James Krause, Captain

When winter weather hits, services and supplies we normally take for granted can suddenly be unavailable. Here are checklists developed by the National Weather Service to help you prepare for emergencies. Click on the image for a printable copy of the lists. Additional information on winter preparedness can be found on the Ready.gov website.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis recently announced an enhancement to the FCPD data portal which will add internal workplace diversity information, use of force metrics and crime statistics to the data already available. The new portal has been added under the auspices of Dr. Noah Fritz who joined FCPD in July 2021 as the department's chief data officer. Dr. Fritz has been analyzing and improving FCPD's overall data collection and is introducing interactive ways to share information with our community. Click on the image to view the announcement of the enhanced Open Data Portal.

Catalytic converters continue to be a top target for thieves in Fairfax County and elsewhere. Every gas-powered vehicle must have a catalytic converter to reduce emissions and several characteristics of catalytic converters make them good theft targets. First, they contain rare materials such as platinum, rhodium and palladium which can be worth hundreds of dollars per converter. Second, the converters can be easy to reach and remove. Thieves will typically slide under a vehicle and quickly remove the converter by cutting through the exhaust pipes on either side. Third, the converters do not usually have serial numbers and, in any case, are destroyed in the process of removing the valuable materials. After a converter theft, a vehicle is not drivable and repair costs run to $2,000 or more.

Some vehicles are preferred targets: pickups and other high ground clearance vehicles make converter access easier; converters from some vehicles - hybrids, for example - contain higher amounts of the rare metals and are thus worth more; parking and storage areas where a number of vehicles are located may be a target for thieves working together to quickly get in, steal multiple converters and get out.

There are several approaches to protecting against catalytic converter theft:

As always, be alert for criminal activity and report suspicious behavior.

In December and January select Franconia District Station officers are receiving training for the MentorWorks program at Rose Hill Elementary School. Some Virginia State Police troopers are also taking the training.

For more information about events or for other crime prevention information and assistance, contact the Franconia District Station Crime Prevention Office:

PFC Cindy Osegueda [cindy.osegueda@fairfaxcounty.gov] 703-922-0889

PFC Sean Corcoran [sean.corcoran@fairfaxcounty.gov] 703-277-2476

STRONG ARM ROBBERY / FALSE IDENTIFICATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT: 6400 Springfield Mall (Macy’s), 12/6/21, 4:43p.m. Macy’s loss prevention office contacted police after two men and one woman entered the business and took property with force. Responding officers quickly located the three responsible, and they were taken into custody. A 28-year-old man from Maryland was transported to the adult detention center and charged with robbery and false identification to law enforcement. A 20-year-old female from D.C. was transported to the adult detention center and charged with robbery and false identification to law enforcement. A 24-year-old man from D.C. was released on a summons for petit larceny. No injuries were reported. 

SHOOTING: 9800 block of Hagel Circle, 12/7/21, 12:16 a.m. An unoccupied residence was struck by several rounds of gunfire. No injuries were reported. Preliminarily, this does not appear to be a random act.

COMMERCIAL ROBBERY: 7011 Manchester Boulevard (T-Mobile), 12/7/21, 3:07 p.m. Three men entered the business and took property with force. No injuries were reported.

ARMED ROBBERY: South Van Dorn Street and Coverdale Way, 12/8/21, 5:55 p.m. A man approached the victim on the sidewalk, displayed a firearm and took his property. No injuries were reported. 

ATTEMPTED ROBBERY / STABBING: 6471 Old Beulah Street (AT&T), 12/12/21, 12:34 p.m. Two men entered the store and inquired about property. One of the men assaulted a store clerk, and the pair began loading property into a bag. The second suspect stabbed another store employee. The employee was taken to the hospital with injuries considered to be not life threatening. The suspects fled in a red vehicle.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY: 7064 Spring Garden Drive (Great Wall Billiards), 12/13/21, 4 a.m. Someone forced entry into the business and took property.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY: 9000 Lorton Station Boulevard (Great Harvest Bread Company), 12/15/21, 2 a.m. Someone forced entry into the business and took property.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY: 9000 Lorton Station Boulevard (Subway), 12/15/21, 1:59 a.m. Someone forced entry into the business and took property.

COMMERCIAL ROBBERY: 5532 Hempstead Way (Blue Therapy Massage), 12/15/21, 9 p.m. Two men entered the business, displayed a firearm, and took property with force.

COMMERCIAL BURGLARY: 9409 Lockport Place (Brothers International Inc.), 12/22/21, 2:19 p.m. Someone entered the business and took property.

SPEED TO ELUDE: I-95 North at I-395, 12/23/21, 5:14 p.m. Officers responded to the area after a Virginia State Trooper’s vehicle was struck by a 2014 black Chevy Malibu that fled the scene. While on their way, officers observed the suspect vehicle and assisted Virginia State Police in pursuit. Officers recognized an opportunity to stop the vehicle and utilized the Precision Immobilization Technique that ended the pursuit in the area of I-395 and Duke Street in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County. A 31-year-old Maryland man was arrested and charged with felony speed to elude. Virginia State Police charged the man with additional charges. (See "Officers of the Month" below.)

COMMERCIAL ROBBERY: 6225 Backlick Road (7-Eleven), 12/26/21, 3:31 a.m. A man entered the business, implied he had a weapon, and took merchandise. No injuries were reported. 

ROBBERY: 6100 block of Brandon Avenue. 12/27/21, 6:15 p.m. The victim was walking home when approached by a man. The man implied he had a weapon, took the victim’s property, and ran away. No injuries were reported. 

The report contains selected crimes. This report is not a comprehensive list of every police event in the district in the month. Information contained in the Info Sheet is generally based on initial reports made to the police department. Follow-up investigations may reveal different or additional information.

There were no reported bias incidents in December for Franconia District.

For more detail on Virginia and Fairfax County Bias Crime law click HERE

Anyone with information pertaining to these cases is asked to contact Crime Solvers by one of the methods below. If the information provided results in an arrest and indictment, apprehension of a fugitive or the recovery of stolen property or seizure of illegal drugs, a cash reward ranging between $100 to $1000 is paid to the tipster.

Calls for Service and Crime Statistics

Calls for Service FCPD-wide increased by 14% in December over the same period the previous year. Sully District Station was the only station without an increase. Franconia District Station had an increase in each call category and an overall increase of 11.7%.

Click HERE to see which types of call are included in each category.

For information on how these statistics are compiled click HERE.

In December, Group A Events (more serious crimes) decreased by 4.4% overall for Franconia District compared to the same period the previous year. Although the overall total and event counts for half of the individual categories decreased, there were some significant increases, notably robbery.

Decreases in event totals were seen in all but one Patrol Service Area, with the largest decrease being in PSA 600 (see the map below for PSA boundaries).

The FCPD change department-wide was a 6.8% decrease.

Group A offenses are more serious offenses as designated by the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For a full description of Groups A and B click HERE.

For additional crime statistics and information please click below.

MPO Russell who responded to the I-395 corridor in response to the radio traffic provided by MPO Keenan, was able to set up and intercept the offending vehicle. MPO Russell without thought to himself placed himself into a position where he was able to stop the offender by matching the offender’s vehicle path in order to perform a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) maneuver. MPO Russell’s vehicle was struck by the offender’s vehicle as he was attempting to perform the PIT maneuver. This impact did not dissuade MPO Russell. He quickly recovered and performed a second PIT, causing the offender’s vehicle to become disabled and crash into a jersey barrier. MPO Russell then placed his vehicle directly in front of the offender’s vehicle in order to prevent any further escape, even though this offender had already struck at least two other police vehicles as well as MPO Keenan's.

The subject of car meets and the safety, noise and nuisance issues some of these meets create was brought up at the November 17th community meeting. Captain Krause’s comments on the subject were featured in a Washington Post article that covered the DMV-wide problem.

One example of efforts that Franconia District Station has taken in addressing the situation was described in the Officer of the Month item in the September Community Report. Franconia District Station officers will continue to monitor these car events and proactively deter and prevent reckless behavior as much as possible. If you have information about car meets it can be sent to: FCPDFranconiaCommander@fairfaxcounty.gov. As always, use 9-1-1 for emergencies in progress or 703-691-2131 for non-emergency calls for service.

CAC meetings are normally held at 7 PM on the 3^rd Wednesday of the month. Meeting participation details are distributed by email. Contact CAC Coordinator Kim Barber mailto:kim.barber@fairfaxcounty.gov if you would like to be placed on the CAC notification list.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 19^th, 2022 at 7 PM via Zoom

 Click on the image.