Vienna man reports armed robbery, possibly by people seen buying guns

In a sequence of events that could’ve been ripped out of a pulpy crime thriller, a man in Vienna was reportedly taken for a ride and robbed at gunpoint — potentially by a trio spotted patronizing a local gun shop earlier that day.

Around 2:40 p.m. on April 9, the man was picked up by three men in a vehicle, one of them an acquaintance, at the Giant shopping center (359 Maple Avenue), according to the Vienna Police Department’s recap for the week of April 8-14.

“While they were driving around, the three men displayed handguns and announced a robbery, taking the citizen’s belongings,” police said. “The men allowed the citizen to exit the vehicle on Cabin Road where he ran to the nearest residence for assistance.”

According to the police report, a citizen reported seeing a man shopping for a handgun at Vienna Arsenal (386 Maple Avenue East) between noon and 1 p.m. that same day. The shopper allegedly left the gun store in a vehicle with two other men.

The report doesn’t specify whether the citizen is the same person who was robbed, but it does say that the person “thought the men may be related to the robbery.”

“Unfortunately, this is an active case and we can’t comment on it at this time,” a VPD spokesperson told FFXnow when asked if the “citizen” referenced in both incidents is the same person.

Police say anyone with information or video related to the armed robbery can contact Detective Herrera at 703-255-7821 or mherrera@viennava.gov.

A chore and errand take alarming turns

In other Vienna crime news, a resident of the Park Terrace Condominiums (200 block of Park Terrace Court) told police that a verbal argument with another woman in the complex’s communal laundry room escalated into a physical assault.

“The resident reported that during the dispute, the woman punched her,” Vienna police said of the incident, which occurred at 10 a.m. on April 10. “The resident was advised of the warrant process should she wish to pursue charges against the other resident.”

For a different Vienna woman, a visit to the post office on Lawyers Road became an occasion for distress when a man followed her “for several blocks,” according to the police summary:

Suspicious Event 22-003436
Post Office
200 Lawyers Road, NW
April 12 11:30 a.m.
A resident reported that she was at the Post Office when she observed a man who was trying to get her attention. The man followed the resident for several blocks. When the woman tried to take a picture of the man’s license plate, he became angry and got out of his vehicle. The woman drove immediately to the police station to report the incident.

The VPD says an officer tried to speak to the owner of the vehicle that the man reportedly drove, and those attempts “were unsuccessful.”

Photo via Vienna Police Department/Facebook