Friday, October 19, 2012
Leon Alphans Traille Jr., 29, will make an initial appearance at today in federal court.
The man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail into the food court of the Ballston Common Mall has been charged with arson in federal court. "These are arson charges," said Peter Carr, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. "There's nothing in the court document that says 'terrorism.' " Leon Alphans Traille Jr., 29, will make an initial appearance at 2 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan in Alexandria. He is accused of attempting to use fire or explosives to destroy or damage property used in interstate commerce. "This is an initial appearance. He goes in court, they tell him why he was arrested, what charges he's facing, and set up another court date,” Carr said. If …
The incident spawned a four-hour mall and road closure.
Update (10:50 a.m.): Authorities have charged 29-year-old Leon A. Traille in Thursday's incident at the Ballston Mall. Traille has been charged with reckless endangerment, attempted malicious bodily injury by use of fire, and use of fire bomb. He has no fixed address, according to police. He is expected to make an appearance in Arlington County Court this afternoon. Federal charges are expected to be brought against Traille in the immediate future. ~ Original Article: Ballston Common Mall was on lockdown for four hours Thursday after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into the mall’s food court. Though the device did not ignite, the incident spawned hours of road closures and an investigation by multiple local and federal authorities. “We want…
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Witness tells Patch man yelled something before throwing bottle into food court.
Update (5:16 p.m.): An eagle-eyed resident helped police catch the man they say threw a crude incendiary device into the Ballston Common Mall food court Thursday afternoon, authorities said at a news conference just after 4:30 p.m. “We received a call about a man walking in Clarendon who matched the description we had put out,” Arlington County Police Lt. Michael Watson said. “He was detained and brought into ACPD to be questioned.” The caller indicated that the man who fit the police department's description was walking near the Cheesecake Factory. The suspect is now being questioned by local and federal authorities, including the FBI and ATF. Ballston Common Mall and Wilson Boulevard have reopened. ~ Original story: Emergency …
38.880048
-77.111541
4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
Ballston Common Mall
/articles/incident-at-ballston-common-mall-prompts-evacuation
/locations/8055969
Friday, November 25, 2011
For shoppers looking for less crowds on Black Friday, outdoor areas like Georgetown's M Street and Market Common Clarendon, or smaller malls such as The Ballston Common might be the way to go.
While the Pentagon City Mall and bigger box stores like Target and Walmart met with frenzied lines of shoppers when they opened their doors late Thursday night, smaller venues saw much quieter Black Fridays. "I'll tell you one thing, I'm never going to Walmart again anywhere near Black Friday," said Ballston shopper Cindy Lopez. "We went there last night because we were looking for an Xbox for my brother, and it was insane. Usually I love camping out, it's exciting and it gives me a rush. But the line went from the registers at the front to the back of the store, and in the electronics department, I heard one lady threatening to punch another lady in the face." Told from the calm, relatively quiet atmosphere of the Ballston Common Mall, …
John Glanton
11:56 am on Monday, October 22, 2012
Sporting a shaggy full-neck beard that he didn't used to have. Yelled something in a foreign language while he threw a bomb. Uh huh. more ›