Thefts at retail businesses in Fairfax County dropped sharply in June after spiking this spring, local police say.
The Fairfax County Police Department reported on Thursday (July 6) that there were 573 shoplifting offenses last month, down from 642 offenses in May and 603 in April. The department attributes the decline to its increased focus on retail thefts as part of a 2023 summer crime prevention initiative.
Third Week of Traffic Safety Campaign Underway — “Road Shark is a high-visibility and coordinated enforcement and education effort to deter aggressive driving, reduce crashes, and change driving behavior…Last campaign, officers along with our Virginia State Police partners issued over 5,000 citations and warnings.” [FCPD]
Old Commanders Facility in Herndon Sold — “The Washington Commanders’ former Herndon practice facility, which the team left 31 years ago for Ashburn, has sold to the owner of a planned data center campus across the street.” The property at 13832 Redskin Drive was purchased for $25 million by “an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, which in 2021 earned Fairfax County’s OK to develop a 2.2 million-square-foot, four-building data center campus on adjacent…land.” [Washington Business Journal]
(Updated at 8 p.m. on 7/11/2023) Fairfax County Public Schools went 2-for-2 in Major League Baseball’s 2023 draft last night (Sunday), as a pair of its standout players snagged coveted first-round slots.
Ranked as the 23rd top prospect in the country by MLB, James Madison High School graduate Bryce Eldridge was selected by the San Francisco Giants as the 16th overall pick of the draft, thanks to his formidable skills as both a hitter and a pitcher.
A new herb garden inspired by a 1910 classic on home remedies has officially opened at Colvin Run Mill in Great Falls.
The garden was started by Larry Herman, the master gardener on the board of Friends of Colvin Run Mill. He was inspired by the book, “Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from the Mothers of the United States and Canada,” which offers guidance on how to grow and prep herbs to treat ailments by making teas, ointments, plasters, syrups and tinctures.
Damages from a house fire in the Fair Oaks Chase neighborhood on the Fourth of July topped $1 million, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.
Two people were displaced by the two-alarm fire in the 12300 block of Firestone Court, one of two house fires put out on a busy Tuesday night for the FCFRD.
Reston Association has a new chief operating officer to fill shoes long held by Larry Butler, who retired this year after more than 40 years with the association.
Peter Lusk took Butler’s place effective today (Monday), RA announced in a newsletter on Friday (July 7).
A Stafford man was arrested on Friday (July 7) in connection with the sexual battery of a woman in Chantilly and two other incidents that police say are related.
Fairfax County police arrested Hien The Dinh, 20, on charges of abduction and sexual battery. Police say he approached a woman in “broad daylight” on July 3 around 11:30 a.m. in the 14500 block of Northeast Place and forcefully grabbed her in an intimate area and put her in a chokehold.
Pedestrians were casualties of two separate vehicle crashes this past weekend, Fairfax County police reported.
A 26-year-old pedestrian was killed early Saturday morning (July 8) in Bailey’s Crossroads by an apparently intoxicated driver, and then, early this morning (Monday), a man was taken to the hospital after a crash on Fairfax County Parkway and Stringfellow Road in Chantilly.
Over 20,000 Speeders Caught by School Zone Cameras — “Thousands of drivers have been caught speeding in the months since speed cameras were placed in school zones near eight Fairfax County…schools, according to police data obtained by WTOP. In total, 23,431 cars were caught going 10 or more miles per hour above the speed limit in April, May and June combined.” [WTOP]
Walt Whitman MS Assistant Punched Student, Police Say — “A 58-year-old teacher’s assistant in Fairfax County is charged with simple assault after allegedly punching a student in the face during an altercation…Investigators claim on the day of the assault, the student began arguing with the teacher and flicked his glasses.” [WUSA9]
A Falls Church man has been charged with a hit and run after crashing into multiple vehicles on the Capital Beltway (I-495) in McLean yesterday (Thursday), bringing traffic during the afternoon rush-hour to a halt.
In footage from a Virginia Department of Transportation traffic camera shared by public safety blogger Dave Statter, the driver of a white van was captured plowing into several northbound vehicles and then jumping over the median to the interstate’s southbound lanes around 4 p.m.
