What’s going down

Archive for January 2011

Roommate charged in Hybla Valley man's murder; Victim ID'd

January 31, 2011 - 07:48 PM
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Calvin Johnson, 47 (Photo: Fairfax County police)

UPDATE 4:08 p.m. Police have identified the victim as 55-year-old Kenneth J. Russell.

UPDATE 1:30 p.m. Fairfax County police have charged 47-year-old Calvin Johnson with the murder of his roommate.

Police were called to an apartment in the complex at 7994 Audubon Avenue in Hybla Valley Monday night, where they discovered the body of man with multiple stab wounds.

The victim's identity was being withheld pending next-of-kin notification, police said.

A motive for the alleged murder was not specified.

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Alexandria's city manager, James Hartmann, is resigning

January 31, 2011 - 07:33 PM
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Alexandria’s city manager announced his resignation Monday afternoon after serving for six years in the position.

The city stated that James K. Hartmann is leaving to explore other opportunities, including positions in Florida.

Hartmann is set to remain in the position until the city adopts its 2012 budget on May 2.

"In his six years here, Jim Hartmann has served the City exceptionally," said Mayor William D. Euille. "He has collaborated closely with Council and City staff to build an outstanding management team; successfully guided the City through economic difficulties; increased government transparency; implemented organizational efficiencies, and improved customer service. The legacy of his work is a strong government, focused on the future, that is more accountable, effective, and responsive to the needs of its community and residents."

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Man convicted of shooting and killing woman and wounding man outside bar in Suitland

January 31, 2011 - 05:01 PM
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A man who opened fire into a crowd outside a bar in Prince George’s County, killing a woman and wounding a man, was convicted Monday.

A jury convicted Adrian Francis Lewis, 31, of Suitland, of second degree murder for killing Cynthia Aaron, 32, of Houston, Tex. The jury also convicted Lewis of second degree attempted murder for shooting and wounding Walter Corey Britt, 34, of Bowie.

He was also found guilty of using a handgun during a violent act.

The jury deliberated for about three hours before finding Lewis guilty.

The convictions stem from an April 10, 2010 incident outside Andrew’s Bar & Grill at 6407 Suitland Road in Maryland.

Authorities said Lewis started fighting with some customers outside the bar at about 2 a.m. After the fight, Lewis went home to get a gun and then returned to the parking lot of the bar.

Lewis then approached Britt, who was an innocent bystander and not connected to the earlier fight. Lewis pulled out his 9 mm, yelled, “I’m gonna kill all you all,” and opened fire on Britt and into the crowd exiting the bar, authorities said.

Britt was struck five times in the back but survived. Aaron was hit once in the back of the head and died.

Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6.

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Prince William soldier dies in Afghanistan

January 31, 2011 - 02:09 PM
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anthony-venetz-jr-soldier
(Photo courtesy: U.S. Army Special Operations Command)

A soldier from Prince William County has died in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced Monday.

Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz Jr. died Jan. 28 in Parwan province of injuries sustained in a non-combat incident, the DoD said.

Venetz, 30, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Fort Bragg, N.C.

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Takoma Park bank robbery suspect shot after taking hostages; P.G. County cop shot (photo, video)

January 31, 2011 - 09:42 AM
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TAKOMA PARK, Md.  — Takoma Park and Prince George's County police shot and killed a bank robber who was holding a woman hostage at gunpoint Friday morning at the Capital One Bank on University Boulevard, authorities said.

Five employees and one customer were inside the bank when the suspect entered about 9:25 a.m. Friday. Takoma Park police received the first 911 call at 9:26 a.m. and were on the scene in 20 seconds, Chief Ronald Riccuci said. The first call mentioned a suspicious device. The second was a hangup. Prince George's County police received their own 911 call and responded.

Within minutes, more than a dozen officers were outside the bank. Inside, the customer struggled with the gunman and was pistol-whipped, police said.

The gunman, apparently spotting the arriving officers, took cover behind the counter, allowing all but one of the hostages to escape. Ten minutes later, he emerged from the bank, standing behind a teller he had taken hostage.

Randolph Douglas was watching from a few feet away. The gunman was holding his hostage by the neck, he recalled. She was crying. Police and the gunman were yelling at one other — just feet apart — as they walked along the sidewalk.

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Montgomery County still in clean-up mode

January 28, 2011 - 09:59 PM
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Montgomery County is still in clean-up mode after Wednesday’s snow storm.

About 47 roads or intersections on Friday night remained closed. Several dozen traffic lights were out of power.

And to top it off, 46,980 residents are still without power.

There were about 218 trees downed and 32 of those had Pepco power lines in them, the county reported.

On the plus side, the county says all primary, secondary and residential roads in the county are now clear.

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No charges for officers in 2009 killing

January 28, 2011 - 07:19 PM
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Officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man in a controversial 2009 shooting won’t face federal civil criminal charges, the Justice Department announced Friday night.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania investigated the June 8, 2009 shooting of Trey Joyner by U.S. Park Police and found there wasn’t enough evidence to charge officers. Joyner was killed in NW D.C. in the Trinidad neighborhood.

The D.C. office recused itself from the investigation.

Joyner’s family had pushed authorities to put the officers involved in the incident on trial. Witnesses said that police didn’t announce themselves and shot Joyner, 25, in the back.

The Justice Department on Friday stated that detectives wanted to question Joyner over a homicide investigation.

Authorities stopped Joyner’s vehicle and he fled. Civilian and police witnesses either saw or heard Joyner’s gun hitting the ground. Joyner then picked the gun off the ground, the Justice Department said.

Joyner then got into a struggle with an officer and at pointed the gun at the officer, the Justice Department stated.

The detective then fired his gun at Joyner, shooting him in the torso. A loaded gun was found near where Joyner was shot.

“Contrary to some civilian witness statements that Mr. Joyner was shot in the back as he was fleeing, the autopsy revealed wounds to Mr. Joyner consistent with the officers' version that Mr. Joyner spun around following an initial close-range shot during a struggle,” the Justice Department stated.

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D.C. man sentenced for killing toddler

January 28, 2011 - 05:35 PM
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A D.C. man was sentenced Friday to spend 50 years behind bars for killing a 21-month-old boy in 2008.

The man, Jonathan Austin, 35, was on parole for scalding a 6-month-old girl at the time of the murder, authorities said.

Austin went to trial in November for killing 21-month-old Ronjai Butler, who died from blunt force trauma to the head on Nov. 16, 2008.

The jury convicted Austin on charges of first degree felony murder with aggravating circumstances and first degree child cruelty for Ronjai’s death.

Austin claimed that Ronjai was chronically ill and died of natural causes, authorities said.

Austin was caring for Ronjai at the time of the boy’s death. The boy’s mother, Austin’s girlfriend at the time, had gone to the grocery store.

At the time of the slaying, Austin was on parole after being convicted of first degree cruelty and aggravated assault charges for scalding a 6-month-old girl. Austin was in a relationship with the girl’s mother at the time of that incident.

One condition of his parole was that he have no contact with children

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P.G. cops arrest teen, 16, for murder

January 28, 2011 - 05:33 PM
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Prince George’s County police arrested a 16-year-old boy this week and charged him with killing a man earlier this month.

Police arrested Oscar Rosales-Madrid for killing 30-year-old Alejandro Marcos Diaz Vasquez, who was found stabbed on Jan. 8 at the 7900 block of 15th Avenue in Langley Park, Md.

The victim was transported to a local hospital but died from his injuries.

Diaz Vasquez was the eighth homicide in Prince George’s County since the beginning of the year. There have been 15 homicides total this year in the county.

Homicide detectives identified Rosales-Madrid as a suspect and arrested him on Jan. 24. He is charged with first and second degree murder and was put in jail without bond.

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DCPS Out-Of-Boundary lottery opens

January 28, 2011 - 09:03 AM
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The District of Columbia Public Schools' Out-of-Boundary lottery application period is now open.

The application process runs from 9 a.m. today through 11:59 p.m. on February 28, and allows families to apply to preschool and pre-kindergarten programs in DCPS. Parents can also apply to send their students to somewhere other than their neighborhood school.

Log on to the DCPS website to fill out the online application; paper applications will not be accepted.

The lottery will be held on March 2.

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6 possibly sickened by CO in Silver Spring

January 28, 2011 - 08:42 AM
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UPDATE 9:31 a.m.: Six people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Montgomery Fire officials report. The cause is believed to be a generator located too close to the home.

ORIGINAL POST

Montgomery County fire officials are investigating a report of five people in a home in Silver Spring experiencing symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning.

The home is located in the 10500 block of South Dunmoor Drive.

Officials say the cause of their illnesses may be due to a generator operating inside the home.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Power outage closes 7 Prince George's County schools

January 28, 2011 - 05:49 AM
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Due to a power outage, the following Prince George's County schools are closed today:


• Forest Heights Elementary

• Green Valley Academy

• Buck Lodge Middle School

• Benjamin Foulois Academy

• Apple Grove Elementary

• Carole Highlands Elementary

• John Hanson French Immersion and Montessori School

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Montgomery County dealing with storm's fallout

January 27, 2011 - 09:20 PM
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Montgomery County is still dealing with the fallout from Wednesday's snow storm.

The county is reporting Thursday night that there are more than 300 downed trees and 50 roads or intersections closed.

About 220 traffic lights remain without power and police are helping to direct traffic.

Thirty count buildings also have no power or have partial power. This is in addition to the 100,000-plus customers without power.

But the county also said that all primary, secondary and emergency roads are cleared. Plowing of residential streets is underway and expected to continue until about midnight.

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D.C. police shoot, wound man

January 27, 2011 - 04:22 PM
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ABC7

A D.C. police officer shot and wounded a man Thursday in the Shipley Terrace neighborhood.

Police went to a residence on the 3400 block of 24th Street SE because of a disorderly conduct call and found a domestic situation.

A police officer and a man at the residence got into a confrontation. The officer then discharged his weapon at about noon.

The man was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police would not say whether the man had a weapon.

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Md. couple hospitalized after power outage

January 27, 2011 - 03:48 PM
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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Prince George's County fire officials say a couple has been hospitalized after their home lost power during the snowstorm and they used a gasoline generator inside the house.

Fire/EMS spokesman Mark Brady says a 911 call was received Thursday about 10 a.m. from a Fairmount Heights home. A man and woman were found suffering from carbon monoxide exposure.

Brady says the couple were using the generator to power electric appliances.

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House fire in College Park

January 27, 2011 - 06:58 AM
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Prince George's fire officials report a house fire in College Park.

Flames broke out around 5:30 a.m. in the 5000 block of Pierce Avenue. Officials say the first floor of the home collapsed during the blaze, but all of the residents were able to escape unharmed.

No further details were immediately available.

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Metrobus shutting down at 9:30 p.m.

January 26, 2011 - 07:29 PM
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Metro officials will begin pulling Metrobus service off area roadways at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, as road conditions quickly deteriorated due to extremely icy conditions and snowfall on roadways across the region.

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Live: Snowfall in Leesburg

January 26, 2011 - 07:19 PM
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Live video chat by UstreamMichael Stine invites readers to check out his livestream of snowfall in Leesburg.

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More than 300k without power

January 26, 2011 - 06:18 PM
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UPDATE 9:30 p.m.: Outages have increased to: 

Dominion Virginia Power: 132,580

Pepco: 167,800, including:
District of Columbia 29,427
Montgomery County: 106,097
Prince George's County: 32,356

Total 300,460

UPDATE 8:04 p.m.: Dominion Virginia Power reports 60,869 customers without service.

Pepco reported more than 93,000 outages across its service area. There were 18,388 outages in D.C., 68,149 customers without service in Montgomery County, and 6,140 in Prince George's County.

ORIGINAL POST: Thousands of power outages across the region are being reported tonight.

Power companies report that 9,257 customers are without power in Montgomery County, Md.

In Northern Virginia, 4,120 are out of power.

D.C. has 4,011 power outages, Pepco states.

Prince George County has 110.

 

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Man shot in Southeast

January 26, 2011 - 10:22 AM
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A man is in the hospital, with serious injuries, after being shot in Southeast, D.C. Fire reports. There's no word on his condition at this time. 

The shooting occurred in the 1600 block of Good Hope Road Wednesday morning.

No further details were immediately available.

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