Fairfax County police have arrested a former Westbriar Elementary School employee for alleged financial crimes.
Police said in a press release today (Monday) that Adebisi Ogun “misappropriated credit card funds and forged the principal’s signature on checks for her personal use over a period of one year while Ogun worked as an administrative assistant” at the Vienna school.
“Detectives began their investigation in August 2018 after school officials became aware of fraudulent credit card activity,” police said. “After a thorough investigation, detectives obtained arrest warrants in Sept. 2018.”
Ogun, 29 from New York, was arrested in New York on Jan. 15 and extradited to Fairfax County, police said. Ogun has been charged with embezzlement, forgery and uttering.
Vienna police are investigating a variety of recent crimes — from ice cream cake theft to alleged fraud.
Juan Vazquez, a spokesperson for the Vienna Police Department, told Tysons Reporter that a 10-inch ice cream cake was swiped from Dairy Queen (304 Maple Avenue W.) on Tuesday (Jan. 28).
An employee at the Dairy Queen told police that two men came to the store around 3:30 p.m. that day and fled with the cake they had taken from the freezer, according to the police report.
The cake was white with red icing and cost $24.99, Vazquez said, adding that the suspects are described as “two black males, ages 50-60.” Vazquez said that the men left in a car.
In a separate incident, Vienna police are looking for whoever broke the lock on a shed and damaged property belonging to the Vienna Little League in Yeonas Park (1319 Ross Drive SW).
Police say the unlawful entry happened sometime between 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, and noon on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Vazquez said that green powder was thrown onto the equipment in the shed and contents of trash cans were emptied onto the private property.
“Someone’s got to clean all the stuff,” Vazquez said, adding that he didn’t know if he powder caused permanent damage or not to the equipment.
Vienna police are investigating a report of fraud that happened after a female resident went to pay the family’s mortgage with a check at the PNC Bank (353 Maple Avenue).
“She gave the check to a female at the bank” around 3 p.m. on Dec. 23, the police report said.
An employee from Burke & Herbert, the bank which the couple holds an account with, noticed that the check had been made cashed outside of Virginia and was made payable to a person instead of the mortgage company, the report said.
The Vienna Police Department was contacted on Jan. 10, when the woman and her husband were informed their payment was never received, according to police.
A spokesperson from the Vienna Police Department said no one has been arrested in association with the case yet and declined to provide more information on the incident because it is an active investigation.
Tysons Reporter reached out to PNC Bank but has not received a response yet.
Ashley Hopko and Catherine Douglas Moran contributed reporting
Image (1) via Google Maps, image (2) via Google Maps
Fairfax County police say a McLean home near the Marie Butler Leven Preserve was burglarized yesterday.
The incident happened in the 1600 block of Maddux Lane around 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 29).
Police say that someone stole property.
A Fairfax County police spokesperson declined to provide more information because it is an active case.
Map via Google Maps
The head of the Fairfax County Police Department said police took “proportionate, legal and necessary levels of use of force” following the shooting an armed suspect in Falls Church.
Fairfax County police said earlier today that a Special Weapons and Tactics Team officer shot a suspect “brandishing an assault-style weapon” last night in a house in the 7600 block of Lee Landing Drive.
In an update this afternoon, Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. said that the SWAT officers were serving a narcotics search warrant and two arrest warrants for felony distribution of marijuana and failure to appear for a probation violation in another jurisdiction.
“To serve the high-risk warrants safely, the SWAT team made multiple verbal announcements of their presence upon tactical entry of the home,” Roessler said.
David Vo, a 24-year-old Falls Church resident, confronted SWAT officers in the kitchen, pointing an assault-style weapon at them, according to police.
Vo was struck with one round in the leg, which “neutralized his threat,” before the SWAT team continued the search of the house, Roessler said. Vo was taken to a hospital and treated for the injury before being transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
Two of Vo’s kids, who are under the age of 4, and his girlfriend were in the house and unharmed during the incident, Roessler said.
“After the home was secured by the SWAT team, multiple unsecured firearms were in plain view and other narcotics were found in the home,” Roessler said.
Roessler said that the SWAT team was chosen to conduct the search after a risk assessment of the warrants determined the search to be “high risk” because of Vo’s “history of domestic assault and shooting at a vehicle.”
Capt. Jason Allegra with FCPD’s Narcotics Division said that two assault-style weapons, a pistol and narcotics were found at the house.
Allegra said that Vo will face the following additional charges:
- possession of a firearm by a felon
- distribution of marijauna while possessing a firearm
- possession of a firearm with schedule 1 or 2 drug
- ammunition possession by a felon
- felony distribution of marijuana
- drug possession schedule 1 or 2
The Major Crimes Bureau is conducting a criminal investigation into the use of force and the Internal Affairs Bureau is conducting an administrative investigation. The Police Auditor is also independently reviewing the incident, according to the police department.
“The name of the officer will be released by Chief Roessler within 10 days,” the press release from earlier today said.
The involved officer is a 16-year veteran of the police department, who, per department policy, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations, according to the press release.
“In my professional opinion, this is proportionate, legal and necessary to defend the lives of the officers as an assault weapon was pointed at the officers,” Roessler said about the shooting.
Roessler praised the officer on the SWAT team for the quick response.
“I support the pulling of the trigger by my officer,” Roessler said.
Roessler would not comment on whether or not Vo’s weapon was loaded or how many rounds were fired by the SWAT officer.
“We knew we were going into a violent situation,” Roessler said. “No lives were lost.”
Fairfax County police say a Special Weapons and Tactics Team officer shot a suspect “brandishing an assault-style weapon” last night in Falls Church.
The incident happened around 10 p.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 28) in a house in the 7600 block of Lee Landing Drive.
Police said the SWAT officers were serving a narcotics search warrant and related arrest warrants when the armed suspect confronted them in the house.
“A SWAT officer discharged his weapon striking the man,” according to the press release from the police department. “Officers immediately rendered medical aid to the man who then was transported to a hospital where he was treated and released.”
The Major Crimes Bureau is conducting a criminal investigation into the use of force and Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. has directed the Internal Affairs Bureau to conduct an administrative investigation, along with an independent review by the Police Auditor, according to the press release.
“The name of the officer will be released by Chief Roessler within 10 days,” the press release said.
More from FCPD:
David Vo, 24, of Falls Church, was charged with felony distribution of marijuana and felony failure to appear. Vo is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Additional charges will be forthcoming.
The involved officer is a 16-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department and is assigned to the Special Operations Division. As per department policy, the officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation…
All information provided in this release is based on preliminary investigative findings and may be subject to revision as the investigation progresses.
We are on scene of an officer involved shooting in the 7600 block of Lee Landing Drive. The suspect has been transported to a local hospital with injuries that are not life threatening and the officer was not injured. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/GnwSaXbxGG
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) January 29, 2020
Map via Google Maps
Vienna police say that a crash late Saturday night (Jan. 18) caused a power outage.
Police said that a vehicle traveling northbound in the 500 block of Hillcrest Drive ran off the road and struck a utility pole, causing it to collapse on top of the vehicle along with the power lines.
The incident happened around 10:30 p.m.
“The three occupants fled the scene before officers arrived,” police said. “The power company responded immediately to shut off the power and make repairs.”
After a search, police said they found the 21-year-old driver from Reston. He was released on his signature.
Shortly after midnight, police say that a drunk man in the 600 block of Hillcrest Drive was disrupting police investigating the hit-and-run.
“Upon the officers’ interaction with the man, they detected signs of impairment,” police said.
Police charged the man, a 23-year-old from Chantilly, with being drunk in public, and he was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
In a separate incident, a Vienna resident told the police that a stranger hacked his Snapchat account last Thursday (Jan. 16) and used his identity to solicit money from one of his friends, police say.
Photo via Facebook
Fairfax County police say a man accidentally discharged a gun while inside the Embassy Suites along Leesburg Pike in Tysons.
The incident happened around 11 a.m. on Sunday (Jan. 19).
“The bullet was located inside of a wall and nobody was injured,” according to the report.
Police said the 50-year-old man from Great Falls was charged with reckless handling of a firearm, discharge a firearm within a building and drunk in public, police said.
Image via Google Maps
Vienna police say a resident is concerned that wannabe dog owners are barking up the wrong tree for their puppy pick-ups.
“A resident advised that on two separate occasions, people have arrived at his residence to collect a puppy they have purchased,” Vienna police say. “The resident is concerned that scammers may be using his address while defrauding people.”
The incidents occurred between Jan. 8-12 in the 400 block of MacArthur Avenue NE.
In a separate incident, police say that someone spray-painted the playground equipment at the Tot Lot (Branch Road and Locust Street SE).
The vandalism occurred sometime between 10 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, and 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, police say.
Photo via Facebook
Vienna officials recently voted on new zoning changes in order to proceed with work on Vienna’s new police station.
The Vienna Planning Commission held a meeting on Jan. 8, where community members could give feedback about the classification changes to town-owned parcels of land at 440 Beulah Road NE and 114 Locust Street SW.
The town bought the parcels in 2013 and 2018.
“The Town intends to demolish the existing vacant house [at Locust Street] and combine the lot with the 215 Center Street South parcel, which currently houses the Bowman House and the existing Police Department facility,” according to the staff report.
The property on Beulah Road is meant to serve as a temporary police station while the new one is built.
Commissioners said that the lots need to be rezoned for governmental use — in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan — before crews break ground on the project on police station project.
While commissioners talked about adjusting the language, ultimately Commissioners Mary McCullough and Sarah Couchman defended the way it was written.
“This town has every intention of building a new police facility, and our Comprehensive Plan is supposed to lead the future direction of what we want to see done,” McCullough said.
Couchman echoed her sentiment, adding that the town likely wouldn’t have purchased the land on Locust Street had they not intended to build a police station there.
The Planning Commission voted to recommend the zoning changes in the Comprehensive Plan for both lots to the Vienna Town Council.
The conversation will continue regarding the language in the plan, though. The commissioners asked town staff to look into how things like this have been addressed in the past, citing case studies around Tysons Corner.
Image via Town of Vienna
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.
