A Herndon man is in critical condition after being shot by police following a domestic dispute in which he stabbed his wife in their home over the weekend.
On Sunday, April 14, police were dispatched to the 900 block of First Place around noon in response to a 911 call from a woman who reported that her husband had stabbed her in their home, according to a Herndon Police Department press release.
Upon arrival, police shot a suspect in the upper body after he approached an officer with a knife, per the release.
Both the husband and the wife were transported to Reston Hospital with critical injuries. Additionally, the family’s dog, which also sustained stab wounds, was taken to an emergency veterinary clinic.
According to police, the female victim is in stable condition and her husband is out of surgery and recovering in the ICU. The status of the dog is unknown.
Following the incident, Chief Maggie DeBoard of the Herndon Police Department activated the regional Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) to investigate.
The CIRT, which includes criminal detectives, crime scene technicians, and commanders from 11 cooperating law enforcement agencies in Northern Virginia, specializes in examining incidents involving police officers.
The Town of Herndon is conducting an external review after the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Training Academy said it will stop sending graduates to the Herndon Police Department.
The move came after Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard reportedly took issue with graduation certificates that were signed in Chinese by the academy’s director, Major Wilson Lee, who is Chinese American.
“This is not acceptable for my agency,” she wrote to Lee in an email, according to a report by the Washington Post. “I don’t want our Herndon officers to receive these.”
In a statement released yesterday (Thursday), Herndon Town Manager Bill Ashton II said the town is reviewing the incident to “determine intent by all parties.”
“Our objective is to restore our mutually beneficial working relationship with the county but also — and more importantly — to convey without qualification that officers of the Herndon Police Department are steadfast in their commitment toward protection and public safety for all members of our community,” Ashton wrote.
According to NBC4, which first reported the dispute, Lee has signed the certificates in Chinese since becoming director of the training academy a year ago. But after seeing the signatures prior to a March 7 graduation ceremony for 61 law enforcement trainees, DeBoard asked the academy to reissue the certificates for Herndon’s incoming officers.
Her email to Lee argued that the certificates should be signed in English, which is “the language that they are expected to use as an officer,” the Post reported.
The Fairfax County Police Department declined to reissue the certificates, and DeBoard’s request “led to a heated discussion” between her and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis at the graduation ceremony, according to the Post. DeBoard told NBC4 that Davis “inappropriately accused me of being racist and made other disparaging remarks to me.”
According to the Post’s report, Deputy County Executive Thomas Arnold notified DeBoard in a March 18 letter that he was terminating the Town of Herndon’s affiliation with the academy, effective June 1, calling DeBoard’s actions “inconsistent with the culture of Fairfax County and our One Fairfax Policy.”
Adopted by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2017, the One Fairfax policy dictates that all government officials consider racial and social equity issues when providing services and creating public policy.
In the statement, Ashton said inclusiveness and respect for all members of the community are “operating tenets” of the HPD.
“It is unfortunate that Chief DeBoard’s recent interaction with Fairfax County’s Criminal Justice Academy has been viewed as discriminatory,” Ashton said. “I have personally known Chief DeBoard for over 12 years and this interaction is completely inconsistent with the dedicated public servant that I know, who has served this town and Fairfax County with honor and distinction for many years.”
When contacted by FFXnow, the FCPD said it did “not have comments on this topic at this time.”
Here’s what the department wrote to the Post:
“Our last several recruit classes are majority minority as we make historic strides to better reflect the community we serve. Any expressed sentiments that appear to take issue with these realities are unfortunate and not reflective of Fairfax County’s commitment” to its One Fairfax policy.
DeBoard became the first female police chief in Northern Virginia when she was appointed to lead Herndon’s department in 2012. She served as head of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police in 2020 and 2021.
Established in 1985, the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy provides training to recruits who go on to serve the FCPD, the Fairfax County sheriff’s and fire marshal’s offices, and the Herndon and Vienna police departments.
Updated at 6:55 p.m. — All lanes on Elden and Monroe streets have reopened after this morning’s crash, Herndon police said shortly after 11 a.m.
Earlier: Local police are investigating a crash at Elden and Monroe Street in Herndon involving a school bus and delivery truck this morning (Monday).
No injuries were reported in the crash, and there were no children on the bus, according to a Herndon Police Department spokesperson.
However, traffic is currently being blocked from turning onto Monroe Street from Elden Street, the police department tweeted shortly before 9:15 a.m.
Commuters are encouraged to find an alternate route.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Officers are working an crash at Elden and Monroe involving a school bus and delivery truck. Traffic cannot turn onto Monroe from Elden. Find an alternate route. Updates as available. #HerndonPD pic.twitter.com/pxrAKXice0
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) February 12, 2024
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is vigorously denying allegations that a man facing child sexual abuse and porn charges was released from the county’s jail last year in defiance of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer.
In a Jan. 8 press release, ICE accused the sheriff’s office of not honoring a criminal detainer for an unnamed “Honduran national” when the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center released him from custody last July. The federal agency said the man subsequently assaulted a deportation officer during a raid on his Springfield home on Jan. 4.
However, the sheriff’s office issued a statement yesterday (Tuesday) stating that ICE’s press release and subsequent news reports based on the release, which was picked up by FOX5, “are blatantly false.” The office says the man was released after paying $3,000 in bonds set by a magistrate.
“In the three hours this individual was in the custody of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, at no time was an ICE detainer or outstanding warrant provided to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, local law enforcement arrested the man on July 18, 2023 and charged him with carnal knowledge and possessing and manufacturing child pornography. ICE attributed the arrest to the sheriff’s office in its press release, but the arrest was actually made by the Herndon Police Department, an HPD spokesperson confirmed to FFXnow.
Per the sheriff’s office, the man arrived at the county jail at 8:45 p.m. that day.
“At that time a full check to determine the existence of any outstanding detainers or warrants was conducted. None existed,” the sheriff’s office said. “Upon being served with the criminal charges, the magistrate immediately gave this individual a $1,000 bond on each of his three charges.”
The man was released at 11:45 p.m. that day after paying the bond.
The sheriff’s office added that it sent “numerous” calls, emails and text messages to ICE officials attempting “to correct this misinformation,” but they went unanswered. It also says FOX5 reported ICE’s story, even though the sheriff’s office had “provided specific information contradicting their narrative” prior to the article’s publication.
ICE and FOX5 didn’t return requests for comment from FFXnow by press time, though the FOX5 story has been updated with the sheriff’s statement.
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state, and federal laws regarding the holding of inmates on outstanding detainers and warrants and routinely works with all public safety agencies to ensure the safety of our community,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement.
The sheriff’s office ended an agreement with ICE on May 28, 2018 that committed it to detaining people in jail past their release date until they’re picked up by immigration authorities. Now, the sheriff requires a detainer indicating that the person is facing criminal charges in addition to an administrative warrant, which reflects only civil immigration law violations.
The county adopted a “Trust Policy” in 2021 formally barring county government employees from sharing information with ICE unless required by law or a court order. Since May 2020, the Fairfax County Police Department has directed officers not to report individuals to ICE based on a civil administrative warrant.
A court hearing in the child porn case was held yesterday and continued to April, according to a Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court clerk.
A local family is seeking financial support after a late December pedestrian crash critically injured a mother and her son on Elden Street in Herndon.
“We were simply walked home after grocery shopping when a driver ran off the road and hit my five year old son, my wife and me,” Armando Verduo wrote in a message for a GoFundMe campaign.
As of today (Tuesday), the campaign has raised nearly $17,500 of a $50,000 goal. The funds will be used to pay for medical bills and other expenses, Verduo said.
A driver hit the family on Herndon Parkway near the Elden Street intersection on Dec. 28. The boy was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, and the woman was taken to Reston Hospital. The driver remained at the scene.
Verduo, who suffered minor injuries, said public safety personnel extricated his wife from underneath a car that was pinned on top of her.
“Neither of us can work and the medical bills and expenses are adding to the catastrophe we are now living,” he wrote in the campaign.
The Herndon Police Department has not publicly released any additional information related to the crash.
“The case is still under investigation,” HPD spokesperson Lisa Herndon said.
(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) A driver hit three pedestrians on Herndon Parkway near the Elden Street intersection, police say.
Herndon Parkway’s outer loop is currently closed from Elden Street outside H-Mart to Summerfield Drive in response to the crash, according to the Herndon Police Department.
“One victim transported to an area hospital, 1 victim minor injuries, and 1 pedestrian victim still being tended to on scene,” Herndon police said.
Police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Herndon Parkway around 5:03 p.m. after an SUV driver reportedly went onto the sidewalk and struck a male pedestrian in a gravel parking lot, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
The three pedestrian victims included a boy who was found unconscious, a man and a woman estimated to be in her mid-20s who got pinned under the vehicle, according to police and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department scanner traffic.
The boy was transported to the emergency room at Inova Fairfax Hospital, an FCFRD responder said on the scanner at 5:13 p.m. A police officer said at 5:25 p.m. that the female pedestrian who had to be extricated from under the vehicle was transported to Reston Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The driver remained at the scene.
The Herndon Police Department said just before 6:30 p.m. that two pedestrians were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, but the circumstances of the crash and the ages of the victims haven’t been confirmed.
INCIDENT ALERT: Herndon Parkway outer loop from Summerfield to H Mart completely closed for a crash involving pedestrians. One victim transported to an area hospital, 1 victim minor injuries, and 1 pedestrian victim still being tended to on scene. Updates as available. pic.twitter.com/sZJ1D9MKXF
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) December 28, 2023
Herndon Parkway between Cavendish Street and Worcester Street has reopened after an overnight crash closed the road in both directions.
The crash happened around 7:25 p.m. yesterday (Monday), according to the Herndon Police Department. The roadway was reopened at 11:15 p.m.
Two adult patients and one juvenile patient were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Charges are pending against the driver of the striking vehicle, according to Lisa Herndon, a spokesperson for HPD.
Last night, the department’s accident reconstruction unit investigated the incident.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Both sides of Herndon Pkwy are shut down Cavendish and Worcester due to accident response. Expect a lengthy delay and avoid the area. Updates as available. #HerndonPD pic.twitter.com/Ut7z2uYZNE
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) October 31, 2023
A pedestrian has been taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after being hit by a vehicle, the Herndon Police Department says.
The crash has prompted a full closure of Van Buren Street between Spring Street and Aspen Drive “for accident reconstruction,” according to police.
This is the first crash involving a pedestrian reported in the Fairfax County area this year. Northern Virginia saw a sharp uptick in pedestrian fatalities in 2022, led by 32 in Fairfax County — the most recorded in the county since at least 2010.
INCIDENT ALERT: Van Buren is shut down in both directions between Spring St and Aspen Dr for accident reconstruction. A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Updates as available. #HerndonPD pic.twitter.com/6KrISzW51o
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) January 25, 2023
(Updated at 5 p.m.) An hours-long barricade and hostage situation was resolved shortly before 9 a.m. in the Town of Herndon, police say.
A man who barricaded himself in his home on Hemlock Court last night “surrendered peacefully” and is now in police custody, according to the Herndon Police Department.
In a statement released this afternoon, police identified the man as 66-year-old Paul Graves. He has been arrested and charged with three felonies: abduction, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and shooting in an occupied building.
The incident began when police received a call from a person inside the home at 9:16 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), saying that someone else fired a gun in the home, an HPD spokesperson told FFXnow.
“The incident quickly escalated into a hostage and barricade situation. Fairfax County Police Department’s SWAT Team responded to the scene and took over command,” the spokeperson said.
Herndon Parkway between Van Buren Street and Maple Avenue was closed throughout the nearly 12-hour-long incident.
Local police officers, state tactical officers, and SWAT officers from the Fairfax County Police Department responded to the scene in and around the 700 block of Hemlock Court.
“The lone hostage was able to escape the home unharmed,” HPD said. “Graves surrendered peacefully this morning at 8:47.”
According to the department, Graves had “minor” injuries that were not related to the incident. He was taken to Reston Hospital for treatment before being taken to HPD headquarters for questioning.
He is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝟏 𝐨𝐟 𝟐: Paul Graves, 66, of Herndon, VA, has been arrested and charged with three felonies stemming from a hostage and barricade situation that lasted nearly 12 hours. Statement below. Photo in following tweet. pic.twitter.com/F5D0HfzeoS
— Herndon Police (@HerndonPolice) December 28, 2022
The owners of Sully’s Pour House, a gastropub in the Town of Herndon, is disappointed over the handling of prosecution against a man who allegedly fired a gun in the business on Nov. 6 last year.
In a scathing Nov. 30 Facebook post, the owners said the justice system failed the business and the community by not taking a tougher stance on the case, accusing the office of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano of trivializing “a stressful, frightening, and unsafe situation.”
“Where is MY PROTECTION? I didn’t ask your office to move mountains. I expected your office to PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY. There were MULTIPLE FELONIES committed that night. I only asked for ONE TO stick. One FELONY,” the business wrote in the post.
The defendant, De’Quinn Le’Charn Hall, 29, has been indicted on a felony charge of discharging a firearm in an occupied building. A plea deal was offered but hasn’t been officially accepted by the court. A Fairfax County Circuit Court grand jury will take up the matter on Dec. 22.
The post by Sully’s includes allegations that additional charges were not pursued in order to avoid impacting the defendant’s commercial driver’s license. It also states that the case was not handled seriously because no one was killed in the incident.
“HE jeopardized LIVES and your office cared about his job?!” the post says. “We still have people traumatized, but why would you care about them.”
Laura Birnbaum, a spokesperson for the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, emphasized that the investigation is still ongoing. She also disputed some statements in the post, including its characterization of how one of the assistant commonwealth’s attorneys interacted with the victim and the police department.
“This case is ongoing and no final resolution has been presented to or accepted by the court,” she said. “CA Descano is reviewing this case and will determine the proper path forward. We want this community to know that we take these types of crimes seriously and will always seek final outcomes in line with the seriousness of the alleged conduct.”
Photo via Google Maps
