Sunday, November 4, 2012
Hurricane Sandy, U.S. Rep. Jim Moran's son, and the Ballston Common Mall Molotov cocktail incident top the list.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Beth Lawton
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Sunday, November 4, 2012
Though Hurricane-turned-Superstorm Sandy is what most will remember as the top news story of October 2012, several others resonated locally. The following are the most-read stories on Arlington Patch in October. The most-read article of the month was Arlington Police Looking Into 'Every Component' of Moran Video. Arlington police are among those investigating a video from conservative activist James O’Keefe that shows Democratic Rep. Jim Moran’s son, Patrick, apparently talking about ways to skirt voter identification laws. The Molotov cocktail incident at Ballston Common Mall in mid-October took several of the top spots among our most-read stories: Celebrities rounded out our top stories, including a review of "Argo" and a visit to …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Police Chief Doug Scott: No ties to terror organizations found so far.
The lunch rush crowd at Ballston Common Mall — and Arlington County in general — was "really, really lucky" last week that a Molotov cocktail thrown into the mall's food court failed to explode, Police Chief Doug Scott said Tuesday. Scott, reporting to the Arlington County Board, told elected officials that the crude incendiary device — which has been described as a brown glass bottle that contained a flammable liquid and a cluster of matches — had a lit fuse when it was thrown from an upper level of the mall Thursday. The bottle hit the inside of the building as it fell toward the food court, knocking the lit fuse out of it, Scott said. "Had the lit fuse made it all the way down, we would have almost certainly had a fire," he said. The …
Friday, October 19, 2012
Amateur video surfaced Thursday following the arrest of 29-year-old Leon Alphans Traille Jr.
The above video shows three Arlington County police officers arresting Leon Alphans Traille Jr., a 29-year-old man with no fixed address who authorities say threw a Molotov cocktail into the Ballston Common Mall food court around lunchtime Thursday. Police say they found Traille after an alert resident noticed someone matching his description near the Cheesecake Factory in Clarendon. The arrest took place not far away, in the Courthouse Plaza. Fox 5 aired portions of the above video and interviewed a man who said he was a co-worker of the person who filmed it. WJLA aired a different video of the same arrest and interviewed the man who filmed that. Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said he had not seen either video. He did not dispute their…
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 …
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John Glanton
5:58 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
My money is on the Hating Breitbart film opening as his motivation. more ›