Crime Scene - The Washington Post's Blog About Local, National and International Crime and Criminal Justice - February 21, 2010

Third man arrested in connection with the rape of 11-year-old

A third suspect was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with the Tuesday rape of an 11-year-old girl in Silver Spring. Authorities also provided new details on the case, including how the three men were able to get the girl into...

By Dan Morse | February 26, 2010; 6:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Dan Morse , Montgomery
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Webb, Warner urge confirmation of 4th Circuit nominee

Update, 4 p.m.: The Senate on Friday scheduled a vote on Keenan's nomination for Tuesday, according to the office of Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) Original post: When President Obama was elected, legal scholars said he had a unique opportunity to...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 4:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Courthouse , Jerry Markon
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Jury to get case of street racing deaths

A Prince George's County jury will begin deliberations Friday afternoon in the case of a man accused of participating in an illegal street race that led to the deaths of eight people in a crash in Accokeek a little more...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 2:22 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: From the Courthouse , Pr. George's , Ruben Castaneda
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Workers injured after they were blown off scaffold

Two construction workers in Georgetown were seriously injured Friday morning when a strong gust of wind apparently knocked them from scaffolding and they fell about 30 feet to the ground, a D.C. fire department spokesman said. The men, who are...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 1:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Paul Duggan , The District
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Man, child injured in Hyattsville apartment fire

A 35-year-old man was badly burned and a 5-year-old girl suffered smoke inhalation in a Friday morning fire at a Hyattsville apartment complex, officials said. Shortly before 9 a.m., firefighters were alerted to the blaze at a garden apartment unit...

By Maria Glod | February 26, 2010; 12:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Fires & Fire Safety , Maria Glod , Pr. George's
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29 students being evaluated after pepper spray incident at DC school

Twenty-nine students at the private Lab School in Northwest Washington were taken to hospitals Friday morning, most of them for precautionary reasons, after someone apparently discharged a canister of pepper spray in the campus’ high school building, the D.C. fire...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 12:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Paul Duggan , The District
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Man sentenced in "granny ripping" scheme

It is known as "granny ripping," or "getting granny" -- targeting elderly homeowners and scamming them into paying for unnecessary home repairs or utility work that is never done at all. Now, the final of three defendants have been sentenced...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 11:58 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: From the Courthouse , Jerry Markon
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These thieves should smile for their mugshots

The toothbrush bandits are at it again. Loudoun Sheriff's investigators are searching for two men suspected of stealing about $2,000 worth of electric toothbrushes and other high-end dental products this month. The men have been walking into Harris Teeter stores,...

By Maria Glod | February 26, 2010; 10:58 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Loudoun , Maria Glod
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Convict recaptured after walking out of Md. prison

Here's an interesting report from the Associated Press: Authorities say an inmate serving three life terms has been recaptured in West Virginia after he conned his way out of a Baltimore prison. Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says 26-year-old Raymond...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 10:21 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore
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Five elderly group home residents hospitalized for smoke inhalation

Five occupants of a group home in Montgomery County were taken to a hospital Friday morning after an oil furnace malfunctioned in their basement, officials said. Three of them suffered from smoke inhalation, but all the injuries were considered non-life...

By Washington Post editors | February 26, 2010; 10:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dan Morse , Montgomery
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Anger counselor ordered held without bond in gun flap

A Fairfax County anger management counselor, arrested last month for allegedly pointing a gun at two U.S. deputy marshals, has been ordered to stay in jail until his trial by a federal magistrate judge in Alexandria. Jose L. Avila, 57, was arrested near his home in Annandale on Jan. 25 after he allegedly pulled his sport-utility vehicle near two marshals and aimed a handgun at them. They ducked, then chased Avila, then arrested him.

By Tom Jackman | February 26, 2010; 6:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Fairfax , From the Courthouse , Tom Jackman , Updates
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College Park rape survivor speaks of ordeal, recovery

n whose night of drinking with friends at a College Park bar ended with her being raped and beaten and left on a road in the pre-dawn hours"

By Ruben Castaneda | February 25, 2010; 5:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Pr. George's , Ruben Castaneda | Tags: College Park, Derik E. Villeda-Morales, Glenn F. Ivey, rape
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Prieto lawyers ask judge to step down from death penalty trial

Serial killer Alfredo R. Prieto, convicted of killing a woman in California and two people in Fairfax County, faces a complicated resentencing in Fairfax after the state supreme court ruled that the judge provided a improper verdict forms to the jury who sentenced Prieto to death. On Thursday, Prieto's lawyers argued that the judge was too emotional in imposing that death sentence, and should recuse himself from the case.

By Tom Jackman | February 25, 2010; 2:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Death Penalty , Fairfax , From the Courthouse , Tom Jackman , Updates
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Fairfax hit-and-run victim identified

Fairfax County police said Thursday that Efrain Flores-Vasquez, 49, was the man who was struck and killed early Wednesday in Tysons Corner by a car which then fled the scene. Police also said they now believe the vehicle which struck Flores-Vasquez was a silver or beige four-door Honda Accord EX, from the model years 1999 to 2002.

By Tom Jackman | February 25, 2010; 2:21 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Fairfax , Tom Jackman , Traffic Accidents , Unsolved , Updates
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Montgomery man convicted of murder after plunging knife into wife's back

"Raw emotion got the better of Claude Harrison on August 10th. He snapped. He did an awful, awful thing." And those were the words of his defense attorney....

By Dan Morse | February 25, 2010; 2:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Dan Morse , Montgomery
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Man shot at Prince George's pharmacy

This post contains updated information: A 42-year-old man was shot at the Kay Cee pharmacy in District Heights at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Prince George's police. He was taken to a local hospital. We are checking into reports...

By Washington Post editors | February 25, 2010; 2:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Allison Klein , Pr. George's
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Second suspect found in home improvement scheme

A construction worker in Miami who was watching "America's Most Wanted" this month, saw a coworker and picked up the phone. "I'm 100 percent sure it's him," the viewer reportedly told the show's operators, said Cpl. Dan Friz, a spokesman...

By Dan Morse | February 25, 2010; 2:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dan Morse , Montgomery
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Doctor claims breast implant saved woman's life

When a bullet struck a woman in the chest during a robbery in California, the woman survived. Now her cosmetic surgeon is seeking to defray the cost of the woman's implants. The L.A. Times has the story....

By Washington Post editors | February 25, 2010; 11:03 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Offbeat
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D.C. police dole out annual awards

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier saluted more than 200 officers, detectives, officials, volunteers, federal authorities and civilian employees Wednesday night for achievements during 2009 at the department’s 10th annual awards ceremony. The event brought officers in dress blue uniforms...

By Clarence Williams | February 25, 2010; 10:54 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Cathy L. Lanier , Clarence Williams , Crime Statistics , Heroes , The District
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Mother of children drowned in bathtub to speak at hearing today

Amy Castillo, the Montgomery County pediatrician whose ex-husband drowned their three children in a hotel room bathtub in 2008, is scheduled to testify in Annapolis today to support a bill that would make it easier to receive court-approved protective orders....

By Dan Morse | February 25, 2010; 10:34 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Dan Morse , Montgomery
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Car abandoned in D.C. rush hour lanes near embassy took a week to tow

The abandoned car in traffic lane at 15th Street NW. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)For more than a week, the silver Mercury Grand Marquis sat abandoned in a traffic lane of 15th Street NW near the intersection with M Street....

By Mary Pat Flaherty | February 25, 2010; 7:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Mary Pat Flaherty , The District
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Court clerk arrested in Fairfax

A Fairfax County Circuit Court clerk was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing money from the clerk’s office, Fairfax police said. Deborah Sterling, 58, of Clifton had worked as a cashier in the civil intake division, police said, where lawsuits and motions are filed, often with accompanying fees. She worked in the clerk’s office for nine years.

By Washington Post Editors | February 24, 2010; 5:53 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Fairfax , From the Courthouse , Tom Jackman , Virginia
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Woman finds body stuck under car, is charged with hit and run

This post contains updated information: A 40-year-old Woodbridge woman who dragged a man more than a mile under her car after an accident on Centreville Road this week turned herself in to police on Wednesday afternoon after she was charged...

By Washington Post Editors | February 24, 2010; 4:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: Fairfax , Manassas , The Region , Traffic Accidents , Virginia
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Georgia man sentenced to prison for relationship with Maryland teen

A 67-year-old Georgia man was sentenced to about 10 years in prison in connection with a sexual relationship he had with a Maryland teenager, federal authorities said. Mack Gordon Harris, of Social Circle, Ga., was convicted in federal court in...

By Maria Glod | February 24, 2010; 2:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Maria Glod
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Friday memorial for slain Prince William girl

Alfreedia L. Gregg-Glover, 45, recently came before a judge to learn her punishment for leaving her 13-year-old adopted daugher to die in a frigid stream. During the Prince William Circuit Court hearing, only prosecutors who had never met Alexis "Lexie"...

By Maria Glod | February 24, 2010; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Maria Glod , Pr. William , Updates
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Police say girl, 11, raped in Silver Spring

This post contains updated information: Two Silver Spring men were arrested Tuesday night inside an apartment where police say they had just raped an 11-year-old girl. The suspects, 31 and 20, are being held on $1 million bond each and...

By Washington Post editors | February 24, 2010; 12:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (70)
Categories: Maryland , Montgomery
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He's no Santa

A Brazilian man became a prisoner of his own scheme late on Monday, after he got caught in a restaurant's brick-oven chimney during an attempted robbery. Watch the video as police try to get him out. And check out this...

By Washington Post editors | February 24, 2010; 10:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Offbeat
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Crime in Vienna up in 2009, but still low

Crime in Vienna increased in 2009, though there were no homicides and overall crime remained low, according to statistics released Wednesday morning. Police recorded 91 violent crimes last year, compared with 79 in 2008. Last year's violent crimes included three...

By Washington Post editors | February 24, 2010; 9:25 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Allison Klein , Crime Statistics , Virginia
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Monitoring issues at the VA allow for a fraud

The Veterans Affairs checks arrived month after month, each a helpful cushion of about $1,100 payable to Layuna F. Harges, widow of Army Sgt. Jack Harges who had served honorably in 1963 and 1964. The benefits checks for his spouse...

By Washington Post editors | February 24, 2010; 8:12 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Nation , Mary Pat Flaherty , Updates
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Police say bloody shirt is youth's

Investigators have recovered the bloody shirt of a 13-year-old boy suspected of killing a teacher at a state-run juvenile detention facility in Prince George’s County, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. One of the sources said investigators...

By Washington Post Editors | February 23, 2010; 7:54 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Homicide , Maryland , Matt Zapotosky , Pr. George's , Sex Crimes , The Region
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Crime Scene: February 21, 2010 - February 27, 2010