The thieves behind a series of wheel larcenies seem to have struck again.
According to a police recap from yesterday (Tuesday), the tires and rims were stolen from a vehicle parked at the 1500 block of West Branch Drive.
This is the sixth car to have its wheels stolen in Tysons since February. It’s the third vehicle hit in the 1500 block of West Branch Drive.
All but one of the robberies has taken place within the Mile, 40-acre stretch of buildings northeast of Tysons Galleria currently under consideration for redevelopment.
The recap also notes that a bird was stolen from a business on the 7200 block of Lee Highway, but despite repeated phone calls to confused business owners, Tysons Reporter has been unable to find more details.
A resident called Vienna police to turn in a firearm last week, but the gun turned out to be a starter pistol.
The call went out Friday, March 22, shortly after noon, according to this week’s Vienna Police Department crime report, which details even the most minor police actions in the town.
According to the report, a resident on Woodland Court, NW turned in the starter pistol, which fires blanks to mark the start of races, and police will destroy the gun per the resident’s wishes. Accepting unwanted firearms is a common service provided by local police departments, including in Fairfax County.
Elsewhere in Vienna, this week’s crime report includes a case of a Lewis Street, NW resident who “reported a continuous problem with people banging loudly on the doors and windows of their home and running away,” and an incident on Glyndon Street, NE in which “a resident was walking her dog in the park when another dog in the park escaped its owner’s grasp and knocked over both the resident and her dog.”
Photo via Facebook
Police are investigating a series of wheel thefts in the Tysons area.
Over the last two months, five cars have had their wheels stolen around Tysons, including two vehicles at different locations earlier this week, according to a Fairfax County Police Department recap from Tuesday.
One larceny took place in the 1500 block of Lincoln Way in The Fountains at McLean neighborhood. The other was at the 1500 block of Westbranch Drive, northeast of Tysons Galleria.
Fairfax County Police Sgt. James Curry said thieves typically remove the entire wheel, including the rims and the tires, leaving the vehicle propped up on cinder blocks.
Three other thefts have been reported in the area by FCPD since the beginning of February:
- The 7900 block of Jones Branch Drive
- The 1500 block of Westbranch Drive
- The 7900 block of Jones Branch Drive again
The Highgate at the Mile is a mixed-use development at 7900 block of Jones Branch Drive. One resident of the building told Tysons Reporter that the building’s garage requires a clicker to enter. Building management sent an email to residents warning of “vandalism” in the parking garage after the theft.
Curry said residents of buildings with parking garages should be vigilant about “piggybacking” — people entering the facility on someone else’s pass. Sometimes car thieves also arrive in vehicles that slip in behind a car that legitimately accesses the building, Curry said.
If the garage door to a complex is not functioning, Curry advised alerting the leasing agency or a homeowner’s association
A Redditor claiming to be the victim of the larceny at Fountains at McLean took to the Northern Virginia subreddit to warn others about the incident. According to the Reddit post:
Hey all, just a quick warning. I just had the wheels stolen off of my 2018 Charger on Sunday night from the parking garage in my apartment complex. I filed a police report and the officer with whom I spoke said that this is becoming a much more prevalent problem in the area, with thieves targeting vehicles even in open parking lots.
My car had wheel locks, but unfortunately they really don’t do anything except slow the thieves down by a few seconds, as most of the perpetrators in this area are professionals, and are in and out within minutes. Just a caution for everyone, perhaps consider installing tilt sensors or dash cameras in your vehicles to prevent something like this from happening to you. Definitely the first purchase I’ll make once my car is back up and running.
File photo
Vienna police arrested a Herndon resident after they say he was caught placing posters for a white nationalist group around the town, our sister site Reston Now first reported.
Last Saturday afternoon, a caller told police that two men were placing posters on light posts at a shopping center at 180 Maple Avenue, according to Vienna police.
Officers responded and reportedly observed one of the men placing a Patriot Front poster on a Town of Vienna utility box in the area of Nutley Street and Maple Avenue.
Patriot Front is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a “white nationalist hate group.” It was described as a “political activist organization” in Vienna’s weekly crime report; an inquiry from Reston Now confirmed that Patriot Front was the group behind the posts.
Police issued a summons to a 21-year-old man from Longleaf Lane in Herndon for destruction of property, and the man was released on his signature, the report says. The Vienna Police Department does not release the names of criminal suspects in its crime report.
Earlier this year, Patriot Front tweeted that its “activists” put up the posters around Herndon and Reston in January and then in Reston again in February and March. Posters were also recently placed around Vienna and Arlington, according to the group’s social media account.
The posters include slogans like “reclaim America” and “better dead than red.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Patriot Front broke off from the alt-right group Vanguard America in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Photo via Facebook
A string of residential burglaries first reported in December has continued, with 10 additional burglaries that are believed to be related to the initial 13, according to police.
Fairfax County Police say the home burglaries “are committed by a group of professional individuals, mainly targeting victims of Asian or Middle Eastern descent.” They’re asking for the public’s help in solving the crimes.
More from an FCPD press release from late last week (burglaries in the Tysons Reporter coverage area are highlighted in bold.):
Detectives continue to ask for the public’s help in solving numerous residential burglaries in the McLean, Reston, and Fair Oaks police districts. In addition to the 13 addresses we released in December, detectives are also looking at ten other cases that may be related. Below is a list of the additional cases being investigated:
- 8400 block of Reflection Lane, Vienna
- 8200 block of Falstaff Road, McLean
- 4800 block of Muddler Way, Fairfax
- 12500 block of Cerromar Place, Fairfax
- 1300 block of Earnestine Street, McLean
- 1400 block of Woodhurst Boulevard, McLean
- 7800 block of Loughran Road, McLean
- 9700 block of Middleton Ridge Road, Vienna
- 10000 block of Park Royal Drive, Great Falls
- 1600 block of Admirals Hill Court, Vienna
After the initial burglaries were reported near the end of 2018, officers and detectives increased proactive patrols, met with community members, and continue to remain vigilant in identifying the suspects involved. It is believed that the crimes are committed by a group of professional individuals, mainly targeting victims of Asian or Middle Eastern descent. In many of the cases, detectives found entry was made through the rear door of the victims’ homes. The burglaries occurred primarily in the late afternoon and evening hours. Total losses are in excess of a million dollars.
Anyone with information regarding this recent string of incidents is asked to call the McLean District Station at 703-556-7750, the Reston District Station at 703-478-0904, or the Fair Oaks District Station at 703-591-0966. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by visiting http://www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org, or calling 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). They can also be sent in via text by texting “TIP187” plus the message to CRIMES (274637). Text STOP to 274637 to cancel, or HELP to 274637 for help. Message and data rates may apply. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1000 if their information leads to an arrest.
For ongoing updates, please read our blog and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @FairfaxCountyPD.
Fairfax County Police are asking for help in finding whoever beat two puppies to death and dumped their bodies in Tysons last week.
Officers were called last Monday (March 11) to the 1900 block of Gallows Road, an office park in southwest Tysons, where they found the two puppies next to a dumpster, said FCPD.
According to a press release:
A necropsy revealed both puppies died from blunt force trauma to their heads. Their breed was not able to be determined due to their young age. They are believed to have been about a month old. One was a male puppy with a unique blue merle coat and the other was a female with a fawn colored coat.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Officer McLemore at 571-221-8030.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously online, by calling 1-866-411-TIPS, or texting “TIP187” and “CRIMES” to that number. Tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1,000 if their information leads to an arrest.
Fairfax police also reminded animal owners that their pets can be surrendered to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter if they can no longer be cared for.
File photo
A bullet was fired into a home one block from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station, but so far, that’s about all police are saying about the incident.
Police say the incident occurred 2600 block of Avenir Place on Saturday (March 2) around 2 a.m.
“A woman was lying in bed with her mother when a bullet shot through their bedroom window,” police said in a crime report. “No injuries were reported.”
Police said they were still investigating the incident and working to determine the source of the bullet.
Photo via Google Maps
A wallet was stolen in Reston — and several of the cards inside wound up in Vienna the next day.
The discovery was made Saturday morning at the intersection of Lawyers Road and Windover Avenue NW.
“A citizen was walking their dog when they found a driver’s license and a store card on the road and brought them to the police station,” said this week’s Vienna Police Department crime report. “When an officer notified the owner, they were advised the cards were in their wallet which had been reported as stolen in Reston, Virginia the previous day.”
The wallet, its other contents and the person who took it remain at large.
Map via Google Maps
Women’s and safety organizations around McLean are coming together for a panel discussion on combatting local teen trafficking.
In 2017, Virginia ranked sixth in the number of human trafficking cases on federal court dockets. There were 33 active human trafficking cases, most of them in the Eastern District of Virginia, which includes Northern Virginia.
The panel presentation will be led by the Just Ask Prevention Project, a nonprofit based out of Tysons dedicated to combatting sex trafficking helmed by former Detective Bill Woolf. Woolf first became involved with the fight against sex trafficking after he discovered a young victim who was being trafficked by a gang.
The event is scheduled for next Tuesday (Feb. 19) at 7 p.m. at the McLean Presbyterian Church (1020 Balls Hill Road). The discussion is free and open to the public, though the website includes an option to donate to Just Ask Prevention.
The event is being co-hosted by the Women’s Club of McLean, the Safe Community Coalition and the New Dominion Women’s Club.
According to the event description:
“Trafficking and exploitation of teens is appallingly prevalent and underreported in Fairfax County. Help us eradicate this horrendous scourge by learning what makes children vulnerable, how to identify the signs of a possible victim, and what to do if you suspect a teen is being exploited.”
Photo via Facebook
Three men were arrested in a Tysons Corner Center parking deck after allegedly passing counterfeit bills at the Lord and Taylor store.
Store employees called police to report the crime around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Officers stopped the men in their car and recovered additional counterfeit currency, narcotics and brass knuckles, according to police.
More from FCPD:
Andres Moreno, 34, Warren Missouri, 26 and Michael Allen 42, of Baltimore, Md. were arrested for possession of schedule I or II narcotics, carrying a concealed weapon, forging bank notes, obtaining money by false pretenses, possession of marijuana and obtaining identifying information to avoid arrest.
Also Wednesday, the McLean Islamic Center, which recently won approval increase parking, was burglarized by a man entering the building through the window.
The man was described as 6′ tall, wearing a dark jacket and jeans, and driving a four-door beige car, according to FCPD.
Photo courtesy FCPD
