An Alexandria man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday (May 10) for selling fentanyl to a woman who died from an overdose in Clifton in 2021.
Reza Hashemi, 34, was sentenced for conspiring to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl in Northern Virginia between July 2020 and June 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release announcing the judgment by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema.
According to court documents, Fairfax County police were called to a home in the Clifton area on May 28, 2021 by a witness who told 911 that a woman had taken an “unknown white substance” and needed naloxone, the drug that can reverse opioid overdoses.
A woman identified as J.F. was found unresponsive in the residence’s basement and pronounced deceased at 11:44 p.m. after failed resusitation efforts, one of the responding police officers said in an affidavit.
The witness told police that they had obtained powder fentanyl from Hashemi at a spot near Reed Avenue in Alexandria City.
Police arrested Hashemi in Tysons on June 2, 2021 after he dropped off fentanyl that the witness had arranged to buy from him, according to the affidavit.
Court records indicate that Hashemi reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in February.
“Mr. Hashemi became addicted to opioids after suffering trauma early in his life. He accepted responsibility early on in this case and continues to do so,” the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Alexandria, which represented Hashemi, said in a statement. “Although we do not agree that the sentence imposed was necessary, Mr. Hashemi accepts the court’s decision and is determined to address his own addiction through the next 15 years and beyond.”
In announcing the sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office also linked Hashemi to the Oct. 24, 2020, fatal overdose of a 22-year-old man identified as J.V. in Vienna.
Hashemi distributed drugs, including “pressed counterfeit pills containing fentanyl,” to J.V. from Sept. 18, 2020 to “at least” Oct. 14, 2020, according to a statement of facts filed by prosecutors. After police informed him of J.V.’s death, Hashemi said he didn’t want to talk to law enforcement without a lawyer.
Court documents don’t explain how police determined that the drugs involved in J.V.’s overdose were the ones he got from Hashemi. The U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t respond to FFXnow’s request for comment by press time.
“The government’s repeated insinuations in connection with [Hashemi’s] invocation of his right to counsel misrepresent the facts and betray an ignorance of every individual’s constitutional rights,” the public defender’s office said.
Photo via Google Maps
(Updated at 2 p.m. on 5/12/2023) A man from Newport News was killed during a struggle with police in Penn Daw where two officers fired their guns.
No officers were injured in the gunfire, which occured outside a McDonalds (6239 Richmond Highway), but one officer was hospitalized with head injuries from a fight with 38-year-old Brandon Lemagne prior to the shooting, the Fairfax County Police Department said.
“He was fighting for his life, literally,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said of the injured officer in a media briefing.
According to the FCPD, the encounter began when that officer got a license plate alert at 4:06 p.m. for a U-Haul truck that had been reported stolen in Richmond on May 3. The officer pulled into the Citgo gas station adjacent to McDonalds when Lemagne stopped the truck at the station and got out.
“He made contact with driver outside the vehicle,” Davis said. “Very shortly thereafter, the assailant — and that’s what I’m calling him — shoved our police officer into the open front driver’s door of the marked police car and was attacking him, was on top of him and was violently assaulting our uniformed Fairfax County police officer.”
At some point during the struggle, the police cruiser was put in reverse and drove backwards until it hit two vehicles parked at McDonalds.
Scanner traffic on Open MHz captured an officer yelling, “He’s got my gun” at 4:07 p.m., followed about 20 seconds later by shouts of “shots fired.”
According to police, two officers — a 24-year veteran and an 8-year veteran from the Mount Vernon District station — responded to the dispatch. The 8-year veteran fired “several rounds,” while the other pulled Lemagne off of the police officer, Davis said.
The 24-year veteran then fired his gun, hitting and killing Lemagne.
“Several shots fired. We got the guy,” an officer told the dispatcher.
The officer’s gun was recovered from the scene, and he was discharged from the hospital a day later.
Describing the incident as “pretty dramatic” and unlike anything he’s seen before, Davis noted that there was body-worn camera and surveillance footage of the incident. A video from what appears to be a cell phone has already been circulated on social media.
This is the second fatal shooting by Fairfax County police this year, after D.C. resident Timothy Johnson was killed outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.
“All officer involved shootings receive the utmost investigative attention from our internal affairs bureau and major crimes,” Davis said, later adding that “we certainly take the loss of any life very seriously.”
No officers were injured from the gunfire. Updates to follow.
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 11, 2023
— Romeo (@RVANOVA01) May 11, 2023
Multiple pets were killed in a house fire in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood of Annandale this morning.
Fairfax County firefighters were dispatched to the single-family house in the 3500 block of Marvin Street at 11:19 a.m., according to scanner traffic.
Upon arriving, firefighters found smoke issuing from a fire apparently concentrated in the house’s basement, which was difficult to access due to “hoarding conditions.”
All human occupants were able to evacuate and are safe, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt says. The exact number of people who were in the house hasn’t been confirmed yet.
However, two dogs and a cat were trapped by the fire. Annandale Today first reported that one of the dogs, a Doberman, had died, and the FCFRD later confirmed that all three pets were killed.
Units are on scene of a reported house fire in the 3500 blk of Marvin Street in the Annandale area. Units arrived on scene to find smoke showing. The fire is under control. No civilian or firefighter injuries. Sadly, two dogs and a cat did not survive. pic.twitter.com/X5kFuwO1Zh
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) May 3, 2023
Happening now. A fire on Marvin Street in Broyhill Crest in Annandale has claimed the life of the resident's Doberman. Another dog and cat are still inside. Units from the Annandale, Bailey's Crossroads, and Edsall Road fire stations are on the scene. pic.twitter.com/UFMKcbjZRD
— Annandale Today (@AnnandaleToday) May 3, 2023
Hat tip to Xavier “X” on Twitter
(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Fairfax County first responders were sent to an incorrect address during a 911 call for a cardiac arrest incident at the Reston Town Center Metro station yesterday (Tuesday), leading to a delay in the response.
Based on information provided by Metro, the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications dispatched emergency crews to 1901 Reston Metro Plaza — an address next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, reported local public safety watcher Dave Statter.
Personnel then received an address change about 10 minutes later directing them to 12023 Sunset Hills Road, the north pavilion for the Reston Town Center station about two miles away, according to Statter.
A county spokesperson provided the following statement to FFXnow, confirming that there was a mix-up in the address:
On March 21 the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) received a call from the Washington Metropolitans Area Transit Authority (WMATA) via the non-emergency phone line at 09:06:59 reporting a cardiac arrest at the Wiehle Metro Station. DPSC dispatched Fairfax County Fire and Rescue (FRD) to the incident at 09:08:45. The first unit arrived at the dispatched location at 09:13:10. This was identified as the incorrect location by responding personnel. Working together, FRD and DPSC redirected resources to the correct location, Reston Metro Station and arrived on the incident scene at 09:19:29.
The man later died at a hospital, according to the report.
Ian Jannetta, spokesperson for WMATA, said the organization is investigating the incident.
“Metro addresses a number of medical emergencies related to customers daily,” Janetta said. “We are looking into our response to this incident and how we can improve our efforts in the future. Our deepest sympathies are extended to our customer and their family.”
Statter says this isn’t the first time WMATA provided an incorrect address in the past.
WMATA confirmed that its control center initially gave an incorrect station address to the county fire department, noting that Metro workers were administering CPR before emergency responders arrived.
“It was rectified with Fairfax EMS during the response to the incident during which time CPR was being provided prior to their arrival,” Janetta said. “We are verifying all station addresses systemwide to ensure our control centers and jurisdictional partners have the correct information.”
(1) @fairfaxcounty confirms @WMATA gave the wrong address for the Reston Town Center #Metro Station. It delayed fire & EMS getting to a man in cardiac arrest. That man died. How did this mistake occur? #WMATA isn't saying but it fits a pattern. (more) @wmatagm pic.twitter.com/19I8QDdiI3
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) March 22, 2023
As a steady drizzle of rain provided an appropriately somber atmosphere, the parents of Timothy McCree Johnson and their supporters gathered in front of the Fairfax County Government Center on Friday (March 3) to call for justice after his recent death in a police shooting outside Tysons Corner Center.
With support from the Fairfax County NAACP, top among the family’s demands are the continued call for an independent investigation of the shooting and the prompt release of body-worn camera footage captured by the two police officers who fired their guns.
The Fairfax County Police Department maintains that the footage will be made public within 30 days of the shooting, in accordance with its information release policy, but Johnson’s mother, Melissa Johnson, questioned why she and her family needs to wait that long to see what happened to her son.
“The Johnson family needs to see the unedited footage of the body-worn cameras, and they need to see it now,” said Carl Crews, an attorney for the family. “They need to know what the officer perceived that he thought was a threat to his life from Timothy, that was running away from him. The longer it takes for us, for the Johnson family to see the footage, the more time we will have to simply speculate as to what happened.”
A 37-year-old D.C. resident, Johnson was shot once in the chest around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 by officers who pursued him after he was allegedly seen trying to shoplift a pair of sunglasses from Nordstorm.
The FCPD identified the officers involved as Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, a 7-year veteran of the department, and Police Officer First Class James Sadler, an 8-year veteran, on March 4 — exactly 10 days after the shooting, as required by its policy.
Shifflett and Sadler were assigned to the Tysons Urban Team, a 12-officer unit based in Tysons Corner Center that was introduced in 2013. They both have certificates of valor from the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which honored Shifflett in 2020 and Sadler in 2018.
They’re currently on restricted duty status as criminal and administrative investigations into Johnson’s shooting continue.
The identification of the officers hasn’t changed the Johnson family’s desire to see the body camera video or have the shooting investigated by an entity outside the police department, Crews told FFXnow.
The FCPD announced on Friday that the D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) will examine officer-involved shootings since 2021, but the review will focus on overall trends, rather than specific incidents.
“I don’t have a comment about that,” Melissa Johnson said when asked about the PERF review. “Let the police take care of what they need to do to earn public trust or to police themselves.” Read More
Before he helped oversee the Washington Nationals’ rise from cellar dwellers to World Series champions, Ted Lerner was busy building Tysons.
The real estate developer who transformed rural farmland into Fairfax County’s urban center died Sunday (Feb. 12) at the age of 91 in his Chevy Chase, Maryland, home. The cause was complications from pneumonia, as first reported by the Washington Post.
As founder and principal of Lerner Enterprises, Lerner laid the groundwork for Tysons by establishing Tysons Corner Center — now one of the biggest and busiest malls in the D.C. area — and the nearby Tysons II development. This work made him a visionary in the eyes of those now charged with shaping the area’s future.
“Ted Lerner was a visionary who laid a foundation for a mixed use Tysons Center which is now continuing to evolve into a dynamic urban community,” Tysons Community Alliance Chair Josh White said to FFXnow. “His contributions will continue on well into the future.”
In a memorial video from Lerner Enterprises, Lerner said his work in both real estate and baseball focused on “striving for excellence and building for future generations.”
“That way, it’s not about the properties at all. It’s about community. It’s about the future,” he said.
A native of D.C. and Army veteran, Theodore Lerner entered the real estate industry in 1951 with a $250 loan from his wife, painter and sculptor Annette Morris, according to a bio provided by the Nationals.
After initially getting a foothold in housing as a pioneer of concepts like model houses and centralized sales, he turned to the retail market with investments in Maryland’s Wheaton Plaza, which opened in 1960, and the land at the intersection of routes 7 and 123 then known as Tysons Corner.
When Lerner and fellow developer Gerald Halpin started building in Tysons, the area had little in the way of amenities beyond a corner store and a beer joint amid dairy farms and fruit orchards, according to the Post. That changed with the arrival of the Capital Beltway in 1961 and Dulles International Airport in 1962.
In a heated battle for control, the developer team of Lerner, Homer Gudelsky and H. Max Ammerman beat Baltimore banker James Rouse to get the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval for its $20 million plan to build a shopping center on 85 acres on the northeast side of the crossroads.
Tysons Corner Center opened in 1968 to quick success with an initial focus on local businesses, the Post reported in an extensive 1988 profile.
“When Tysons was still an apple orchard, he understood the potential for population growth and the demand for retail that would follow,” Fairfax County Economic Development Authority president and CEO Victor Hoskins said. “He predicted the emergence and value of enclosed malls which were a new concept at the time and helped transform Tysons into a predominant retail cluster in the Mid-Atlantic region.” Read More
(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) The family of the man who died after being dragged by a Metro train at the Dunn Loring station yesterday (Wednesday) has launched a Gofundme to cover their memorial service expenses.
The man has been identified as 50-year-old Harold Riley by one of his daughters, according to reports by FOX5 and NBC4, which say that he had two daughters and four grandchildren.
The daughter, who organized the fundraiser, told FOX5 that her dad’s dog, Daisy, is a service animal and was wearing a service animal vest when her leash got caught in the doors of the train — contradicting the Metro Transit Police Department’s initial statement that the dog “does not appear to be a service animal.”
“We tragically lost my father today in a train accident. As he was exiting the train the doors closed while his service dog was still inside. The train took off and my father was taken with it,” the Gofundme page says. “We want to raise money to be able to have a nice service and have him cremated. My father loved his grand children and his dog more than anything and he was such an amazing ‘PanPaw.'”
The fundraiser has a set goal of $3,000.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority confirmed this afternoon that Daisy is indeed a service dog in a statement first reported by NBC4’s Adam Tuss.
“The dog found by MTPD officers, now identified as Daisy, had a sweater vest on when she was initially found, covering a harness that read service dog,” a spokesperson said. “Again, we send our condolences and sympathies to the family of Mr. Riley.”
Just this morning, WMATA told FFXnow that its police department “found the dog without ID and did not find any vest or markers to indicate the dog was a service animal.”
In a statement yesterday, Metro Police said they received a report shortly before 1:30 p.m. that a person had been hit by a train at the Dunn Loring station.
Based on the preliminary investigation, Riley had exited the train, but the doors closed on his dog’s leash before the animal was able to deboard. When the train started moving, Riley got pulled along the platform and onto the tracks.
Riley was transported to a hospital, where he died. Daisy was found unharmed on the train at the West Falls Church Metro station.
The police department said the train operator had conducted two “safe door checks” before moving the vehicle.
The Fairfax County police officers who fatally shot a Reston man at Springfield Town Center in June won’t face any charges, the county’s top prosecutor announced today (Wednesday).
An investigation determined that officers Daniel Houtz and Ryan Sheehan reasonably believed that 37-year-old Christian Parker posed a serious, immediate threat to them and a third officer at the scene, according to a news release from Fairfax County County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.
“This investigation leads me to conclude that both Ofc. Houtz and Ofc. Sheehan were reasonable in fearing that Parker intended to either kill an officer on scene or cause serious bodily injury,” Descano wrote. “…It was therefore legally permissible for both [officers] to use the level of force they employed.”
Descano confirmed that the Fairfax County Police Department had been searching for Parker at the time of the shooting after he fired a gun inside his brother’s apartment in Reston during “an altercation” on June 26.
CA Descano's report on the 6/30/2022 officer involved shooting at Springfield Mall. pic.twitter.com/vnHluKnP4q
— Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Descano (@FairfaxCountyCA) October 12, 2022
According to the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, fugitive detectives obtained a search warrant for Parker’s cell phone, allowing them to track his location. A “ping” alerted Houtz, Sheehan and an officer Monahan that he was at Springfield Town Center around 4 p.m. on June 30.
The officers found Parker’s vehicle in the parking lot outside the mall’s Target and boxed it in while he was in the driver’s seat. As shown in body camera footage released by the FCPD, the officers called for Parker to show his hands multiple times.
According to Descano, the officers reported that they saw Parker reach for a handgun. The officers said in statements that Parker started yelling and waving the gun, eventually moving his finger to the trigger.
“Due to the handgun being swung side to side, Mr. Parker’s finger being on the trigger, and Mr. Paker’s [sic] continued refusal to comply with commands, Ofc. Houltz felt he and Ofc. Monahan were in imminent danger of death and Ofc. Houltz discharged his weapon,” the commonwealth’s attorney said.
Sheehan fired his weapon as well, apparently believing that Parker had shot at Houltz, according to Descano. Both officers fired four shots each, hitting Parker with six of them.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department transported Parker to a hospital, where he died that afternoon.
According to Descano’s statement, Parker’s fiancée told his office in an interview that she talked to Parker after the incident at his brother’s apartment, and he said “he would rather die than go back to jail.”
It’s unclear whether Parker served time in Fairfax County or elsewhere, but the county’s circuit court told FFXnow that it couldn’t find any past criminal cases under his name. The commonwealth’s attorney’s office said it had nothing to add beyond the released statement.
Descano said the statement from Parker’s fiancée “lends credence” to the police officers’ account of his behavior. While Sheehan was incorrect in thinking that Parker had fired his weapon, the perception “was reasonable based on the facts and circumstances presented to him,” Descano said.
The shooting at Springfield Town Center came during a period of high-profile gun incidents in Fairfax County. Just 10 days earlier, Tysons Corner Center was evacuated after three gunshots were fired, and on July 7, a police officer shot and killed a man in McLean who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Noah Settles, a 22-year-old from D.C., was indicted last month for the shots-fired incident in Tysons, while the McLean police shooting remains under investigation.
(Updated at 10:10 a.m. on 9/30/2022) Four people lost their home and a pet dog early Wednesday morning (Sept. 28) after a fire at their house in McLean.
Fairfax County and Arlington firefighters were dispatched at 1:45 a.m. to the 6900 block of Birch Street, near the West Falls Church Metro station area, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department tweeted at 7:06 a.m. that day.
While responders got the fire under control within 10 minutes, the blaze caused $156,000 in property damages, according to the department. A photo shows extensive damage to what appears to be a backyard deck with patio chairs.
FCFRD investigators later determined that the fire was caused by an unattended barbecue or meat smoker, according to a Sept. 30 news release.
According to the fire department, the residents were alerted to the fire by smoke alarms and their dog’s barking.
“Upon investigation, fire was seen in the kitchen,” FCFRD said. “One occupant called 9-1-1 while another tried to rescue the dog. All occupants self-evacuated prior to fire department arrival.”
The department said four occupants of the single-family house have been displaced. No injuries to the residents or firefighters were reported.
1:45 AM today, #FCFRD and @ArlingtonVaFD dispatched to a house fire in 6900 block of Birch Street. Fire showing on arrival. No injuries reported. One dog perished. Damages: $156,000. Fire was brought under control in under 10 minutes. Four occupants displaced. More later. pic.twitter.com/6vv2gzLt7R
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) September 28, 2022
A 19-year-old man from Annandale died Saturday (Sept. 17) after being shot during what police describe as a “confrontation” outside the Woodlawn Garden Apartments.
Darlin Ariel Diaz Flores was reported shot at 9:34 p.m. by a community member who heard a gunshot and found him laying on a sidewalk in the 8400 block of Graves Street, the Fairfax County Police Department said yesterday (Sunday).
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Diaz Flores suffering from gunshot wounds to the upper body, according to police.
“Officers provided life-saving measures and Daiz Flores was transported to Fairfax Hospital with injuries that were considered life threatening,” the FCPD said in its blog post. “Flores was pronounced deceased at 10:22 p.m.”
A preliminary investigation indicates Diaz Flores was with a group of friends outside a nearby apartment when an argument began with a passerby, escalating into gunfire. Police say the suspect was described as a Hispanic man, and he was wearing a black hoodie and black pants at the time of the shooting.
The FCPD is also investigating a separate shooting that occurred in Annandale on Sunday.
According to a tweet from 5:43 p.m., police found a man with a gunshot wound to his lower body in the 3300 block of Woodburn Road, near Inova Fairfax Hospital. The man was hospitalized with injuries initially considered life-threatening.
The victim’s condition was later upgraded, but he remains in the hospital, as of yesterday evening.
If anyone has information about the incidents, the FCPD advises calling its Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone (1-866-411-TIPS), text (type “FCCS” plus tip to 847411), and online.
“Anonymous tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1,000 dollars if their information leads to an arrest,” the FCPD says.
