A man who was hospitalized while in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center has died, triggering a police investigation.
Todd Matthew Gleason, 51, died Tuesday morning (July 4) just hours after a magistrate approved his release, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. He was taken to a hospital from the jail on Monday after telling sheriff’s deputies that he had “pain to his stomach and leg,” police said.
Gleason sustained injuries after being hit by a car, an incident that occurred before his arrest, according to the Fairfax County Office of the Public Defender, which was representing him.
Gleason was arrested on June 17 for a petit larceny that allegedly occurred on June 15, according to Fairfax County General District Court records. Mount Vernon District patrol officers also served him a warrant for failure to appear on a felony offense, the FCPD said Wednesday.
“There was no force used during Gleason’s arrest,” the department said. “Following his arrest, Gleason requested to be taken to the hospital for a preexisting injury. Officers facilitated his request, and he was medically cleared by hospital staff the same day.”
However, Gleason was still experiencing medical issues from his injuries while in custody at the Adult Detention Center, the public defender’s office says.
“Mr. Gleason continued to have medical issues from those injuries during his incarceration,” Fairfax Public Defender Dawn Butorac said by email. “He advised his attorneys of such and it is my understanding that he also advised the jail staff as well. It appears that his complaints were not taken seriously until July 3rd.”
That morning, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office requested an ambulance to take Gleason back to the hospital, according to the police.
Police say a magistrate granted Gleason a release on recognizance at 9:22 pm on Monday, July 3, a date confirmed to FFXnow by a General District Court clerk.
“Any medical complaints are taken seriously and fully addressed by our medical team,” Casey Lingan, general counsel for the sheriff’s office, said.
Noting that the county jail “is nationally accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care,” Lingan said the office can’t provide any information about medical care given to individuals in the facility, citing confidentiality laws under HIPAA and the Code of Federal Regulations.
An autopsy to determine the manner and cause of Gleason’s death is being conducted by Northern Virginia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The final results could take 12 or more weeks, depending on the complexity of the case, according to the office.
Fairfax County court records show a string of previous charges against Gleason, dating back to Oct. 24, 2020. It’s unclear whether any of them resulted in convictions.
The charges are mostly misdemeanors, including multiple petit larcenies, trespassing, public intoxication and failures to appear in court. There are two felony drug possession charges, most recently for an April 8 offense, and one felony for wearing a mask.
Gleason had been scheduled for an adjudicatory hearing on Sept. 14.
The Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney said it had no comment on the case at this time, but called Gleason’s death “a tragedy.”
No other deaths have been reported at the county jail this year, but three people died while incarcerated last year.
That includes 65-year-old George Redmond and 55-year-old Kyung Pil Chang, who died within two days of each other in late March 2022. Glenn Meyer, who was charged in a Pimmit Hills shooting in 2020, died last July after a medical emergency, police said at the time.
(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) Two people have died, and two more have been hospitalized in an apparent shooting and stabbing at the Tysons View Apartments in Idylwood.
A 20-year-old man had been reported shot in the 2200 block of Pimmit Run Lane, a dispatcher said at 3:37 p.m. on the police scanner.
When officers arrived, they found a dead man in the laundry room of one of the apartments and encountered another man in the parking lot who had also been shot, Fairfax County Police Department Deputy Chief Eli Cory said at a media briefing.
The second man was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
Officers also found two people at the scene who had been stabbled, both of them juveniles. They were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Cory confirmed that one of the stabbing victims was from Loudoun County, but the relationship between the people involved isn’t clear yet.
“We believe that everyone involved came together for a purpose,” Cory said. “For what reason, we’re not sure, so we don’t believe there’s a threat to public safety, but we do want to find out why everyone was here.”
Police found a knife and a backpack with narcotics at the scene, according to Cory.
The police department said earlier that “several suspects were seen running from” the apartment, but Cory noted that some people seen fleeing when officers arrived could’ve been community members who were scared.
According to scanner traffic, one of the victims told an officer that the suspects were wearing masks, and three of them wore backpacks. The dispatcher noted that a helicopter was unavailable for the search due to the rainy weather.
The FCPD is asking community members who may have information about the incident — which is being investigated as a double homicide — to contact its detectives at 703-246-7800.
UPDATE: 2 victims suffered stab wounds considered not life threatening. 2 victims were shot and have been declared deceased. PIOs enroute to the scene.
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 29, 2023
Four people have been arrested and charged in the death of a woman who was found, possibly shot, in the Inova Mount Vernon Hospital parking lot on April 13.
Detectives have determined that Brenda Ochoa Guerrero, 33, of Alexandria died at a house in the 2500 block of Fairhaven Avenue in Huntington, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
She was then driven to the hospital at 8033 Holland Road, where a community member found her unconscious in the passenger seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound, police said.
“Detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau responded to the scene and immediately began investigating,” the FCPD said. “Detectives located surveillance footage of two men who drove the car to the hospital parking lot and two individuals who were in the SUV that picked them up.”
According to police, an anonymous tip helped detectives identify 43-year-old David Littlefield and 36-year-old Eric Thompson, both from Alexandria, as the men who drove Ochoa Guerrero to the hospital and left her.
Police say they were picked up in a different car by 35-year-old Alexandria resident Eric Rubio and 29-year-old Maryland resident Yuris Pineda Gallegos.
Officers arrested Rubio, Thompson and Littlefield on May 14, according to Fairfax County court records. Gallegos turned herself in at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center yesterday (Wednesday), according to the police.
All four of them have been charged with concealment of a dead body, a Class 6 felony in Virginia.
Rubio and Littlefield remain in custody without bond. However, Pineda Gallegos was released by a magistrate on personal recognizance, and a judge granted Thompson a supervised release on May 18, according to a Fairfax County General District Court clerk.
According to the court, Thompson was assigned a probation officer with whom he has to check in periodically.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for July 17, per court records.
The circumstances around Ochoa Guerrero’s death are still under investigation, the FCPD said.
One man was killed and another remains hospitalized after a shooting yesterday (Sunday) at Build America Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads.
Fairfax County police were dispatched to the 3800 block of South George Mason Drive for reports of a shooting around 2:19 a.m., the department reported.
“Two adult men were found suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body. Both men were taken to the hospital with injuries considered life-threatening,” the Fairfax County Police Department said.
The man who died has been identified as 24-year-old D.C. resident Maurice Anderson. The other man was in critical condition, police said.
Witnesses told police that multiple people “were all arguing” in the shopping center’s parking lot after leaving a restaurant when the suspect fired multiple shots, hitting the two men, according to scanner traffic.
While initial calls offered no description of the suspect, detectives determined that he left the scene in a vehicle. The FCPD released images believed to be of the shooter yesterday afternoon.
The department is asking anyone with possible information about the shooting to contact its detectives at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be shared anonymously by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.
By FFXnow’s count, this was the seventh fatal shooting in Fairfax County so far in 2023.
Detectives are on scene continuing to investigate. The second victim is in critical care and remains hospitalized. No suspect description at this time.
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 7, 2023
Photo via Google Maps
A man who ended up in a shootout with state police and one Fairfax County officer after an extended chase on I-95 earlier this month has now been charged with attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer.
Michael C. Davis, a 34-year-old man from North Chesterfield, was also charged on Wednesday (April 26) with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and eluding policy, the Virginia State Police announced yesterday. All three counts are felonies.
Served by VSP’s Fairfax office after consulting prosecutors in Prince William County, the newly announced charges come on top of a felony abduction charge against Davis. He’s accused of abducting a woman in Ithaca, New York, who was shot and killed during the gunfight with police on April 5.
According to state police, the encounter began at 9:40 p.m. when a trooper pulled over a Jeep Cherokee going south on I-95 near the Backlick Road exit in Springfield for having the wrong license plates on display.
“The trooper approached the Jeep, and spoke to both the adult male driver and adult female passenger,” police said. “It was not until the trooper returned to his patrol car to verify the driver’s information that he learned that the driver was wanted by New York State Police for abducting the adult female passenger.”
VSP’s account has been slightly revised from its initial report, which suggested the trooper was aware before he pulled the vehicle over that it was wanted for the abduction of 34-year-old Ithaca resident Tatiana David, thanks to a license plate reader alert.
Police say Davis fled south on I-95 “within seconds” of the trooper getting the notice about the vehicle’s connection to the abduction. The pursuit continued into Prince William County until the Jeep drove off the road and crashed into woods near the exit to Quantico.
“As soon as the troopers approached the SUV, Davis, who remained in the driver’s seat, began shooting at them. State police returned fire,” police said.
David died at the scene, though it remains unclear if she was shot by police or Davis. Her body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manassas for an autopsy.
Also injured, Davis was transported for treatment at Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was released on Tuesday (April 25), according to the VSP. He remains in custody without bond at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center.
A VSP spokesperson confirmed that the troopers involved in the shooting remain on administrative leave as the criminal investigation and a separate internal administrative investigation continue.
The Fairfax County Police Department said one of its K9 officers — seven-year veteran Pfc. Andrew Snow — also fired his gun while assisting in the pursuit. The department said earlier that Snow was “placed on modified restricted duty” but didn’t respond by press time when FFXnow asked if that’s still the case.
An internal affairs investigation by the FCPD and an independent review by the county’s police auditor are still underway.
No police were injured in the shooting. The VSP says two firearms were found at the scene.
Updated at 2:20 p.m. on 4/28/2023 — Police are officially investigating yesterday’s shooting as a double murder and suicide case.
Based on a preliminary investigation, detectives believe that 47-year-old Tiku Berhane Gebreeyesus shot his wife, 38-year-old Meskerem Belachew Solomon, and her brother, 31-year-old Amanuel Belachew Solomon, before shooting himself.
Earlier: Fairfax County police are investigating a domestic shooting at a West Springfield house.
Three people — two adult men and one woman — were found dead in the basement of a house in the 8500 block of Wild Spruce Drive, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
A handgun was found near the bodies, FCPD Deputy Chief of Investigations Eli Cory said at a 6 p.m. media briefing. The woman and a man in his 20s had multiple gunshot wounds, while an older man in his 40s was shot once in the upper body.
A housekeeper who lives at the home called 911 at 3:47 p.m., reporting that she had found three people shot after hearing gunshots from the basement. She was in an upper level of the house with a 2-year-old kid at the time, according to Cory.
“We believe that everyone is accounted for and this is domestic releated. There’s no apparent threat to the public,” Cory said.
According to scanner traffic, officers arrived at the scene around 3:56 p.m. to find the three dead people in the basement. A medic was requested for an officer who cut himself breaking through glass into the basement.
When officers arrived, they met the housekeeper as well as a nanny who had apparently left the house and then returned. Cory said three juveniles live at the house, but only the 2-year-old was home at the time of the shooting.
The FCPD says anyone with information about the incident can contact its detectives at 703-246-7800.
Officers on scene of a death investigation in the 8500 blk of Wild Spruce Drive, Springfield. Preliminarily, three people were found deceased inside a home and a firearm was found at the scene. Detectives are responding to investigate. pic.twitter.com/7Rk1DKSI3b
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) April 27, 2023
THREE FOUND DEAD IN HOUSE BASEMENT — 8500 blk Wild Spruce Dr in Springfield. Police have found three dead in basement. Gunshots were reported here earlier this afternoon. Police are trying to determine circumstances now. H/T @RVANOVA01 and @HCBright10 and @Gsxr98 cc: @ffxnow pic.twitter.com/y1p6tF8jk8
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) April 27, 2023
Fairfax County police are looking for two men who may have been involved in the death of a woman found with a gunshot wound in the Inova Mount Vernon Hospital parking lot last week.
A community member reported at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday (April 13) that they saw an unconscious woman in a vehicle parked at the hospital (8033 Holland Road), the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release on Saturday (April 15).
Identified as 33-year-old Brenda Ochoa Guerrero of Alexandria, the woman was found in the vehicle’s passenger seat by responding police officers and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department personnel, who decleared her dead at the scene.
“Ochoa Guerrero had apparent trauma to the upper body, but no immediate cause of death could be discerned,” the FCPD said.
An autopsy by the county’s medical examiner indicated preliminarily that Ochoa Guerrero had been shot in the upper body.
The police department says its detectives found surveillance footage showing two men parking the woman’s vehicle and leaving the area.
“The men were then picked up by another SUV and left the area,” police said.
Two videos released by the FCPD show what appears to be a white man dressed in black, including a ski mask, and a Black man wearing a blue shirt who’s looking at a cellphone.
The FCPD asks anyone who might have information about the case to contact its detectives:
If you have any information about this incident or Ochoa Guerrero, please call 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and online [at] www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org. You may also download the ‘P3 Tips’ App “Fairfax Co Crime Solvers”. Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards. Please leave contact information if you wish for someone to follow up with you.
Police have identified the couple that was found dead in Reston Tuesday (March 21) afternoon in what they say was a murder-suicide.
According to the Fairfax County Police Department, Herndon resident Richard Garerick, 75, shot his wife, Patricia Garverick and then later killed himself.
The couple was found dead around 3 p.m. on a trail near Stratton Woods Park (2431 Fox Mill Road). The couple was found by a community member with gunshots wounds to their upper bodies.
Their car was found in the parking lot of Stratton Woods Park, along with cartridge cases and a firearm. They were pronounced dead on the scene by fire and rescue crews.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will be completing autopsies to confirm manner and cause of death,” FCPD wrote in a statement.
(Updated at 6:10 p.m.) Fairfax County police are investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found on a trail in Reston’s Stratton Woods area.
Officers are currently at the scene in the 2300 block of Players Pond Lane, where the two people were found dead, the Fairfax County Police Department said around 3:30 p.m.
According to emergency radio reports, the two people appear to have been shot. The 911 dispatcher described the victims as two older people and said there were pools of blood around their heads.
The FCPD says a weapon was recovered near the scene. An officer told the dispatcher that the bodies appear to “have been here for some time.”
“Preliminarily, there is no threat to public safety,” the police department said.
Police believe this is a “domestic-related” murder-suicide case, though an investigation by detectives is still underway.
If confirmed, this would be the third murder in Fairfax County this year involving domestic violence and a gun, following a Feb. 28 murder-suicide in Wakefield and a fatal stabbing and shooting incident in the Frying Pan area on Feb. 24.
Officers are in the 2300 blk of Players Pond Lane in Reston for a death investigation. Two people were found deceased on a nearby trail. A weapon was recovered at the scene. Preliminarily, there is no threat to public safety. Updates to follow. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/TPSaawVcV0
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) March 22, 2023
COUPLE FOUND SHOT DEAD — near Players Pond Ln and Thunder Chase Dr in Reston area. Bodies of a man and woman have been found on the trail near the basketball court, both appear to have been shot dead. Police trying to determine what happened. h/t @HCBrght10 cc: @ffxnow pic.twitter.com/yfvikEY5pK
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) March 22, 2023
(Updated at 9:55 a.m. on 3/17/2023) The Fairfax County Police Department has investigated a three-car crash in Lorton from November that its detectives only recently learned was fatal.
Detectives were notified last week that Alverda Boyce, 74, of Woodbridge died on Nov. 29 from injuries sustained in a Nov. 2 crash at the intersection of Ox Road and Palmer Drive, the police department said today (Thursday).
According to police, investigators determined that Boyce was driving south in a 2020 Honda Civic on Ox Road (Route 123) when she attempted to turn left onto Palmer with the traffic signal showing a flashing yellow arrow.
“The driver of a 2017 Lexus ES 350 travelling north on Ox Road [was] proceeding through the intersection with a green light,” the FCPD said. “Boyce turned in front of the Lexus resulting in the crash. While attempting to avoid the crash, the Lexus struck a 2021 GMC Sierra.”
Officers arrived on the scene around 7:30 p.m., and Boyce was transported to a hospital, where she died.
According to an FCPD spokesperson, Boyce’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening at the time of the crash.
“She unfortunately passed 27 days after the crash,” Second Lt. Lance Hamilton said. “Our detectives received the Medical Examiner’s report last week which determined her passing was a result of the injuries sustained in the crash.”
The FCPD has now recorded 20 non-pedestrian crash fatalities for 2022, exceeding the 18 such deaths reported in 2021.
The Ox Road and Palmer Drive intersection was previously the site of a deadly crash on May 31, 2021, when Fairfax Station resident Paul Kalland was hit by a driver turning into the Shoppes of Lorton Valley shopping center.
There were six crashes at that intersection last year, resulting in injuries to six people, according to Virginia crash data. In total, Fairfax County had 67 traffic fatalities in 2022, including 32 pedestrians, and there have been three fatal crashes in 2023 so far.
Photo via Google Maps
