car-related crimes.

“With the advent of warmer weather, the Town of Vienna Police Department would like to remind all Town of Vienna residents to secure their vehicles and personal belongings,” the reminder says. “Recently there have been several vehicle tamperings to include stolen vehicles from Vienna and the neighboring jurisdictions.”

The last week in May saw a dramatic increase for the month with a total of 21 car-related crimes, according to the weekly police highlights.

From May 24-30, police reported 13 vehicle tamperings, two stolen autos, three grand larcenies related to car thefts and three petit larcenies related to car thefts — not to mention, one Segway scooter reported as abandoned in front of one Vienna resident’s home.

Earlier in the month, the weekly crime reports ranged from three to seven car-related crimes.

While the police highlights are not a comprehensive list of every incident, they provide “a more substantive summary of several incidents, which may be of interest to the community,” according to the Town of Vienna.

The Vienna Police Department gave the following tips:

• lock car doors
• secure car windows
• remove any valuable items
• remove keys
• report suspicious activity

“In some cases, the subjects have been observed wearing several layers of clothing, not consistent with the weather conditions,” according to police. “This is used to conceal stolen items and also to make identification difficult as they will shed layers of clothing as they flee the area when they suspect they have been observed committing a crime.”

In ToV police incident reports from 5/24-30, there were reports of items stolen from 12 vehicles, 11 vehicles rummaged thru, and 2 cars stolen. What did they all have in common? The vehicles were unlocked! Vienna PD reminds residents to lock car doors & remove valuables. pic.twitter.com/bhfKPZeism

— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) June 3, 2019

Photo via Facebook

Hot off the launch of a new Vienna location, Fairfax-based Virginia Tire and Auto recently announced a new location in Tysons.

The car repair shop is set to open in the former Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers at 2055 Chain Bridge Road, across the street from Tysons’ Toilet Bowl building.

Noelle Malley, a spokesperson for the chain, said the Tysons location is expected to open in fall 2019 and will provide 20 new jobs.

The franchise first opened in 1976 and expanded outside of Northern Virginia for the first time with a new Richmond location.

Virginia Tire and Auto also announced that a new location in Herndon will open this fall.

Photo via Google Maps

An Arlington resident was arrested yesterday (Thursday) for allegedly stealing a Porsche and leading Fairfax County police on a chase through Tysons.

A police recap said that FCPD was notified about a stolen Porsche from Arlington County.

Officers in the Tysons Urban Team spotted the car and tried to stop it, but the driver sped off, leading police in a pursuit.

According to the police recap:

The car was found nearby, abandoned. With the help of our helicopter and K9 team, officers found the driver, Michael Louk, 45, of Arlington, hiding in the wood line. Louk was arrested and charged with grand larceny, driving on a revoked license and disregard police signal to stop.

The man had previously been arrested for allegedly stealing a car in Tysons mid-pizza delivery.

Photo courtesy Fairfax County Police Department

Fairfax County police are looking for witnesses to help clear up conflicting accounts of a reckless driving incident last week.

Police say the incident took place last Friday (April 5) on Beulah Road between Leesburg Pike and Old Courthouse Road. According to FCPD:

We received complaints of reckless driving around 5:45 p.m. involving three cars — a black Honda Civic, a blue Honda Civic and a silver Honda Accord. One car was forced off the road and caused several nearby drivers to have to avoid collisions.

The drivers were identified, but police said they provided conflicting accounts of the event.

The incident is believed to have started in Maryland but continued down into Fairfax County, police said. There were no injuries.

“We would like to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the aggressive driving behavior of these individuals at that time,” police said in the press release. “Anyone who may have information regarding this incident is asked to call Master Police Officer C. R. Quattrin at the McLean District Station at 703-556-7750.”

Tips can also be submitted anonymously online, by calling 1-866-411-TIPS or by texting “TIP187” plus the message to CRIMES (274637). Tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1000 if the information leads to an arrest.

(Updated 1 a.m.) Video from Freedom Hill Elementary in Vienna showed at least six cars driving past a school bus loading up with children.

As a reminder for those who might not have been paying attention during their driver’s ed class: if a school bus is loading or unloading passengers, whether or not the lights are active or the stop sign is extended, drivers are required to stop unless the bus is on the opposite side of a median or barrier.

Drivers are also required to remain stopped until all passengers have been loaded and the bus moves again. Failure to do so could result in a ticket.

1/5 It saddens me to share this- after watching cars consistently blow past stopped school buses picking up elementary students on Gallows Rd in Vienna, VA- I have been pushed into civic action. This clip is from this morning, but is representative. pic.twitter.com/5I0ZLBufB0

— Sam S. Lee (@OpenNotion) April 8, 2019

During VDOT’s initial proposal for I-66 corridor improvements, the Federal Highway Administration noted that concerns were expressed about pedestrian safety on Gallows Road.

The person who posted the original video said that the clip was representative of pick-up and drop-off at the school.

But the story has a happy ending, at least, with Fairfax police arriving the next morning to monitor traffic and enforce the laws.

I must give props where it is due. Mclean PD officers came out this morning to hold drivers accountable. Thank you @FairfaxCountyPD! This is what responsive local gov looks like. cc: @GerryConnolly @ChapPetersen @TownofViennaVA @FreedomHillES @TysonsReporter

— Sam S. Lee (@OpenNotion) April 9, 2019

Photo via Twitter

A Tysons company is helping BMW move into the driverless car market with aims to reduce the time and cost to develop autonomous vehicles.

Tysons-based DXC Technology Co. has signed up to help BMW with the technology to collect, store, and manage vehicle sensor data in autonomous cars, the Washington Business Journal first reported.

“DXC will greatly support our commitment to maximizing innovation, which will benefit our customers,” Alejandro Vukotich, senior vice president at the BMW Group, said in a press release. “With the managed services, we are able to ramp up the solution to support the next stage of the future of BMW Group’s autonomous drive platform.”

The data DXC will be processing can be collected globally to maximize the efficiency of the vehicles and reduce costs. The press release also says the DXC programs are built with online collaboration in mind, meaning engineers in different locations can work together on data analytics for the self-driving cars.

Edward Ho, executive vice president of DXC Technology, said in the press release that the next five years are a pivotal time in the development of autonomous cars to revolutionize the car industry.

“DXC welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with BMW Group to advance autonomous driving development capabilities,” Ho said. “With the platform and tools provided by DXC, BMW engineers are able to significantly accelerate the engineering and testing of autonomous driving algorithms.”

Photo via Facebook

With Tesla’s announcement that it will be closing most of its retail locations, two Tysons locations remain in jeopardy.

One store is located on Tyco Road near Leesburg Pike. This location was the first Tesla dealership in Virginia, opening in 2015 in a former warehouse.

Tesla also has a showroom inside the Tysons Corner Center mall. The store in the mall includes interactive features to help customers configure their own Tesla in the design studios.

Brick-and-mortar locations are expected to be closed over the next few months, but a list of stores to be closed has not been released. Staff at the Tysons Corner Center showroom said they could not comment on whether or not that location will close.

An apparent attempt at trying to disable the vehicles of two Vienna residents was likely unsuccessful.

This past Sunday around 8:15 a.m., Vienna police were called to the 300 block of Owaissa Road SE — in a quiet neighborhood of single-family homes — for a report of a vehicle tampering.

“Two residents reported that someone poured a white granular substance in the gas tanks of their vehicles,” Vienna PD said in a crime report. “Tacks were left under the tires of both vehicles.”

While in popular lore “sugar in the gas tank” carries the implication of causing serious damage to cars, in reality it does little more than potentially clog up fuel filters, according to Snopes.

Photo via Facebook