Fairfax County Sheriff's Office

Published March 3, 2025 at 11:15AM

Inside the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

After seeking to pressure localities to work with federal immigration authorities by proposing to withhold funding, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is now directly ordering state police and local jails to cooperate.

Youngkin signed an executive order last Thursday (Feb. 27) directing the Virginia State Police to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would create a task force with deputized troopers who can help identify and arrest undocumented individuals “who pose a risk to public safety.”

Countywide

Public safety agencies face significant cuts in proposed Fairfax County budget

By Jared Serre

Published February 25, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated April 8, 2025 at 8:29PM

Fairfax County and Arlington fire department vehicles on the scene of a two-alarm house fire on Ridgeview Circle (staff photo)

As Fairfax County officials work to fill an estimated $292.7 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year, public safety services will bear a substantial brunt of potential cuts.

Of the $59.8 million in reductions proposed in the advertised budget, which was unveiled by County Executive Bryan Hill earlier this month, approximately $26.2 million will come from the police department, fire and rescue department, and sheriff’s office.

Countywide

Gov. Youngkin cites Fairfax cases in bid to pressure localities to assist ICE

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 20, 2024 at 11:15AM

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces a budget proposal on Dec. 12, 2024 that would require localities to comply with federal immigration detainers or lose funding (Photo by Austin Stevens, Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin)

Undocumented immigrants in Fairfax County and elsewhere in Virginia could face threats on two fronts in the new year, with both national and state elected leaders proposing policies targeting that population.

As incoming president Donald Trump plans mass deportations, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin unveiled a budget proposal this week that would require local governments to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and withhold funding from those with cooperation-limiting policies, including Fairfax County.

News

Suspect in Herndon rape was released from jail days earlier, sheriff’s office says

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 21, 2024 at 8:15AM | Updated November 21, 2024 at 11:49AM

Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard discusses the arrest of a man suspected of raping a woman on the W&OD Trail (via Herndon Police Department/Facebook)

The man charged with raping a woman in Herndon on Monday (Nov. 18) had been sentenced to jail less than a week earlier, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office says.

Denis Humberto Navarette Romero, 31, was previously arrested by Herndon Police for a separate incident and brought to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Oct. 20, according to the sheriff’s office.

Countywide

JUST IN: Another person has died at Fairfax County’s jail

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 25, 2024 at 11:30AM | Updated September 25, 2024 at 1:13PM

Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A man held in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center died last weekend.

John Boos, 37, was found “unresponsive” in his cell by a sheriff’s deputy Saturday night (Sept. 21), prompting the deputy to call a medical emergency, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) announced on Monday (Sept. 23).

Countywide

NEW: Former Fairfax County sheriff’s sergeant charged with assaulting arrested man

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 25, 2024 at 8:15AM

Fairfax County sheriff logo (file photo)

A former sergeant with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has been charged with assaulting a man during an arrest earlier this month.

Joshua Silver was arrested yesterday (Tuesday) and charged with assault and battery after appearing to punch the man in the head multiple times when he was brought to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Sept. 11, according to in-car video shared by the sheriff’s office.

Countywide

Ex-Fairfax County deputy sheriff sentenced to prison for drug trafficking scheme

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 19, 2024 at 8:15AM

Fairfax County Sheriff vehicle (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A former Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy will serve six years in prison for distributing drugs to a jail inmate and to women who engaged in prostitution at an apartment he leased, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says.

The sentence was handed down yesterday (Wednesday) after Robert Theodore Sanford Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to distribute cocaine and opioids, including fentanyl and suboxone, and to providing contraband in prison.

Countywide

Impact of Va. AG opinion on Fairfax County’s ICE cooperation policies unclear

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 10, 2024 at 11:45AM

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's Washington Field Office in Chantilly (via Google Maps)

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an apparent challenge last week to Fairfax County and other localities over their policies on cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

In a response to an inquiry from Bedford County Sheriff Michael Miller, Miyares released an opinion last Thursday (Sept. 5) confirming that local sheriffs have the authority to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when someone wanted for deportation proceedings is scheduled to be released.

News

BREAKING: Man awaiting trial for Reston double-murder dies in jail

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 22, 2024 at 5:30PM | Updated August 23, 2024 at 12:44PM

Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A man charged with killing a Reston couple in 2017 died this morning after being taken to a hospital from Fairfax County’s jail.

Nicholas Giampa, now 24, was found “unresponsive” in his cell at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center around 1:58 a.m., prompting a deputy to announce “a medical emergency,” according to posts from the Fairfax County Police Department and Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.

Countywide

JUST IN: Former Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy pleads guilty to smuggling drugs into jail

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2024 at 5:15PM | Updated June 6, 2024 at 10:48AM

The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A former deputy with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has pleaded guilty in connection to a scheme involving bribes and smuggling contraband, including drugs, into the county jail.

Robert Theodore Sanford Jr., 37, brought cocaine, fentanyl and the opioid addiction-treatment medication Suboxone to an inmate in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center from December 2022 through May 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.