Fairfax County police said that a 21-year-old man from Falls Church is facing felony charges for allegedly soliciting sex from minors via social media accounts.
Police said that they began their investigation last month after a minor told their parents about unwanted sexual contact with the man.
Detectives believe the man “used several social media accounts with false names while also misrepresenting his age to solicit sex from minors,” police said.
The man, who was arrested yesterday (Wednesday), is facing two felony charges of carnal knowledge and the use of a communication device to solicit a minor, according to police.
He was taken to the Adult Detention Center and released on bond, police said.
File photo
Conte’s Bike Shop is moving into Falls Plaza in the City of Falls Church.
A sign indicates that the new store will occupy a 3,767-square-foot space in the shopping center.
Conte’s has a store nearby at 7121 Leesburg Pike, Suite 101. A sign along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail points cyclists and pedestrians to the Leesburg Pike store.
Conte’s offers bikes, gear, car racks, lighting, maintenance and other things for bicycles. People can find stores in Florida, Virginia and D.C.
Rania’s Love Vegetarian Restaurant is now serving up Vietnamese vegetarian food in Falls Church.
Located near Staples in Falls Plaza (1200 W. Broad Street), a banner outside of the restaurant says that a grand opening was held earlier this month.
The menu includes starters, like salt and pepper oyster mushrooms, and noodle soup, including lemon leaf chicken soup and beef meatball noodle soup.
The restaurant is open from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sundays, according to signage on the door.
When people walk into Fava Pot in Falls Church, they’re greeted with the smell of freshly baked pita bread made in a traditional wooden, along with a dozen menu options for traditional Egyptian cuisine.
Dina Daniel, the restaurant’s owner, opened the Falls Church Fava Pot back in 2017 after owning an Arlington food truck and has been serving up a variety of fare since, including vegan and vegetarian options.
Daniel said her favorite item is the Táamya, which she considers to be the eatery’s specialty. She called it an “Egyptian falafel” — the tiny ball has a crunchy exterior with a soft, veggie-filled inside. Unlike other types of falafels, the snack is made with fava beans instead of chickpeas.
Other best-sellers include Baba Ganoush, a tangy dip that comes covered in pomegranate seeds, combination platters that include lamb, chicken and veal and a variety of bowls and snacks.
When people stop by the restaurant, Daniel said she wants people to feel at home — comfortable, welcome and well-fed with wholesome fare with fresh veggies and whole wheat grains.
Daniel said that she wants people to feel as if they’re “having a feast at grandma’s house,” when they eat at Fava Pot. She added that many of the meals made at the Falls Church location are unique to that specific location and take more than 12 hours to prepare.
Unlike Fava Pot’s food truck or new pop-up in Union Market, the Falls Church location offers guests sit down meals with the help of Stephen Samuels, the area manager, and Elmer Ramos, the head chef. Fava Pot is also planning on expanding to Rosslyn later this year.
“Our business isn’t only about the back area, it’s about how you interact with the customer,” she said while waving to a regular customer across the room.
When Daniel first opened the restaurant, she said she worried that people’s unfamiliarity with Egyptian food would scare away potential customers, so she spent time in Tysons handing out free samples for several weeks.
Since the restaurant is a “travel destination,” Daniel said she was concerned before the grand opening in 2017 that people might not want to make their way to Falls Church to eat at the restaurant. But she said that concern has turned out to be unfounded.
Several days ago, Voice of America Asia featured Fava Pot on its YouTube channel as part of its “Food Bites” mini-series.
“I believe America has misconceptions of Egyptians,” she told Tysons Reporter, noting that Egypt has a distinctive cultural identity from the rest of the Middle East.
The walls of the Falls Church location are covered with the stories of famous Egyptians, including athletes, academics and musicians. To give back to her home country, some of the money made from Fava Pot goes directly to benefit a group called Coptic Orphans, which assists underprovided kids in Egypt.
As for the location’s clientele, she said that about only 20% have Egyptian heritage, which gives her a chance to act as a cultural ambassador for the community.
Part of her breakfast customer base originally came from overflow from the adjacent pancake house, until people got over their hesitation about Egyptian breakfast and decided to give the cuisine a shot.
“After God’s grace, it is what made our business stay,” she said.
Come March 15, some or all of the parking options will be closed at three Metro stations in the Falls Church and Vienna area.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced on Friday that pre-construction ahead of summer work will impact parking at three Orange Line stations.
While the summer work on the Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church stations doesn’t start until May, the parking changes are set to start on March 15.
“Due to the stations’ location and extreme space limitations, construction crews will need to utilize surface parking lots to stage heavy equipment and tons of material,” according to a press release from WMATA.
Here are the planned changes:
- surface parking lots at the East Falls Church, West Falls Church and Vienna stations will be closed for seven to nine months
- parking at the Dunn Loring station will not be impacted
- Kiss & Ride lot will remain open for pick-up and drop-off only at East Falls Church station
- West Falls Church station parking garage will remain open
- Vienna station Parking Lot 1 will be temporarily closed beginning March 15
- Vienna station’s parking garages and Parking Lot 3 will remain open.
The changes mean that parking won’t be available at the East Falls Church station.
Metro expects that the parking will fill up at the West Falls Church station before 7 a.m., according to the press release.
“Vehicles parked in closed lots after 12:01 a.m. on March 15, 2020, may be subject to towing,” the press release says.
https://twitter.com/FCNP_Jody/status/1228414025182171136?s=20
(Updated 11 a.m.) Presidents’ Day is almost here and there will be closures around the area.
All Fairfax County government offices, public schools and public libraries will be closed, according to the county website.
Trash and recycling will be collected on a regular schedule if community members are customers of Fairfax County, the website said, which added that people with a private company should contact the company directly.
The Fairfax Connector will be running on a Holiday Weekend Schedule on Monday.
The Metro will be running on a Saturday schedule from 5 a.m. until 11:30 p.m., according to the WMATA website.
The Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church (120 N. Virginia Ave) will be closed, according to the website, along with all city offices.
Since waste collection falls on a Wednesday in Falls Church, it will not be affected by the holiday.
In the Town of Vienna, all government offices will be closed but waste collection will run on a regular schedule, according to the website.
The McLean Community Center will be closed on Monday.
Tysons Reporter will also have the day off on Monday.
Photo by Lucas Sankey via Unsplash
Happy Friday! Here are the latest stories about the Tysons area that the Tysons Reporter team has been reading:
Falls Church Home Prices Spike — “The city of Falls Church zoomed past the District of Columbia to be the local jurisdiction where home-buyers spent more, per square foot, than anywhere else in January… The median per-square-foot cost of $453 for Falls Church property for the month was up 13 percent from a year before.” [Inside NoVa]
Furry Convention Leaving Tysons — The Mid-Atlantic region convention called “Fur the More” is moving from Tysons to Crystal City this year. [ARLnow]
Falls Church Theater Nabs Nominations — “Falls Church’s rapidly-emerging regional theater powerhouse, the Creative Cauldron, scored an astonishing nine Helen Hayes Award nominations for the past season.” [Falls Church News-Press]
McLean Board Seeking Candidates — “Local residents who are looking for ways to make a difference in the community should consider running for a seat on the McLean Community Center’s (MCC) 2020-2021 Governing Board.” [Falls Church News-Press]
I-66 Corridor commuters, in response to commuters request to get a slug pickup station at the Pentagon, Congressman @GerryConnolly @EleanorNorton @DonBeyerVA and @JenniferWexton send a request to the Pentagon #vatraffic pic.twitter.com/MeOOVVJnY8
— Sluglines (@sluglines) February 12, 2020
Sneak Peek: Later today, look for an article on Vienna’s new economic development manager and her plans for how to spark business in the town. Next week, look for a profile of Fava Pot in Falls Church.
Weekend Send Off: Let Tysons Reporter know what your plans are for the long weekend.
Don Beyer Volvo in Falls Church is about to move and set up shop just down the street.
The car dealership plans to move from its location at 1231 W. Broad Street to an adjacent property, an employee said.
Though it is unclear when the construction will be complete, the employee said the company hopes to move into its new spot by June or July.
One person on Twitter spotted construction and signs for the new dealership.
Tysons Reporter reached out to a manager for more information and is awaiting a response.
New car dealership on Broad Street is coming up quickly pic.twitter.com/a08RyGqf91
— Falls Church Views (@fallschurchview) February 2, 2020
Image via Google Maps
Two new Baddpizza locations are expected to open in McLean and Falls Church a little later than expected.
Although the location in Falls Church (346 W. Broad Street) was supposed to open in November, according to the owner, a store manager said yesterday (Feb. 12) that it will instead open in about two weeks.
Meanwhile, the McLean location (6263 Old Dominion Drive), which was set to open in December or early 2020, will open in late March, according to the manager.
Opening dates for both of the locations are dependent on staffing, the manager said.
Both locations plan to serve a variety of pizzas, wings, salads, dessert and chicken tenders, according to the website.
Photo via Baddpizza/Facebook
Fairfax County police say a man was arrested in connection to a fatal hit and run on Arlington Blvd (Route 50) in the Falls Church area last January.
Police said a pickup truck struck and killed 93-year-old Pericles Apostolou, from Falls Church, when he was crossing Arlington Blvd outside of the crosswalk near Summerfield Road around 6 p.m. on Jan. 18, 2019, police said.
“The truck did not stop and drove away from the scene,” police said last year.
FCPD announced today (Wednesday) that 30-year-old Michael Smith, of Fredericksburg, has been charged with felony hit-and-run.
“Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit worked extensively to identify the suspect,” according to a press release. “Through their investigative leads and tips received from the community, Smith was identified and arrested by Manassas City Police on Feb. 6.”
Smith is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center with no bond, according to police.
Police said they are also working on three unsolved, fatal hit and run cases from 2018 and 2019, which includes one on Leesburg Pike near I-495 last February. Police are asking that anyone with information about this case or the other three to contact them at 703-280-0543.
Map via Google Maps
