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Police & Fire
Don't Bring A Gun To A Cup Fight: Woman Wanted After Busy Bar Altercation (DEVELOPING) Don't Bring A Gun To A Cup Fight: Woman Wanted After Busy Bar Altercation (DEVELOPING)
Don't Bring A Gun To A Cup Fight: Woman Wanted After Busy Bar Altercation (Developing) Some people throw a drink. Others throw a punch. Police say one woman skipped straight to a gun. Prince William County police are searching for an Ashburn woman accused of turning what started as a run-of-the-mill bar fight into a felony after she was allegedly hit with a cup outside a Woodbridge nightclub. Officers were called to El Establo on Richmond Highway around 1:47 a.m. on Sunday, July 26, after reports of a gunshot in the parking lot. Investigators say 31-year-old Avisha Brianna Smith and an acquaintance had gotten into an altercation with an unknown man when things took a turn. …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff 100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff
100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff Birthday cards. Graduation money. Holiday gifts. Investigators say they never had a chance of reaching the mailbox. A Virginia rural mail carrier is accused of stealing mail from dozens of people along her route for months, taking everything from gift cards to other valuables in a case investigators now believe could involve more than 100 victims. Crystal Duvonne Dean, 55, of Culpeper, was arrested Tuesday, July 28, following what the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office described as a painstaking, 10-month investigation conducted alongside the United States Postal Inspection Service. Detecti…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home 10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home
10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home In a matter of minutes, 10 people were forced from their home as flames ripped through a Maryland house on Tuesday afternoon. The fire broke out around 1:15 p.m. in the 6800 block of Dower House Road in the Mellwood area, where firefighters found heavy fire on the first floor of a single-family home. Crews quickly knocked down the blaze, but not before two Prince George's County firefighters were hurt on the job. Both were taken to a hospital for evaluation. Their conditions were not immediately available late on Tuesday afternoon. The fire also left seven adults and three juveniles witho…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love' Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love'
Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love' A 53-year-old Maryland woman who sexually abused a minor and filmed the illicit acts will spend decades in prison, authorities announced. Frederick resident Rebecca Wightman has been sentenced to 60 years in prison, with all but 40 years suspended, following her arrest and subsequent guilty plea for abusing a minor in her care. According to the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office, on Aug. 10, 2025, deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office were called to investigate a reported sex offense involving Wightman and an underage child. Police were shown video evidence of the 53-…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say
Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say A stolen car parked in a Virginia garage led investigators somewhere they never expected. In Virginia, a Maryland police officer is accused of using law enforcement resources to help a Washington, DC man steal vehicles, alter VINs and disguise stolen cars during an alleged fraud scheme that stretched more than a year, according to Arlington County police. Sierra Alston, 33, and Renaldo Gaines, 35, both of DC, were arrested last week following a lengthy investigation that began on March 18, 2025. Police say an officer conducting extra patrols inside a parking garage in the 800 block of Army…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back
Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back Melissa Varner fought her way back from breast cancer. Then she did it again. Now she's facing another battle she never saw coming. A fire has destroyed the Maryland apartment Varner spent years rebuilding into a home after surviving breast cancer twice, leaving her with little more than the clothes she escaped in, according to her family. For the people who know her, that's the part that's hardest to accept. They watched Varner endure two separate fights with breast cancer, then slowly rebuild the life cancer tried to take away. She worked to create a home that represented far more than …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Manhunt Underway After Family Dispute Turns Deadly In Virginia Apartment: Police (DEVELOPING) Manhunt Underway After Family Dispute Turns Deadly In Virginia Apartment: Police (DEVELOPING)
Manhunt Underway After Family Dispute Turns Deadly In Virginia Apartment: Police (Developing) He was gone before police got there. Prince William County detectives are searching for a 23-year-old man they say shot and killed a family member at a Woodbridge apartment complex before disappearing Monday night. The homicide happened around 9:12 p.m. on July 27 at The Fitzgerald apartments in the 13400 block of Grayson Hill Circle. According to investigators, officers were called for a domestic dispute involving weapons and found 21-year-old Ricardo Xavier Haley, of Gainesville, suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body. Officers immediately began rendering aid, but Haley died a…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Officer Shoots Knife-Wielding Man During Domestic Call In Virginia: Police (DEVELOPING) Officer Shoots Knife-Wielding Man During Domestic Call In Virginia: Police (DEVELOPING)
Officer Shoots Knife-Wielding Man During Domestic Call In Virginia: Police (Developing) A man was shot by a police officer in Virginia after officers responding to a reported domestic incident involving a knife chased him on foot on Monday afternoon, authorities said. The officer-involved shooting happened in the 7000 block of Sutter Lane in Annandale. According to Fairfax County Police, officers were called to the area for a domestic incident involving a knife. When they arrived, they located the man, who fled the scene on foot. During the encounter, one officer fired their weapon, striking the man, police said. The man was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Maryland Man Accused Of Killing Girlfriend Captured Hundreds Of Miles Away In Texas (UPDATED) Maryland Man Accused Of Killing Girlfriend Captured Hundreds Of Miles Away In Texas (UPDATED)
Maryland Man Accused Of Killing Girlfriend Captured Hundreds Of Miles Away In Texas (Updated) He didn't stay on the run for long. A Maryland man wanted in the strangulation death of his girlfriend in Howard County has been captured hundreds of miles away in Texas, authorities announced Monday evening. Darwin Carcamo-Santiago, 24, was taken into custody without incident Monday afternoon by local authorities in Texas, according to Howard County police. Investigators have not said where in Texas he was found or when he is expected to be returned to Maryland. Carcamo-Santiago is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of 35-year-old Esmeralda Perez-Mendez of Takoma P…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Mercedes Driver Killed In Early Morning Maryland Crash Identified By Police Mercedes Driver Killed In Early Morning Maryland Crash Identified By Police
Mercedes Driver Killed In Early Morning Maryland Crash Identified By Police A Maryland man was killed before sunrise after his Mercedes struck a curb, veered off the road, and slammed into a tree in Montgomery County, police said. The crash happened around 4:40 a.m. on Saturday, July 25, in the 11800 block of New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring. According to Montgomery County police, 28-year-old John William Stacey, of Silver Spring, was heading north in a gray 2010 Mercedes when, for reasons still under investigation, the vehicle struck the median curb near Tracey Drive. The car then left the roadway and crashed into a tree. Stacey suffered life-threatening in…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Hammer Attack Leaves Maryland Grandfather Seriously Hurt, Grandson Charged: Police Hammer Attack Leaves Maryland Grandfather Seriously Hurt, Grandson Charged: Police
Hammer Attack Leaves Maryland Grandfather Seriously Hurt, Grandson Charged: Police A Maryland man is accused of turning a hammer on his own grandfather in a violent attack that left the victim with life-threatening injuries. The assault happened late Friday, July 24, inside a home in Glen Burnie, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Officers were called to Baltimore Washington Medical Center around 11:50 p.m. after the victim arrived suffering from what police described as very serious injuries. As detectives pieced together what happened, they learned the man had allegedly been attacked inside his home during an altercation with his grandson. Police identified the …

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Teen Already In Custody Charged As Adult With Maryland Murder Months Later: Police Teen Already In Custody Charged As Adult With Maryland Murder Months Later: Police
Teen Already In Custody Charged As Adult With Maryland Murder Months Later: Police A Maryland teenager already behind bars on another case is now accused of murder. The 16-year-old, who Baltimore Police have not identified due to his age, was being held in Juvenile Booking on an unrelated charge when detectives served him with a murder warrant over the weekend.  Police say he is responsible for the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Quinton McLellan earlier this year in Baltimore. Instead of leaving juvenile custody, the teen was transferred to the Central Booking Intake Facility, where he was charged as an adult, according to investigators. The charges stem from a homi…

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by Zak Failla