Author: Jared Serre

Jared Serre covers local business, public safety and breaking news across Local News Now's websites. Originally from Northeast Ohio, he is a graduate of West Virginia University. He previously worked with Law360 before joining LNN in May 2024.

Countywide

Most crime rates dropped in 2025, Fairfax County police data shows

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County Police Department chief Kevin Davis (photo via FCPD/Flickr)

All but one of the Fairfax County Police Department’s major crime statistics dropped in 2025, according to police data released this week.

Rates of carjackings (down 48%), non-fatal shootings (37%), burglaries (27%), robberies (19%), shoplifting (11%), sex offenses (11%), vehicle theft (10%) and homicides (7%) all saw a year-over-year drop, Police Chief Kevin Davis told the Board of Supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee on Tuesday (March 10).

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News

Ex-Reston man who threatened to kill Trump sentenced to prison

By Jared Serre
The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

An ex-Reston man will spend more than two years in federal prison after making various threats to the life of President Donald Trump and other government officials on social media.

Valeriy Kouznetsov, 41, was sentenced yesterday (Wednesday) to two years and four months behind bars after admitting to making the threats last summer, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

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Around Town

Opening dates set for Fava Pot, game show experience at The Boro in Tysons

By Jared Serre
The future storefront for Fava Pot at The Boro in Tysons from early February 2026 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

It won’t be long before both a Mediterranean restaurant and an immersive game show experience open their doors at The Boro in Tysons.

Fava Pot and Game Show Battle Rooms will officially open to the public later this month, a spokesperson for The Boro announced.

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Countywide

FCDOT seeks feedback on proposed pedestrian, bicyclist improvement projects

By Jared Serre
A crossing on Ridge Heights Road outside Langston Hughes Middle School in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County officials are seeking input on how to allocate millions of dollars in funding for improvements to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) unveiled a list of proposed projects last month and is now actively accepting survey responses until 4:30 p.m. on March 31.

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Countywide

Fairfax County police intend to partially encrypt radio communications

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County Police Department's in-car radio system (via FCPD/Facebook)

The Fairfax County Police Department is moving forward with plans to partially seal off its radio communications from the public.

The department has proposed encrypting its “main channels” to both limit the disclosure of sensitive information and prevent “someone’s worst day from being used for entertainment,” officers told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a Safety and Security Committee meeting this afternoon (Tuesday).

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Around Town

‘Comicworx’ convention set for debut at Workhouse Arts Center this weekend

By Jared Serre
Ghostbusters, VA, a charitable nonprofit organized by Ghostbusters fans, will be among the vendors at the inaugural ComicWorx (courtesy of Workhouse Arts Center)

An extensive “comic and pop culture experience” is coming to Lorton’s Workhouse Arts Center (9518 Workhouse Way) this weekend.

Comicworx, a convention-style event featuring celebrity guests, vendors and more, will take place at the campus tomorrow (Saturday) — the first such event in the history of the venue.

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News

FCPD: Man who claimed to be a pastor charged with Merrifield sexual assault

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County Police Department vehicle (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A Harrisonburg man who claimed to be a pastor is now in Fairfax County custody after being accused of a sexual assault in Merrifield, police said today (Friday).

Marco Antonio Ocampos Zamora allegedly traveled to Merrifield for an in-person “counseling session” with a woman he met online who believed he was a pastor. The woman told detectives that she was sexually assaulted during the session, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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News

‘Not a question of if’: FCPD sent warnings about stabbing suspect before Hybla Valley killing

By Jared Serre
Abdul Jalloh seen on a bus shortly after the killing of Stephanie Minter (photo via FCPD/X)

The man accused of fatally stabbing a woman at a Hybla Valley bus stop last month had been flagged by local law enforcement as a repeat offender with a record of knife-related incidents, emails show.

Three months before Abdul Jalloh was charged with the Feb. 23 murder of Stephanie Minter, a Fairfax County Police Department commander expressed concern to prosecutors that Jalloh would strike again, according to documents provided to FFXnow by the conservative nonprofit Virginians for Safe Communities.

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Countywide

Fairfax senator confident that bills to ‘end ICE abuses’ will become law

By Jared Serre
The Virginia State Capitol building (file photo)

With less than two weeks left in the Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session, three bills authored by a Fairfax state senator that would “end ICE abuses” still have a chance to become law.

Each of the bills introduced by state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D), which would place state-level restrictions on federal immigration enforcement activities, await action by the House of Delegates at large before potentially heading to the governor’s desk.

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