A Fairfax County police officer’s attempt to stop a reportedly stolen vehicle on I-495 this morning (Wednesday) prompted a high-speed pursuit that extended from McLean to Woodbridge.
The journey began shortly before 5 a.m., when the Fairfax County Police Department notified Virginia State Police that a 2012 Ford Fiesta had been spotted traveling south on I-495 across the American Legion Bridge.
The vehicle had been reported stolen out of New York, according to a VSP news release.
The Virginia State Police says a Fairfax County officer moved to initiate a traffic stop, but the Ford “sped off” at more than 100 miles per hour, leading to a pursuit by state police:
As the stolen vehicle approached Exit 158 on I-95 in Prince William County, the troopers attempted to slow the vehicle and contain it by positioning their vehicles around it. The Ford rammed one of the trooper’s vehicles twice, which caused the police vehicle to spin out and spark a chain reaction crash among a total of three troopers’ vehicles. The Ford kept going.
State police began searching the immediate area for the stolen vehicle and located it a short time later abandoned in a restaurant parking lot in the 2400 block of Prince William Parkway. State police and Prince William County Police K9 teams responded to this location. Shortly after 8 a.m., a 19-year-old female and a 28-year-old male were taken into custody without further incident. Charges are pending.
According to the VSP, five troopers were treated for minor injuries from the crash at the I-95 exit at a nearby hospital, but there were no other vehicles involved or damaged.
No Fairfax County police units were involved in the actual pursuit, an FCPD spokesperson told Tysons Reporter.
State police are still searching for two men who fled the Ford Fiesta, and they’re working with Prince William County police to determine if there’s any connection to the theft of a Honda Civic reported in Woodbridge around 7:25 a.m. today.
“Anyone with information related to this ongoing incident are encouraged to contact the Virginia State Police at 703-803-0026 or #77 on a cell phone, or by email to [email protected],” the VSP said.
Photo via Google Maps
Winter Storm Warning in Effect — Fairfax County has its first snow of the year. The D.C. area will remain under a Winter Storm Warning until 4 p.m. today (Monday), with the National Weather Service forecasting 3-7 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour, making travel difficult. [NWS]
FCPS Closed for Day Due to Snow — Instead of returning to classrooms as anticipated, Fairfax County Public School students will have an extra day of winter break. In expectation of snow, schools have been closed today with no virtual learning, and all activities on school grounds have been canceled, including extracurricular programs and adult classes. [FCPS]
Snow Closes Tysons Mass Vaccine Site — The Virginia Department of Health is closing all of its mass COVID-19 vaccination sites, including the one at Tysons Corner Center, today “out of an abundance of caution for patients and staff.” Those with appointments will be notified and can visit vase.vdh.virginia.gov to reschedule. [VDH]
Vienna Authorizes COVID-19 Testing Site Extension — The Personic Health Care drive-through COVID-19 testing site on Maple Avenue will be allowed to continue operating through the end of January. The facility was supposed to vacate the Emmaus United Church of Christ parking lot on Dec. 31, but with cases still high, Town Manager Mercury Payton granted it a “wind-down period” in response to a request from the church. [Town of Vienna]
Dangerous Driving Filmed on Beltway — A Reddit user posted a dashcam video last week that showed a near-collision where a pickup truck tries to drive a sedan out of its lane on the Capitol Beltway inner loop near Tysons. While there was no crash, the Virginia Department of Transportation shared the video as an example of the dangers of road rage. [NBC4]
Woman Arrested After Police Pursuit Near Scotts Run — Around 4:53 p.m. on Dec. 26, Fairfax County police officers recognized a vehicle that was reported stolen in a neighboring jurisdiction and attempted to stop the driver at Chain Bridge Road at Colshire Drive. The driver, an 18-year-old woman from D.C., hit two occupied police vehicles and fled, striking four other vehicles before she was stopped and arrested. [FCPD]
Police Pursue Driver on Arlington Boulevard — A Centreville driver was arrested after driving through two red lights, one at Cedar Lane and another at Jaguar Trail, and hitting another vehicle. An officer was in pursuit of the driver after he drove through the first red light and refused to stop. Both drivers involved in the collision were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. [Fairfax County Police Department]
Young Renters Make Up One-Third of Tysons’ Population — “So, who are the 28,000 people living in Tysons? If Esri is right, it’s largely well-off professionals who value urban amenities. Whether that will remain the case as Tysons works toward its 100,000-resident target remains to be seen.” [Greater Greater Washington]
Tysons Augmented Reality Company Acquired — The German company TeamViewer, which “provides remote connectivity solutions,” acquired Upskill, an augmented reality software company founded in Tysons in 2010. Upskill’s software platform Skylight “enables organizations to deploy augmented reality applications across hardware like smart glasses and mobile devices.” [Technical.ly]
Virginia Set to Become First Southern State with Voting Rights Act — Now awaiting Gov. Ralph Northam’s signature after passing the General Assembly, the new law “will require local election officials to go through a review process before making election-related decisions like consolidating or closing polling places, changing district boundaries, creating at-large seats on local governing bodies or school boards or affecting the ability of non-English speakers to vote.” [Virginia Mercury]
Financial Expert Skeptical of MicroStrategy Bitcoin-Buying Spree — “MicroStrategy Inc.’s high-profile Bitcoin buying spree is “irresponsible” and makes the business intelligence software company vulnerable, according to a financial expert. The Tysons company has purchased about $2.186 billion in bitcoins, which amounts to 90,859 bitcoins at about $24,063 each, according to recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings.” [Washington Business Journal]
Vienna Police Provide Live Feed of Station Construction — The Vienna Police Department has set up a camera so that community members can watch the progress of construction on its new station in real time. People can also get weekly updates by subscribing to Vienna’s police highlights alerts. [Vienna Police/Twitter, Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Photo by Joanne Liebig
Police have arrested five people after a robbery and assault in Tysons on Wednesday.
According to a police report, a group came into the Burlington (8355 Leesburg Pike), stole merchandise, and attacked an employee with pepper spray before fleeing in a sedan with a small child.
Police said officers tried to stop the car as it fled, but the driver refused and led police on a pursuit. Eventually, the car lost a tire and became disabled.
According to the report:
Officers took the occupants into custody including a small child who was not injured. Bryttany Richardson, 18, Jordan Jacobs, 20, Joylynn Queen, 22, and Gregory Parker, 25, all of Washington, D.C., were charged with robbery. Linda Pone, 50, of Washington, D.C., was charged with robbery, disregarding a police command to stop, possession with intent to distribute a schedule I/II narcotic, wanton child endangerment, and reckless driving.
Police say a Fredericksburg man was arrested last Saturday night after a an alleged home burglary.
The burglary took place on the 8100 block of Larkin Lane in the Dunn Loring neighborhood at around 11:48 p.m. According to police:
A homeowner was awakened by the sound of glass breaking on the lower level of the house. The homeowner investigated further and was confronted by an unknown man inside the house.
A 32 year old man was arrested at the scene and charged with unlawful entry.
Also in local crime, yesterday morning (Thursday) police say they located a 1998 Honda Accord in the 2800 block of Lee Landing Court in Falls Church that had been reported stolen. The police report said the juvenile fled the vehicle and led officers on a brief foot chase before he was caught, arrested, and charged with grand larceny, possession of burglarious tools, and obstruction of justice.
Fairfax County police arrested a teen who allegedly led police on a chase in the Falls Church area last night.
Police said that when they tried to stop a Chevrolet Silverado for a traffic violation around 10 p.m. last night, the driver sped off and eventually hit a fire hydrant.
The incident happened in the area of Lee Hwy and Shreve Road.
Police charged the 18-year-old driver from D.C. with disregarding police command to stop, destruction of property and no driver’s license.
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
A man trying to steal from Macy’s led officers on a foot chase at Tysons Corner Center mall, according to Fairfax County Police.
The chase happened Monday around 5:30 p.m. FCPD says a man who was concealing items “left the store without paying for the merchandise and ran away.”
A 24-year-old D.C. man “was arrested after a foot pursuit for grand larceny, possession of burglarious tools and possession of marijuana,” police said in a crime report.
What began as a robbery of the Sunglass Hut store in Tysons Corner Center turned into a multi-jurisdictional car chase that ended in a major crash.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon. According to NBC 4, Virginia State Police chased a BMW associated with the mall robbery down the Beltway and across the Wilson Bridge into Maryland, before the driver lost control on a highway ramp in D.C., flipping the car violently.
A Virginia State Police spokeswoman confirmed to Tysons Reporter that troopers “initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle wanted by Fairfax County PD for an ongoing criminal investigation.”
“The vehicle refused to stop until it crashed in the District,” said spokeswoman Corinne Geller. “The trooper apprehended two of the vehicle’s three occupants and charged the driver with one felony count of eluding police.”
State police turned over the investigation to Fairfax County Police, Geller said. D.C. police took the lead on trying to track down the third suspect, who fled on foot.
Some attempted shoplifting at the Tysons Corner Center mall’s Apple Store escalated into a foot chase as one of the suspects attempted to flee, according to county police.
The incident occurred yesterday (Tuesday) at 1 p.m.
According to Fairfax County Police, officers responded to the Apple Store for a report of two individuals taking store property. One of the men was stopped by store employees, but a juvenile led officers on a short foot pursuit through the mall before being arrested.
“Aideen Bryar, 18, of Chevy Chase, Md., was charged with petit larceny and released on a summons,” police said in a crime roundup. “The juvenile was released to their parents and charges for petit larceny are forthcoming.”
File photo
