Fairfax County police have arrested a 40-year-old woman from Alexandria who allegedly stole a vehicle with a girl in the backseat on Sunday (Jan. 15).
According to police, the woman was connected to a second vehicle theft incident in the 6200 block of Little River Turnpike in Annandale that occurred around 6:50 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday).
Officers in the area for a separate investigation were approached by a driver who said their 2012 Honda Pilot was stolen while they were inside a restaurant. They had left the SUV running.
“The victim returned, and the SUV was missing,” the Fairfax County Police Department said.
A 2012 Honda Accord was stolen from a parking lot in the same block around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. That car had a 6-year-old girl in the backseat, who was waiting while her stepfather went into a restaurant to pick up food, police reported.
The girl was located in D.C. less than an hour later and reunited with her family, but police didn’t find the stolen sedan.
According to the FCPD, the driver of the stolen SUV tracked a phone that had been left in the vehicle and traced it to the 80 block of South Bragg Street, just inside Alexandria’s city limits. Officers were notified just before midnight yesterday.
“Our officers and the City of Alexandria Police Department found the vehicle and saw a woman exit the SUV,” the department said. “The woman, Tanisha Hall, was immediately taken into custody.”
The officers also located the missing Accord nearby and “discovered evidence linking Hall to the abduction.”
Hall has been charged with two counts of grand larceny, abduction, credit card theft, obstruction of justice, and giving a false identity to law enforcement officers. She is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
The FCPD says that anyone with information about the two incidents can contact its Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, or submit anonymous tips through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
Police have seen an increase in vehicle theft calls around the county, often involving Hyundai or Kia models, according to the FCPD.
“Our officers and Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit have increased their presence throughout the county. We are also asking for our community’s help to reduce auto theft,” the department said, advising people to park in well-lit areas, lock all doors, and never leave their vehicle unattended, among other tips.
A 5-year-old girl who was in the backseat of a sedan when it got stolen Sunday night (Jan. 15) has been reunited with her family, Fairfax County police say.
Detectives believe the girl’s stepfather stopped at a parking lot in the 6200 block of Little River Turnpike that evening, leaving his 2012 Honda Accord running while he went inside a restaurant to pick up food, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
When the man came out of the restaurant, he found that the car was gone. The girl had been waiting in the car’s backseat.
Officers responded to the scene at 6:30 p.m.
“Our helicopter and officers from around the county saturated the area while detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau began the Amber Alert process,” the FCPD said. “A lookout for the car and the child were quickly provided to surrounding jurisdictions.”
The girl was found in downtown D.C. by two community members, who called the Metropolitan Police Department to the intersection of 13th Street and E Street NW around 7:18 p.m.
Fire and rescue personnel were brought in to determine that the kid was unharmed, and the FCPD helped reunite her with her family, according to yesterday’s news release.
The suspect allegedly fled in the stolen Accord, which is still missing.
Detectives continue to search for the stolen 2012 gray Honda Accord with Maryland plates 94667CJ. The car has a black hood with damage to the front and back end. The suspect is described as a black male with dark curly hair. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web – Click HERE. Download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for a detective to follow up with you.
Photo by Henry Bright/Twitter
A Herndon man could face up to 15 years in prison for the production of child pornography, according to authorities.
Vincent Joseph Sarikey, 34, appeared in court yesterday (Monday) for allegations that he attempted to groom minors, pushed them record themselves partaking in sexual activities, and engaged in “sexually exploit discussions” with at least two people who identified themselves as minors, the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Sarikey faces at least 15 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are usually less than maximum penalties.
Authorities believe the suspect encouraged at least two minors to produce sexually explicit materials and send them to him. Sarikey then allegedly provided the pictures to another individual who shared an interest in the minors, according to court documents.
Authorities say they found “hundreds of images and video of child sexual abuse material” on Sarikey’s electronic devices.
“These exchanges took place on several social media platforms, including Telegram, Twitter, and Discord under the monikers “John Lugne,” “@JLugne,” and “triadus#9325,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in its news release.
The FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the issue. It’s charged with bringing federal charges against individuals who engage in human trafficking or the exploitation of children.
Photo via Google Maps
(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) A Lorton man charged with alleged sexual battery of a minor may be responsible for a separate, earlier sexual assault against a woman in Mount Vernon, police say.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced today that additional charges have been filed against Louis C. Allen, 42, after they matched his DNA to evidence collected from a sexual assault at a Mount Vernon Lakes apartment on Feb. 2.
According to police, a woman reported entering her apartment building in the 8300 block of Brockham Drive at 7:05 p.m. that day and being “grabbed from behind by a man,” who sexually assaulted her.
“The victim was able to fight off the suspect. He left property behind as he ran away,” the FCPD said in a news release. “This item was collected as evidence and sent to the Department of Forensic Science (DFS) for DNA testing.”
According to police, the DFS analysis detected Allen’s DNA on the evidence that was collected.
Allen was arrested on May 24 for allegedly touching a kid inappropriately multiple times at a playground in Lake Accotink Park on May 21. He was charged with aggravated sexual battery and served warrants for assault of a family member and failing to appear in court for previous offenses, the FCPD reported at the time.
Fairfax County General District Court records show that Allen previously arrested for an attempted vehicle burglary on Oct. 25, 2020.
He was initially charged with possession of burglary tools and entering a vehicle, which are misdemeanors, as well as destruction of property over $1,000 — a felony. However, the felony was later downgraded to a second misdemeanor charge of entering a vehicle, and Allen entered a no contest guilty plea at a preliminary hearing on Jan. 26, 2021.
He was also arrested on May 13, 2021 for an April 12, 2021 assault and battery incident.
After the Lake Accotink arrest, police said Allen was initially being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. A judge set a bond of $50,000 in the case that hasn’t been paid, according to a Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court clerk.
Right now, though, Allen is in a Tennessee jail on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated photography of a minor, the FCPD said today. He was extradited from Fairfax County to face those charges after the May 24 arrest, according to the department.
“Detectives traveled to Tennessee and obtained DNA from Allen,” police said. “DFS was able to provide a DNA confirmation based on the direct comparison of the DNA collected from Allen and the collected evidence” from the Mount Vernon assault, for which he has been charged with abduction with the intent to defile and object sexual penetration.
According to the FCPD, Allen will be extradited from Tennessee to Fairfax County for Lake Accotink Park assault. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 15.
A 29-year-old man from Mount Vernon could face life in prison after pleading guilty to transporting a teen for sexual purposes, the Department of Justice announced yesterday.
Apipat Vutipawat pleaded guilty last Thursday (Nov. 10) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to charges that, from May 29, 2020 through June 2, 2020, he transported an unidentified minor from Virginia to Pennsylvania “with the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to the Observer-Reporter, Vutipawat was arrested on May 14, 2020 in Pennsylvania’s Richhill Township after police found him in a vehicle with a 14-year-old girl who said he was her boyfriend. He had allegedly met the girl through a dating app and faced multiple local assault charges.
Vutipawat pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault in Washington County Court and was sentenced to over three years in prison on Jan. 14, according to court records.
Vutipawat was indicted on three federal charges in March 2021, including traveling with the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, transportation with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and obstruction of justice.
With his guilty plea, he faces a total sentence between at least 10 years and life in prison, a fine of up to $750,000, or both, according to the DOJ.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 16, 2023.
“Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history of the defendant,” the DOJ news release said. “Pending sentencing, Vutipawat remains detained.”
The department says the case was part of its national Project Safe Childhood initiative, which started in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The Fairfax County Police Department joined the investigation with federal, state and local law enforcement in Pennsylvania.
(Updated 4:25 p.m.) The City of Falls Church Police announced earlier this week that they’d arrested a man on five counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
Kimball Bryant Winn (64) was arrested on Sept. 9 as the result of an investigation by a task force comprised of Falls Church police and Virginia State Police, according to the release.
“The City of Falls Church Police Criminal Investigation Division began investigating the suspect after receiving a cyber-tip from the Northern Virginia and Washington, DC Internet Crimes Against Children (NOVA-DC ICAC) Task Force about possible crimes involving child pornography. During the execution of the search warrant at the suspect’s residence on August 31, 2022, multiple digital devices were forensically previewed and child pornography was located,” the release stated.
The items were seized and the investigation into the suspect’s online activities is ongoing.
Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the City of Falls Church Police Department at 703-241-5050.
A man who sexually abused children for years at a home day care in Annandale has been sentenced to life in prison, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced today (Friday).
Elwood Lewis Thomas, a 38-year-old man from Alexandria, will serve four life sentences and an additional 36 years in prison after being convicted last year on multiple counts of rape, aggravated sexual battery, and sexual penetration with an object, according to Descano’s office.
“We asked that Mr. Thomas be sentenced to life in prison because of his abhorrent history of sexually abusing children,” Descano said in a statement. “My thoughts are with these children and their families as they begin the journey of healing.
CA Descano announced today that an Alexandria man was sentenced to four life sentences plus 36 years after being convicted of two counts of rape, four counts of aggravated sexual battery, and two counts of object sexual penetration last year. pic.twitter.com/OIZ1zF2tnL
— Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Descano (@FairfaxCountyCA) August 26, 2022
Fairfax County police arrested Thomas in September 2019 and charged him with abusing three kids while they attended Happy Land Daycare from 2006 to 2010. The day care operated in the 6400 block of Holyoke Drive from approximately 1999 to 2012, the police department said at the time.
According to police, Thomas had been employed at the day care and was living in the house between 1999 and 2012. The children were between 4 and 8 years old at the time of the abuse, the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney says.
Thomas had previously been arrested for molesting a girl at the day care in June 2012. The girl, then 14, alleged that Thomas had inappropriately touched her on multiple occasions when she was 11 or 12, The Washington Post reported at the time.
For that case, Thomas was convicted in 2013 of aggravated sexual battery of a child under 13. The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney says he was sentenced to eight years in prison, but seven years were suspended, and he was ordered to spend 20 years on probation.
(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) Fairfax County police arrested a 22-year-old man yesterday evening (Wednesday) after he allegedly tried to abduct a kid in Lincolnia’s Crystal Woods apartment complex.
Identified as Kevin Moran-Perez from Centreville, the man approached three kids playing near an apartment building in the 5000 block of Caryn Court, the Fairfax County Police Department reported today (Thursday).
According to police, the man showed a knife and grabbed one of the kids, a pre-teen, by the hand. The kid was able to break free, and all three ran away with no injuries.
The FCPD says officers who responded to the scene at 4:23 p.m. found Moran-Perez nearby and arrested him. Charged with assault and possession of a drug, he’s currently being detained without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
The father of the girl who was grabbed told WUSA9 that she had just returned home from school when the man approached the group and took her by the arm and backpack.
The police department is still investigating the case. Community members can contact its detectives at 703-256-8035 or through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
Officers on scene of an abduction in 5000 blk of Caryn Ct in Alexandria. A man approached a group of kids, displayed a knife & grabbed a child by hand. Child broke free & the man ran. Officers found suspect nearby & arrested. Detectives responding to scene. Child not injured. pic.twitter.com/8AKa3KBeSS
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) August 24, 2022
A counselor at Glasgow Middle School in Lincolnia has been fired after Fairfax County Public Schools officials learned he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter to families.
While not named in the letter, which went out on Aug. 18, FCPS identified the counselor in a statement to media as Darren Thornton, as previously reported by FOX5, NBC4, and WTOP.
“Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has been informed that while Darren Thornton was working at one of our schools he was convicted of solicitation of prostitution from a minor outside of Fairfax County,” the school system wrote. “He was already an FCPS employee at the time of his arrest and subsequent conviction. He has been relieved of all duties, dismissed, and will not be returning.”
A spokesperson told FFXnow that the statement had been shared “with media” who requested one on July 28. FCPS didn’t immediately respond to follow up questions about when exactly Thorton was fired.
It’s also unclear how long he was employed by FCPS, but he was mentioned by Glasgow’s student newspaper in a February 2021 post expressing appreciation for the school’s counselors.
FCPS didn’t confirm where the crime and conviction occurred beyond that it was not in Fairfax County.
There’s no indication at this time that any Fairfax County children or students were involved, according to Reid.
In her letter, Reid says she and the Fairfax County School Board took action to dismiss Thornton as soon as they learned about the situation. FCPS is now petitioning the state to revoke his license, and Reid has commissioned an outside legal counsel to conduct an independent investigation.
The school board has directed Reid to deliver an “accountability report with a timely corrective action plan so that this never again occurs within FCPS,” she said.
“There is no higher priority than the safety of our students and, on behalf of the School Board and myself, I want to make this very clear: this entire situation is unacceptable from any perspective,” Reid said. “We are deeply concerned about how this happened in one of our schools.”
Reid said anyone with concerns or information can contact the FCPS Office of Safety and Security’s safety tip line or the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-691-2131.
Man Dies After Fairfax City Crash — “A 32-year-old Maryland man died from injuries he received when the motorcycle he was riding Monday afternoon collided with an SUV on Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax City, according to a police release.” [Patch]
Suspect in Fatal Springfield Stabbing Extradited — “This evening, Jose Heber Hernandez Mejia was extradited back to Fairfax County from South Carolina. He’s charged with 2nd degree murder for the July 17 domestic-related stabbing in the 5200 block of Rolling Rd. Hernandez Mejia was held on no bond.” [FCPD/Twitter]
Arrests Made in Child Solicitation Sting — “Six men ranging in ages from 26 to 43 were arrested by Fairfax County Police as part of an online sting to identify and apprehend predators seeking to exploit children using the internet, according to a police brief.” [Patch]
Food Stolen From Mount Vernon Daycare — “Officers were called to the KinderCare at 4287 Buckman Road early Monday morning for a burglary that occurred over the weekend. When officers learned thousands of dollars worth of food was stolen from the center, they quickly jumped into action to ensure the kids wouldn’t go hungry by purchasing breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks.” [FCPD/Facebook]
Virginia Sees Bump in Pro-Choice License Plates — “Pro-life and pro-choice license plates aren’t new to Virginia: The commonwealth has issued ‘Choose Life’ plates since 2009 and ‘Trust Women. Respect Choice.’ since 2010…Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, though, more people are buying pro-choice plates.” [Washingtonian]
Fire Department Enlists Starbucks for Backpack Drive — “#FCFRD is partnering with select local @Starbucks stores to collect backpacks for underprivileged children. Backpacks will be given to local schools in #FairfaxCounty for distribution. Backpacks will be collected until August 12. Please donate a new backpack today!” [FCFRD/Twitter]
Metro Seeks to Add More Trains — Metro is seeking permission to operate more of the 7000-series trains that were sidelined late last year after a derailment in Arlington, according to the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. The transit agency is currently permitted to run 64 cars, or eight trains, per day, as long as their wheels are inspected daily. [The Washington Post]
State Legislators Consider Changes to Recall Process — “Activists in Virginia are increasingly turning to the state’s court-driven recall process to try to take out their frustrations on local officials they feel have done something wrong…The fact that the recalls almost never work doesn’t seem to be stopping the trend, but it’s causing some lawmakers to rethink a system that empowers judges, not voters, to decide when politicians deserve to be kicked out of office early.” [Virginia Mercury/Inside NoVA]
“American Idol” Winner to Take Wolf Trap Stage — “Her victory on Season 3 of ‘American Idol’ made her a household name. Now, Fantasia Barrino is bringing her signature sound to Wolf Trap in Virginia on Aug. 19.” [WTOP]
It’s Wednesday — Rain starting in the afternoon. High of 88 and low of 77. Sunrise at 6:19 am and sunset at 8:11 pm. [Weather.gov]
