Crime Scene - The Washington Post's Blog About Local, National and International Crime and Criminal Justice - September 26, 2010

Loudoun robbery suspect sought

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the armed robbery of the gas station at 13232 James Monroe Hwy. About 5:30 a.m. Saturday, a dark-complexioned man with a white towel wrapped around his face and a gun in his right...

By J. Freedom du Lac | October 2, 2010; 4:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Loudoun, Robbery, Virginia
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Serial burglar strikes again

The serial burglar who has struck all over Fairfax County hit three more homes late Thursday and early Friday, bringing the total to 87 incidents, police said. Fairfax County police said the same person or group is now responsible for...

By Washington Post editors | October 1, 2010; 5:05 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Fairfax
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Board: Lanier retaliated against union

A labor relations board hearing examiner has ruled that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier and top police officials unlawfully retaliated against union leaders Kristopher Baumann and Delroy Burton in revoking the two officers’ badges and guns in 2008...

By Washington Post editors | October 1, 2010; 4:29 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Cathy L. Lanier, Spencer S. Hsu, The District
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Va. drug trafficker gets 15 years

A 34-year-old Loudoun County man Friday was sentenced in federal court to more than 15 years in prison for helping to run a cocaine ring in Northern Virginia. Rufino Oliva-Madrid, 34, of Sterling, pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District...

By Maria Glod | October 1, 2010; 4:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Maria Glod, Narcotics, Virginia
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Arson investigators still probing fatal blaze

D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin said Friday "it's very possible" that someone put furniture in the hallway of an apartment building to keep people from escaping a fire there earlier this week. Fire investigators believe that the Wednesday morning...

By Washington Post editors | October 1, 2010; 1:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: The District
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Man's death in Laurel investigated

Anne Arundel County homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man they found dead alongside a Laurel roadway early Friday morning. Officers arriving at the 3300 block of Cranberry South about 5:30 a.m. found Roy Jackson, 41, of Laurel....

By Washington Post Editors | October 1, 2010; 11:38 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel, David P. Marino-Nachison
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Arrest after Loudoun Subway robbery

An Ashburn man was charged Thursday in connection with the August 20 armed robbery of a Subway restaurant in the Broadlands Center Plaza, according to police. Mohammed B. Akbar, 20, allegedly entered the Subway restaurant, displayed a firearm and demanded...

By Washington Post Editors | October 1, 2010; 11:22 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Loudoun
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2 fatally shot in Southeast D.C.

D.C. police are investigating the fatal shooting of two men found Wednesday night in the 3500 block of 22nd Street SE.

By Spencer S. Hsu | October 1, 2010; 10:55 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Homicide, Spencer S. Hsu, The District
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18 months for Baltimore officer

A Baltimore police officer will spend a year and a half in jail for firing his department-issued handgun at two men who were driving away from him after a bar fight. Patrick Dotson received a 10-year sentence Thursday, with all...

By Washington Post Editors | October 1, 2010; 7:54 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore, From the Courthouse
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New center for tracking child predators

A Bedford County task force that targets Internet child predators has opened a resource center to aid investigators across Virginia. A dedication dedication ceremony was held Thursday for the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children task force’s new center in...

By Washington Post Editors | October 1, 2010; 7:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Virginia
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Man says he thought cop was zombie

A Colorado man pleaded not guilty to shooting at a police officer because of insanity -- he says he thought the cop was a zombie, according to this report: Brandon Duke, 22, is charged with first-degree attempted murder, first degree...

By Washington Post Editors | October 1, 2010; 6:57 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Around the Nation, Offbeat
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Armored car robbed in G'town

Four masked men robbed an armored car outside a Georgetown bank Thursday and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, D.C. police said. The armed holdup occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m. in front of a BB&T Bank branch at...

By Paul Duggan | September 30, 2010; 5:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (31)
Categories: Paul Duggan, The District
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Soccer coach accused of sexual abuse

Montgomery County police arrested a longtime soccer coach on Thursday and charged him with inappropriate contact with a juvenile six months ago, officials said. The coach, Roger Misael Fernandez, 38, of the 900 block of East West Highway, Takoma Park,...

By Dan Morse | September 30, 2010; 4:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Dan Morse, Montgomery
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Union chief's suit can proceed

A federal judge on Thursday denied a request by the District government and police Chief Cathy L. Lanier to dismiss a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit brought by Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the D.C. police labor committee for Fraternal Order of Police...

By Washington Post editors | September 30, 2010; 4:27 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Cathy L. Lanier, From the Courthouse, Spencer S. Hsu, The District
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Five charged in Hopkins ID theft

Federal authorities announced fraud and identity theft charges Thursday against five Maryland defendants for allegedly stealing patient records at Johns Hopkins Hospital to open credit card accounts. A Sept. 15 indictment was unsealed following the arrest of the last of...

By Washington Post editors | September 30, 2010; 3:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Identity Theft, Maryland, Spencer S. Hsu
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New nominee to DC Appeals Court

President Obama on Wednesday nominated New York appellate lawyer Caitlin J. Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, widely viewed as the country’s second most powerful court. Halligan, 43, was New York state solicitor general under...

By Washington Post editors | September 30, 2010; 3:21 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Politics, Spencer S. Hsu, The District
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N.Y. cabbie helps nab suspects

A cab driver’s cell phone video of a brutal attack at a Long Island, N.Y., train station helped police nab the suspects. The video captured a man being beaten and robbed by a group of men he approached for change...

By Washington Post Editors | September 30, 2010; 11:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Nation
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Alexandria police seek assault suspect

Alexandria Police sought help from the public to find a man suspected of assaulting people at homeless camps at the city's western edge. Police identified the suspect as Marcos Campos, 30, of Alexandria, and said he stands 5’8” and weighs...

By Washington Post Editors | September 30, 2010; 8:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Alexandria, Spencer S. Hsu
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Va. Tech families create nonprofit

The families of the victims and survivors of the April 2007 mass killings at Virginia Tech have created a nonprofit. The Virginia Tech Victims Family Outreach Foundation Inc. will provide support to Tech families and survivors and reach out to...

By Washington Post Editors | September 30, 2010; 7:57 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Schools, Updates, Virginia
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DUI arrest in Ill. police parking lot

A man was arrested and charged with drunk driving -- in a police parking lot, according to this report: Prosecutors said Antonio Trujillo, 44, was under the influence of alcohol when he arrived at the Montgomery Police Department at 6:30...

By Washington Post Editors | September 30, 2010; 7:54 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Nation, Offbeat
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Levy defendant assaulted witness: Prosecutors

One of the government's key witnesses in its case against the man charged in the kidnapping and slaying of federal intern Chandra Levy was sexually assaulted by the defendant while the two were in prison, prosecutors told a D.C. Superior...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 10:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Updates, The District, Keith L. Alexander, From the Courthouse, Chandra Levy
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Priest pleads guilty to molesting girl

A Catholic priest from West Virginia pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Wednesday to aggravated sexual battery, for inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl while he was visiting the girl's Herndon home. Felix Owino, 44, was arrested after the girl told her parents of the incident in July, which occurred while Owino, the girl and others were watching a movie on television. Police described Owino as a family friend.

By Tom Jackman | September 29, 2010; 6:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Fairfax, Sex Crimes, Tom Jackman, Updates
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Murder conviction in 2009 Md. slayings

One of the men charged in the brutal 2009 slayings of a Ghanaian immigrant and his pregnant girlfriend in a well-to-do Prince George’s County gated community was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder, prosecutors said. Delford M. Barnes, 51, of Springdale,...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 5:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Homicide, Matt Zapotosky, Pr. George's, Updates
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67 years for Md. home invasions

A Beltsville man convicted of attempted murder and other offenses in a string of College Park-area home invasion robberies last year was sentenced to 67 years in prison Wednesday, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office said....

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 5:24 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Matt Zapotosky, Pr. George's, Updates
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Teen gets 25 years for shovel murder

A Montgomery County teenager was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday for a 2009 murder in which he struck the victim in the head with a shovel. Artie Ellis, 16, earlier had pleaded guilty in the case, part of...

By Dan Morse | September 29, 2010; 2:37 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (18)
Categories: Dan Morse, From the Courthouse, Montgomery, Updates
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Man slashed tires for 4 years: Police

A Wheaton man slashed the tires of Hispanics in his community for four years in incidents the Montgomery County police said were racially motivated. One victim's vehicle was vandalized 20 times, forcing him to repeatedly patch the tires, police said....

By Dan Morse | September 29, 2010; 2:17 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Dan Morse, Montgomery
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Day care worker accused of molesting girl

A Fairfax County day care worker was arrested Saturday as he tried to flee the country, Fairfax police said, and he is being held on a charge that he molested a four-year-old girl. Police said Siyamand Salehzadeh, 22, of the 7700 block of Lavenham Court in Manassas, worked at the Minnieland day care center, on Compton Village Drive in the Centreville area. On Sept. 21, Officer Tawny Wright said, police were alerted to allegations that the girl had been sexually assaulted that day at Minnieland. Detectives obtained a warrant for Salehzadeh on Friday, charging him with sodomy.

By Tom Jackman | September 29, 2010; 12:13 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Fairfax, Sex Crimes, Tom Jackman
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Not guilty plea in Va. woman's death

One of the suspects charged in the fatal shooting of a Seton Hall University student from Virginia has pleaded not guilty. Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Nicholas Welch answered "yes" to whether he understood the charges Wednesday. Bail was set at...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 10:46 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Nation, From the Post, Schools, Updates, Virginia
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Man charged in Tues. U St. shooting

District Mayor Adrian Fenty and police chief Cathy L. Lanier announced an arrest in the death of a man leaving a funeral on a busy U Street Northwest block Tuesday.

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 9:25 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Homicide, Spencer S. Hsu, The District, Updates
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Man, 63, convicted in 1991 Md. rape

A 63-year-old man dubbed the "Silver Spring Rapist" was convicted Tuesday for a rape that occurred in 1991. The trial came about after a DNA match to a suspect who was imprisoned for a different offense in New York after...

By Dan Morse | September 29, 2010; 8:15 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Dan Morse, From the Courthouse, Montgomery, Sex Crimes
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Assault conviction for Baltimore man

A 28-year-old Baltimore man has been convicted of assault and other offenses in the shootings of two men at a Westminster apartment complex. Kashon Harris was acquitted Monday of attempted murder charges. He was ordered held without bail pending his...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 7:41 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore, From the Courthouse, Maryland
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6 months in jail after deadly Md. DWI

A Howard County man who pleaded guilty to driving while impaired after he struck and killed a 16-year-old bicyclist has been sentenced to six months in jail. Twenty-seven-year-old Aaron Lorsong, a medical researcher from West Friendship, entered the plea and...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 7:36 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Howard
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Aussie bandit peels off her top

A woman robbed a Subway restaurant in Australia -- but not before shedding a layer of clothing, according to reports: "She was waving a knife and threw a bag over the counter, asking the attendant to fill it with money,"...

By Washington Post Editors | September 29, 2010; 7:32 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the World, Offbeat
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Victim dies after years in vegetative state

A Fairfax Station man who had been in a persistent vegetative state since riding in a car crashed by a drunk driver in November 2007, died Friday, his family said. He was the second person killed in the accident. Daniel B. Fath, 26, was a passenger in a BMW 540i driven by his close friend, Christopher D. Plaisier, now 24. Morgan E. Cooke, 18, was also in the car. In addition to drinking, Plaisier admitted he had been smoking marijuana when he drove the BMW over a hill on Wolf Run Shoals Road in Fairfax Station on Nov. 28, 2007.

By Tom Jackman | September 28, 2010; 4:39 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Alexandria, Fairfax, Tom Jackman, Traffic Accidents, Updates
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Man gets 18 months for assaulting cop

A Montgomery County man who assaulted a police officer as part of a chaotic altercation in which the man was shot five times was sentenced to 18 months in jail Tuesday. Ingham “Andre” DeFreitas, 32, also faces five years of...

By Dan Morse | September 28, 2010; 4:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Dan Morse, Montgomery
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Double shooting at 11th and U streets

Update, 2:10 p.m.: D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier has now confirmed that one person is dead in the incident. She said that as Ashley McRae's funeral was ending, several people began to form a procession. A group of people...

By Washington Post editors | September 28, 2010; 1:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (58)
Categories: Paul Duggan, The District
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Not guilty plea in Adams Morgan case

The woman charged with driving drunk and slamming her car into two pedestrians in Adams Morgan earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court. Prosecutors originally charged Chamica M. Adams, 23, of Mitchellville, with...

By Washington Post editors | September 28, 2010; 11:05 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Homicide, Keith L. Alexander, The District
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Help sought solving D.C. car fires

D.C. fire investigators have asked the public to help them solve the case of several vehicle fires that have caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage in Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant since August. While several cars and trucks...

By Washington Post Editors | September 28, 2010; 10:03 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Fires & Fire Safety, Spencer S. Hsu, The District
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Court date in Md. researcher's killing

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge has set a trial date for two people accused of fatally stabbing a Johns Hopkins University researcher as he was walking home in Baltimore’s Charles Village neighborhood. Thirty-seven-year-old John A. Wagner and 24-year-old Lavelva Merritt,...

By Washington Post Editors | September 28, 2010; 7:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore, From the Courthouse, Homicide, Updates
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Doctor shot in Md. out of hospital

A Johns Hopkins Hospital doctor who was shot by a patient’s son has been released from the hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Desmon says 45-year-old Dr. David Cohen of Cockeysville went home Monday evening. Cohen was shot in the abdomen on...

By Washington Post Editors | September 28, 2010; 7:47 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore, Updates
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Fla. lawyer arrested after a dip

A federal prosecutor was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors after he was accused of lewd behavior while swimming in a Miami bar's pool in his boxers, according to this report: Sean Cronin, 35, was charged with two misdemeanors --...

By Washington Post Editors | September 28, 2010; 6:34 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Around the Nation, Offbeat
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Five hurt in Brandywine crash

A one-year-old was critically injured in a single-vehicle crash in the Brandywine area of Prince George’s County that sent a total of five people to area hospitals, police and fire officials said. The crash occurred just after 4 p.m. in...

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 5:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Matt Zapotosky, Pr. George's, Traffic Accidents
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FAA worker admits theft from agency

A 34-year-old Landover woman who worked for the Federal Aviation Administration admitted in federal court Monday that she stole more than $123,000 from the agency by using her government credit card for personal purchases. Keysha Logan pleaded guilty in U.S....

By Maria Glod | September 27, 2010; 4:34 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: From the Courthouse, Maria Glod, Maryland
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D.C. man charged in homicide

A Southeast Washington man has been charged with murder in the death of a man found bleeding from a gunshot wound in a wrecked car early Saturday, police said. The victim, Delonte Butler, 29, was unconscious when firefighters pulled him...

By Paul Duggan | September 27, 2010; 3:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Paul Duggan, The District, Updates
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Justice lawyer commits suicide

A Justice Department lawyer under investigation for possible misconduct in the prosecution of former senator Ted Stevens of Alaska committed suicide over the weekend, the law firm representing him confirmed. Nicholas A. Marsh, 37, was one of several Justice lawyers...

By Paul Duggan | September 27, 2010; 3:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Paul Duggan
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Fraud suspect tied to mental hospital victim

Maryland state police detectives are expecting to get at least partial autopsy results back today in their probe of a weekend killing inside a high-security mental hospital that houses patients implicated in violent crimes. Susan Sachs was found with a...

By Dan Morse | September 27, 2010; 1:16 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Dan Morse, Maryland, Montgomery
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Teen hit by car in Va. dies

A 15-year-old Centreville area boy died Sunday after he was hit by a car Saturday night, Fairfax County police said.

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 11:55 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: David P. Marino-Nachison, Fairfax, Traffic Accidents
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Man, 22, shot dead in Landover

Prince George’s County homicide detectives are investigating the second slaying in less than two weeks on Dodge Park Road in the Landover area, authorities said. The most recent incident occurred just before midnight Sunday....

By Matt Zapotosky | September 27, 2010; 11:43 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Homicide, Matt Zapotosky, Pr. George's
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Ruark may still work Foxwell case

The family of an 11-year-old Salisbury girl kidnapped and killed in December is asking the current Wicomico County state’s attorney to prosecute the death penalty case against the man charged in the child’s slaying even after he leaves office....

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 7:52 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Maryland, Updates
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Va. woman killed near N.J. campus

A woman who attended an off-campus New Jersey house party near Seton Hall University at which five people were shot says the gunman appeared to have no targets. The woman is a student who spoke Sunday by BlackBerry messenger...

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 7:48 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Around the Nation, Homicide, Schools, Virginia
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Arrest after baby found in trash bag

Hampton police have arrested a woman after a newborn girl was found abandoned inside a trash bag. The Virginian-Pilot reported 30-year-old Kimberly Vick Fisher of Hampton was charged with attempted murder Saturday. She is being held in the Hampton City...

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 7:46 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Virginia
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'Auto-only' car thieves caught: Report

Colorado police arrested two teens who tried to steal a car but couldn't handle a manual transmission, according to this report: Police quickly found a stolen purple Ford Explorer early Saturday when police noticed a similar-looking SUV lurching back and...

By Washington Post Editors | September 27, 2010; 7:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Nation, Offbeat
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Crime Scene: September 26, 2010 - October 2, 2010