For the fifth time in recent months, federal prosecutors in Alexandria have accused an MS-13 gang member of trafficking teenage girls for prostitution.
Rances Ulices Amaya, 23, who is also known as “Blue” or “Murder,” 23, of Springfield, Va., was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a larger investigation by a Northern Virginia task force.
In October, a federal judge sentenced another gang member to life in prison for prostituting a 12-year-old girl who was a runaway and had turned to him for help. The move into prostitution is an expansion of the gang’s criminal enterprises, authorities have said.
Amaya, of Springfield, is accused of conspiracy and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor, according to a statement from Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison for each sex trafficking count, and as much as five years in prison for conspiracy.
According to court documents, Amaya is a leader of the Guanacos Lokotes Salvatrucha (GLS) clique of MS-13.
Sex trafficking is an unconscionable crime that results in a lifetime of trauma for the young victims,” said United States Attorney MacBride. “Mr Amaya is the fifth gang member charged in this ongoing investigation by the FBI and the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, and we are committed to eradicating juvenile sex trafficking from our communities.”
Amaya was indicted today on charges of conspiracy and three counts of sex trafficking of a minor. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for each sex trafficking count and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy.
According to court documents, Amaya is a leader of the Guanacos Lokotes Salvatrucha (GLS) clique of MS-13. In June 2009 and throughout the fall of that year, Amaya is accused of conspiring with others to recruit multiple juvenile females to work as a prostitutes and transporting them throughout Northern Virginia for appointments that Amaya had arranged with clients.
He is accused of providing the juveniles with alcohol and narcotics to facilitate the prostitution scheme, along with remaining with the juveniles during prostitution appointments to ensure the clients did not violate the rules he had set for the sexual encounter.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with the assistance of Fairfax County Police Department and the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Terwilliger is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Founded in 2004, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies – along with nongovernmental organizations – dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes.
Criminal complaints are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
NEW YORK -- Balloons, bands and dignitaries trooped through midtown Manhattan Thursday morning for the 85th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
With clear skies and 40-degree temperatures, an estimated 3 million people lined the parade route.
Balloons drifting along the two-mile route Thursday morning included Buzz Lightyear, Clumsy Smurf, Ronald McDonald, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Aflac Duck Balloonicle.
An "ooh" came over the crowd when the SpongeBob SquarePants balloon passed West 65th Street and Central Park West. Perhaps the loudest cheers came for Mickey Mouse.
Nearby, parents held up their children while standing on construction scaffolding for a peek at the passing parade.
The Conway family of Albany, N.Y., hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when members could barely see the parade, brought ladders and a wooden plank.
The family balanced the plank on the ladders and stood tall, towering over fellow parade goers.
"The Sonic float was awesome!" cheered young Luke Conway, 13, standing with his mother Tammy, 41, his sister Claire, 11, and his dad Tom, 46.
Asked what time the family got to the parade, Luke interrupted his father's answer of 8 o'clock in the morning: "Way too early," the youth said.
Joe Harrington, a general-practice physician, and his wife, Noreen, a clinical psychologist, from outside Boston, came to the parade with their three sons-Joe, 12, Kevin, 10, and Owen, 4, all snug in winter coats.
Too small to see the parade route, the elder Joe Harrington held Owen aloft for a better view. The other boys sat on the asphalt looking up at the balloons passing by.
The Thanksgiving-day forecast for New York Cityreveals clear skies and a manageable high of 50 degrees. That said, anyone hoping to get close to Woodstock, the Smurfs, Kermit the Frog, Julius the Sock Monkey, Sonic the Hedgehog, various musicians and actors hawking their new CDs or shows — or the man in the red suit at the end of the parade — is going to have to stake out a spot on the parade route by no later than 7 a.m. So dress warmly to manage the early-morning frost. Wear layers, comfortable shoes and have plenty of distractions for the kids to keep them happy between arrival and the festivities.
Crowds hit about 3 million parade partiers, so be ready for slow-going on the sidewalks. In addition, two words for those who feel the need to down a dozen cups of coffee to wake up or stay warm throughout the morning: no bathrooms. Anyone experienced at trying to find a 'loo on a good day in New York should expect little cooperation from merchants and no Port-a-potties on the streets for this little slice of Thanksgiving mayhem. Also, bringing a chair to the parade is a no-no, so once you stake out your little spot on the cement, that's where you are bound to remain until you leave or the parade ends around noon.
GETTING THERE If you have to drive into the city, come through the Lincoln Tunnel, but find a place to park west of 9th Avenue to avoid massive traffic and help beat a hasty retreat. You also could come into the city through the Holland Tunnel and take the subway to various spots along the parade route:
Take the D to 34 St./Herald Square or 59 St./Columbus Circle.
Take the C to 42 St./Times Square, 50 St./8th Ave., 59 St./Columbus Circle, 72 St./Central Park West, or 81 St./Central Park West.
Take the 1,2,3 to 42 St./Times Square or 72 St./Broadway. The 1 local will also stop at 50 St./Broadway and 59 St./Columbus Circle.
If you're smart enough to use mass-transit, check with NJTransit to see when trains are leaving from your station. Then you have a few options:
If you aren't on a line that goes directly to Penn Station in New York, take the train to Hoboken and then take the Path to Herald Square.
If you're on a direct line to Manhattan, you can walk a few blocks to Herald Square or take the subway uptown and jump out when you think you'll get lucky along the route.
PARADE ROUTE The parade begins at 77th Street and Central Park West and runs sought to the end of Central Park, turning onto Seventh Avenue and continuing south to 42nd Street. At 42nd Street, it turns east for a block to Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas). At 34th Street, the procession will head west to Herald Square, ending at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue in front of Macy's flagship store.
BEAT THE CROWDS, PART I You don't have to go to the parade to see the giant floats in person. The balloons will be inflated from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. today on 77th and 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. This cool event draws a crowd too, but it feels more like a party than a subway platform in rush hour at the parade on Thanksgiving Day.
BEAT THE CROWDS, PARADE DAY The best shot you have for a hassle-free day is to know someone with an office along the parade route, get a hotel with a view of the mayhem or offer to cook Thanksgiving dinner for a pal who lives on Central Park West. Barring that, here are some suggestions for optimal viewing:
The parade begins at 77th Street and Central Park West, at the American Museum of Natural History, so you could try to stake out a spot on the museum steps.
Columbus Circle offers a great spot to watch the parade move around the circle, affording you the chance to watch from the south end of Central Park, as well as the west side of the street.
At the TimeWarner Center, occupy a spot in front of the building, which has bathrooms, a Whole Foods and seating near the street.
Once you leave Central Park West, Seventh Avenue will get tight, but there will be plenty of blocks where you can find a spot close the action, but be patient. The tall guy with the turkey hat will get bored when the cameras pass and he will move to find another close-up.
Don't be afraid to roam. If you're not there to get the definitive SpongeBob Squarepants photo, try to pick and choose spots like a commuter in rush-hour traffic. Or better yet, just chill and enjoy the experience.
WATCH OUT FOR: Keep in mind that no matter where you are going, someone is going to try to sneak in front of you, get in your kids' way or make a general nuisance of themselves. Hang in there and don't let anything spoil the day. Remember, there's a big ole' turkey dinner, cocktails — and football games on TV — waiting for you when you get home.
FROM THE COUCH: The televised parade coverage, an extended version of the Today Show on NBC is led by Matt Lauer, Ann Curry and Al Roker. The broadcast begins at 9 a.m. and finishes at noon, when Santa Claus and his reindeer parade in.
WANT TO BE IN THE 2012 PARADE NEXT YEAR? Think you'd like to send your marching band the head down Seventh Avenue? Have a performance group that could light up the parade route? Check out the criteria here: http://social.macys.com
Chatting peacefully on the floor of a Nevada casino, a senior Hells Angels leader and a 27-year veteran of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang thought they had negotiated a truce between competing members who'd been itching for a fight at a weekend long biker festival.
"Everything is going to be all right," the Vagos member recalls his rival telling him. "He said, `I'm getting too old for this.' And I said, `I'm getting too old for this too.'"
An hour later, a brawl erupted and a shootout ensued, killing one of the highest-ranking Hells Angels in the country and wounding two Vagos members.
More violence has followed the melee at the hotel-casino in Sparks on Sept. 23, but the longtime Vagos member told a grand jury in Reno earlier this month that the deadly gun battle was not part of some assassination plot or formal declaration of war.
Rather, he testified under the condition of confidentiality that it was the result of the unauthorized behavior of a drunken, fellow Vagos _ a loud-mouthed, loose cannon nicknamed "Jabbers" who provoked the fight that led to the fatal shooting.
"Jabbers has a big mouth. He's always had a big mouth," said the witness, who described himself as being in the "higher echelon'" of Vagos leadership "before this event."
Jabbers, whose real name is Gary Stuart Rudnick, was the vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter but since has been kicked out of the club, according to the confidential witness. He's one of three men indicted on murder charges in the killing of Jeffrey "Jethro'" Pettigrew, the late president of the Hells Angels San Jose chapter.
Rudnick had refused to back down even after national Vagos officers were summoned and talks with Hells Angels' leaders had calmed the volatile situation shortly after 10 p.m., the grand jury witness said.
"This was diffused by national," he said. "The national (leaders) went down there and talked to them. Everything was worked out, there was no problems."
But about an hour later, Rudnick again was taunting Pettigrew, who the witness said "in the Hells Angels world is one of the most important guys in the United States." Finally, he said Pettigrew had enough and punched Rudnick in the face, touching off a series of fights that led to the gunfire.
"All hell broke loose," the witness testified. "Just bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam."
Another Vagos, Ernesto Gonzalez, is accused of shooting Pettigrew four times in the back and is being held without bail on an open murder charge. Rudnick and Cesar Villagrana, a Hells Angel member accused of shooting two Vagos that night, face second-degree murder charges for their role in the fracas.
"There were so many shots, shots going off through this whole melee," the witness said. "I'm surprised a citizen didn't get shot because anyone could have walked around the corner or walked out of the bathroom and got shot."
The Associated Press has learned the Vagos member testified in Reno before a grand jury that indicted three men on murder charges for the Sept. 23 killing of the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels.
The unnamed witness says it was not an assassination plot. He blamed the brawl on the unauthorized acts of the loud-mouthed vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter nicknamed "Jabbers."
Gary "Jabbers" Rudnick is awaiting extradition to Reno for second-degree murder. Another Vagos from San Francisco is the suspected triggerman. His murder trial is Jan. 17.
The holiday ditty - given a rap-style treatment by the 17-year-old Bieber - is featured on his new Christmas CD.
He used the song to close out his Today show appearance, surrounded by hundreds of screaming, adoring fans who'd camped out all night in the rain to see their idol.
But he blanked several times on the words, repeating the line, "He's making a list" instead of the correct lines "He sees you when you're sleeping" and "You'd better watch out."
At other times during the four-minute performance, Bieber - who was jumping around the stage and occasionally ventured into the crowd - just didn't sing at all, coming in only after the words were repeated by his backup singers.
Justin recorded a new version of the classic Christmas song for his album 'Under The Mistletoe', and he performed it live on America's Today show.
But unfortunately he blanked out halfway through the performance, forgetting the lyrics and simply repeating the line "He's making a list" to fill the gaps.
But like a true pro he continued with his performance, to the delight of his fans.
The good thing about this slip up? It finally proves to all the haters that Justin definitely does sing live!
WASHINGTON — About 5,000 District of Columbia residents are expected to have a free Thanksgiving feast at the Washington Convention Center.
The 12th annual Feast of Sharing will be held Wednesday, along with a job fair and a free clothing distribution for those in need. Organizers are also offering free health screenings, flu vaccines and diabetes testing.
The doors open at 10 a.m., and dinner will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Demand for the Thanksgiving meal has gone up amid the economic downturn. Last year, officials said more than 5,000 people turned out for the event — at least 1,000 more than 2009. Organizers expect about the same number of people this year.
Safeway provides food for the event, along with other sponsors.
About 5,000 D.C. residents in need gathered Wednesday, about 10 to a round table, for a free Thanksgiving meal -- the "Safeway Feast of Sharing," put on by the grocery chain since 2000.
Many of them bused in from senior centers, or wellness centers, or simply heard about the dinner through shelters they were staying at. Most wouldn't have Thanksgiving meals if not for the feast.
Inside a packed elevator, it was impossible not to detect the smell of alcohol. But it was Thanksgiving, and the men made a show of letting the women board the elevators first, and the women smiled.
"It's so festive and warm, and I've met so many people. Such a joy," said Lucy Tanner, a thin woman of 71 wearing denim from head to toe.
Two years ago, she won an umbrella at the feast, and was quite excited about the possibility of winning something else. Before the meal, she danced the Electric Slide downstairs, where there had also been a job fair.
Armaine Tyndle, 29, put his name in the jobs registry, hoping for work in food services or the electrical field.
"I'll take anything I can get really," Tyndle said through tinted sunglasses. He and a friend had come by from a shelter on New York Avenue, and was hoping to spend Thanksgiving Day with his family. In the meantime, he was hoping for turkey and gravy.
And the paper plates were piled: turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and stuffing, with pumpkin and apple pie on the way.
"This is a real Thanksgiving dinner," said a smiling Velma Chandler, 75, who named the stuffing and mashed potatoes as the plate's winners.
Mayor Vincent Gray wore a yellow tie and addressed the crowd with all the verve of a pep rally. "We've got it all!" he yelled, referring to the free flu shots and HIV tests on the first floor of the convention center. "Downstairs! Downstairs!"
Outside room 103-B, a young black woman with long black and a black leather jacket danced with her friends, singing, "I don't have HIV, I am HIV-free, I don't have HIV."
It was an early, different, and wholly thankful Thanksgiving.
WHEATON, Md. — Montgomery County police say a 75-year-old man was kidnapped and forced to take money from bank machines.
It happened Wednesday about 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the Giant in Wheaton. Police say the victim was approached by a man armed with a sharp object, possibly a box cutter.
The victim was forced into his own car and the robber drove. They drove to several ATMs and the victim was able to get cash.
The robber drove to a Metro station and fled the car on foot. The victim was not hurt.
He was approached by an unknown male suspect armed with a sharp object, possibly a box cutter.
The suspect forced his way into the victim's car and drove to several ATMs, forcing the victim to take out money.
The suspect eventually drove to a Metro station, got out of the car and fled on foot.
The victim, who was not hurt in the incident, drove himself home and called police.
The suspect is described as a black male with medium complexion, between the ages of 35 and 45, between 5 feet, 11 inches and 6 feet tall and about 180 pounds.
Police say the suspect may have cut one of his fingers during the incident.
Police ask anyone with information to call the 4th District Investigative Section at 240-773-5530.
Those who wish to remain anonymous should call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll free at 1-866-TIPS (8477) or 240-773-8477. Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information provided to them that leads to an arrest and/or indictment of the person responsible for this crime.
An infant was inside an SUV that was stolen Wednesday afternoon from a Northeast Washington gas station, D.C. police said.
The white Porsche Cayenne was stolen in the 5500 block of South Dakota Avenue as a woman who had been driving the vehicle was getting gas about 2:50 p.m., said Officer Hugh Carew, a spokesman. Police found the vehicle and the baby inside in the 400 block of Kennedy Street NE about 20 minutes later.
The baby was unharmed and police did not identify the age or gender of the child.
A woman was pumping gas when a man got into her Porsche SUV and took off with her 13-month-old baby inside.
Police say the carjacking occurred at around 3 p.m. at a gas station on South Dakota Avenue.
The suspect abandoned the car a couple blocks away and fled in a getaway car over the Prince George's County border.
Police say the baby was unharmed and was reunited with her family.
The Plainfield Salvation Army is like a home for Daymond Spencer, a longtime Plainfield resident who came to the Watchung Avenue building for a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday hosted by Chris Bono of Unity Bank and his co-workers, family and friends.
“You have family, and you have street family. This is like my street family,” said Spencer, a native of West Virginia whose children live in Virginia.
“It’s a good dinner. I really like the dressing,” he said.
Spencer sat next to James Burks of Somerville, who also has many friends at the Salvation Army but no local family members to share the holiday.
Carol Banker of Plainfield said he also had no family members in New Jersey to share the holiday. A Salvation Army kettle worker, she sat with Charles Allen of Plainfield to share the dinner.
“I think it’s wonderful. God bless them,” said Banker.
The Plainfield Salvation Army was one of several churches, food banks and organizations to host Thanksgiving dinners for residents in the Central Jersey area.
Bono, market leader for Unity Bank’s branches in North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Scotch Plains and Middlesex, said he organized the dinner for 300 people to give back to the community. He handed out about 500 fliers publicizing the event.
“It’s nice to do something for other people who are less fortunate,” said Bono, who, with a team of volunteers, had spent hours preparing about 100 pounds of turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, pies, coffee and tea for the dinner.
“This is our second annual Thanksgiving Day celebration,” said Jim Hughes, Unity Bank’s chief executive officer.
He said the Salvation Army is a good location because they serve food daily at the site and it has a steady clientele.
“We’re a small community bank. This is the right thing to do, give back to those less fortunate. It’s all about helping God’s children. You have to put your hand out to help others,” he said.
“It’s the best thing to do. It’s what Thanksgiving is all about,” added Colleen Paschao, a Unity Bank sales administrator who placed rolls on guests’ plates. “It puts everything back into perspective. I don’t think I’ll ever not do this.
The preparations for the big Thanksgiving meal were in full swing at Food & Friends in northeast Washington.
FOX 5'S Stacey Cohan visited as volunteers gathered to prepare over 3,000 Thanksgiving meals for DC residents living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.
Just last week, the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce named the Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner Committee as its 2012 Organization of the Year.
"We were quite pleased and honored to be chosen," said committee chairman Walt Kendall.
Each year, the 10-member committee carries out all of the necessary planning, fundraising, shopping, volunteer recruitment and coordination for the event.
"We have a dedicated core committee," Kendall said. "Every year, everyone comes back."
The event started in 2001, just three weeks before Thanksgiving, when Kendall's daughter Sharon talked to her parents about providing a free Thanksgiving meal to those lacking the means.
The Kendalls organized several friends and immediately began pursuing donations of food and money. At the first community dinner, held at the Lemoore Masonic Lodge, volunteers served 200 meals.
By 2005, the dinner had outgrown the Masonic Lodge and moved to the senior center. Last year, more than 1,700 meals were served, about 400 of which were home deliveries to individuals who can't get to the center.
Today, organizers expect to serve up to 2,000 free meals, consisting of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans and dessert. Kendall said they purchased 500 pounds of turkey, 500 pounds of ham, 120 pies and three sheet cakes to pull it all off.
"If we have leftover food, we give it to the soup kitchen in Hanford, so nothing goes to waste," Kendall said.
Kendall said the free dinner is made possible by donations from local businesses, organizations, churches and individuals. Besides donations, the event depends on a team of more than 100 volunteers to prepare and serve meals, allowing people from all walks of life to enjoy Thanksgiving together.
"It always amazes us how smooth it goes every year," Kendall said.
President Barack Obama dashed into politically important New Hampshire Tuesday, seeking to steal the spotlight from Republican presidential candidates and challenging GOP lawmakers back in Washington to stand by their anti-tax pledges on one big measure.
He was greeted with a blunt message from Republican contender Mitt Romney, who bought campaign ads telling Obama, "Your policies have failed."
In his first trip to New Hampshire in nearly two years, the president was confronted by a state that has shifted sharply to the right since his victory here in the 2008 election. The state's crucial independent voters sided solidly with Republicans in the 2010 midterms, and recent polls suggest Obama would lose to Romney by 10 percentage points here if the election were held today.
Seeking to boost his appeal with independents in this low-tax state, Obama urged Congress to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire next month. In effect, he dared Republicans — many of whom have signed anti-tax pledges — to vote against an extension, a move the White House says would lead to a $1,000 tax hike on a family making $50,000 a year.
If lawmakers vote "no, your taxes go up. Yes, you get a tax cut," Obama told the crowd. "Which way do you think Congress should vote?"
"Don't be a Grinch. Don't vote to raise taxes on working Americans during the holidays," he said during his speech at a Manchester high school.
Democrats had hoped to tuck the payroll tax extension, as well as a renewal of jobless benefits, into an agreement from the congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee. But with that option off the table following the committee's collapse Monday, the White House plans to make a full-court press for a separate measure to extend the tax cuts before they expire at the end of the year — and set up Republicans as scapegoats if that doesn't happen.
Much of Obama's stop in Manchester was about trying to gain a foothold for his economic message in New Hampshire to balance the anti-Obama rhetoric from the Republican candidates swarming the state ahead of the Jan. 10 presidential primary. Obama's trip came on the same day that the GOP contenders were gathering in Washington for a foreign policy debate sure to focus on what they see as the president's failings.
Obama came face to face with the frustration of some New Hampshire voters, who are fed up with a local economy that is struggling to grow and increasingly unhappy with the president's leadership.
Members of two ‘Occupy’ groups stormed the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, protesting the failure of the supercommittee.
‘Occupy DC’ and ‘Occupy the Highway’ protestors entered and gathered in the main hall of the building.
Video from inside showed protestors wearing signs and chanting. The handful of members seemed to only cause a minor disruption.
The demonstration lasted several minutes and seemed to end peacefully when the group was ushered out by police.
WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia is adding to its speed camera program in a significant way. The city has added more new cameras, expanding a program that already brings in more than $10 million a year from drivers.
AAA's Lon Anderson joined FOX 5 to talk about the effect the cameras have on drivers and DC's budget.
Here are the new locations:
• 1900 block of Foxhall Road NW, north and south bound directions, 25 mph,
• 2800 block of Calvert Street NW, east bound, 25 mph.
• 2300 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, south bound, 25 mph.
• 100 block of Florida Avenue NW, east and west bound, 25 mph.
• 4200 block of South Capitol SW, south bound, 25 mph.
• 2300 block of Porter Street NW, east and west bound, 30 mph.
• Canal Road NW .3 miles south of Arizona Avenue NW, north and south bound directions, 35 mph.
• DC-295 NE at Benning Road overpass, north bound, 45 mph.
• DC-295 SW .7 miles south of Exit 1, north and south bound, 50 mph.
Initially, violators will receive warning citations during the thirty-day educational phase which began Monday. Starting on December 21, MPD will issue live moving citations to violators.
AAA has designated Washington a "strict enforcement area" and warns drivers to slow down in the city.
This is the second time in three months that the city has expanded the speed camera program.
"It's amazing that one minute Police Chief Cathy Lanier is reminding us how safe the city is, how fatalities have dropped, but then adds 28 new speed camera sites this year alone," said AAA's Lon Anderson.
Lanier responded to the criticism saying she finds it "astounding that AAA Mid-Atlantic would criticize a program that has been successful in reducing traffic deaths."
Lanier said the District appreciates the designation as "strict enforcement area" because it encourages drivers to slow down and obey traffic laws.
Anderson said the speed cameras are more a source for revenue than a safety tool. He cites a study by Howard University that finds motorists are obeying speed limits in almost 70 percent of the monitored locations across the city where speed cameras and radar guns are not in use.
1. 1900 block of Independence Avenue SE east bound – speed limit 25 mph
2. Military Road .2 miles west of the 16th Street ramp NW southwest bound – speed limit 35 mph
3. Military Road .1 miles prior to 17th Street NW northeast bound – speed limit 35 mph
4. 1700 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE northeast bound – speed limit 30 mph
5. 1800 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE southwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
6. 4000 block of East Capitol Street NE west bound – speed limit 35 mph
7. 4000 block of East Capitol Street SE east bound – speed limit 35 mph
8. 800 block of Ridge Road SE southeast bound – speed limit 25 mph
9. 600 block of Southern Avenue SE southwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
10. 1400 block of Southern Avenue SE southwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
11. 1900 block of Branch Avenue SE north bound – speed limit 25 mph
12. 1900 block of Branch Avenue SE south bound – speed limit 25 mph
13. 1100 block of Bladensburg Road NE northeast bound – speed limit 30 mph
14. 1100 block of Bladensburg Road NE southwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
15. 200 block of 19th Street SE north bound – speed limit 25 mph
16. 4800 block of Connecticut Avenue NW northwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
17. 4900 block of Connecticut Avenue NW southeast bound – speed limit 30 mph
18. 600 block of Missouri Avenue NW northwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
19. 600 block of Missouri Avenue NW southeast bound – speed limit 30 mph
Click here For more information
MANASSAS, Va. - A Manassas woman accused of robbing two banks and carjacking a person is still on the run.
As police look for Stephanie Schwab, FOX 5 has learned she is a former gang member who testified in a high-profile murder case.
Anyone living in the Washington D.C. area in 2003 will likely remember the murder of Brenda Paz. She was a teenager who was cooperating with authorities when she was found stabbed to death on the banks of the Shenandoah River. Prosecutors said she was killed for "snitching."
When charges were brought against four men for killing Paz, Schwab was a star witness.
Police say Schwab held up a Fairfax County BB&T Bank on Old Keene Mill Road Tuesday afternoon. The 26-year-old is also accused of robbing a Virginia Commerce Bank in Manassas last Friday and carjacking a woman who was trying to do her a favor outside the Tysons II Neiman Marcus department store last Saturday.
FOX 5 learned Schwab was a critical witness for the prosecution in the murder of Brenda Paz, spending five hours on the witness stand detailing the inner workings of MS-13.
According to testimony at the time, Schwab and Paz were gang members who at one time lived together.
Three warrants have been issued for her arrest - two in Fairfax County and one in Prince William County.
Prince William County Police allege on Friday Schwab entered a VA Commerce bank on Balls Ford Road in Manassas as soon as it opened, implied she had a handgun and demanded money. Bank cameras captured photos of the bank robber in that incident, said police spokesman Jonathan Perok.
On Saturday, a 59-year-old Fairfax woman was approached in the Tysons Corner II parking lot of Neiman Marcus by a woman close to Schwab’s description who claimed she was out of gas and needed a ride to a station, Fairfax County Police said.
The older woman invited the younger one into her vehicle, but as she drove toward Route 123 the younger woman, now suspected by police to be Schwab, produced a knife and told the driver to get out of the vehicle. The driver was left at the intersection of Old Courthouse Road and Route 123.
Her vehicle, a 2003 silver Acura, Virginia tag XEK8095 has not been recovered.
On Tuesday, Fairfax County police said a BB&T Bank at 8432 Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield was robbed by someone also matching Schwab’s description.
In that case, police allege Schwab entered the bank around 1 p.m., implied she had a weapon and demanded money from the teller. She left with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No one was injured in any of the incidents, police said. Both police agencies are seeking Schwab for questioning. “We are definitely both looking for her,” said Perok.
“She is still on the loose,” said Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell. “If anyone sees someone matching Schwab’s description over the holiday weekend, please contact Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.”
The Fairfax County School Board is likely to decide by the end of the calendar year whether to install security cameras inside high schools.
Some school board members said they want to leave the decision to the next board, which takes office in January, but the majority of those participating in a Monday work session discussion of the camera issue said they are ready to vote.
“Once this decision is made, it’s almost impossible to go back,” said Mount Vernon District member Dan Storck. “We should make sure to take sufficient time to make this decision.”
Storck suggested that the current board make a recommendation to the incoming board, instead of deciding now.
However, with the support of most board members, the issue will be on the agenda as new business Dec. 1 and then come up for vote Dec. 15, according to school board Chairwoman Janie Strauss.
“My term ends Dec. 31. I have been working on this issue since May,” said Springfield District representative Liz Bradsher, who did not seek re-election. “I think we have the information to move forward as a board, whether we decide to move forward with this or not.”
In-school cameras are currently used by neighboring public school systems in Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford, Fauquier and Culpeper counties.
In the proposed policy the school board is considering, cameras could be placed in high school cafeterias, lobbies and other large gathering places. The camera would not be monitored, but the recorded footage could be used to investigate incidents that occur in a school, according to Dean Tistadt, the school system’s chief operating officer.
While some board members raised concerns about privacy and trust -- and others felt the vote should be left up to the newly elected school board, taking office Jan. 1 -- the majority said at a work session Monday that they felt ready to vote for the cameras in an effort to bolster student safety.
"Imean no disrespect to our Founding Fathers -- they were great guys -- but ... it's a different world today," said Elizabeth Bradsher, who represents the Springfield District. "We have social media tools, and kids can do flash mobs in an instant."
Food fights at two high schools in her district, Centreville and Robert E. Lee, made headlines last spring and prompted the county's High School Principals Association to ask the school board to allow them to install cameras in their cafeterias and other high-traffic areas.
All other area school districts except Arlington County allow in-school surveillance. Currently, Fairfax's policy allows only outside cameras.
Of 11 present board members, six explicitly said they wanted to vote by year's end while expressing support for the cameras.
School Board Member Tessie Wilson said an elementary school in her Braddock District had an incident last week when several students told administrators that a man had come into the cafeteria and grabbed them.
"It was a parent who thought someone was bullying his son, and ... according to students, he grabbed the students and started cussing them out," Wilson said.
Assault charges might be filed against the man, Wilson said. "It's going to be a he-said, he-said situation," and she would support the cameras for their ability to tell objective truths.
Stuart Gibson, the board's Hunter Mill representative, said he was concerned that students' privacy was being invaded in a space they were legally required to be.
"What's the next step? Then we want to put them in the hallways? Then we want to put them in the locker rooms? At some point ?-- it's not going to end," he said.
At meetings convened by their principals, 80 percent of the high schools' parent organizations voted to support, or at least not oppose, a policy that allowed cameras in schools. The changes would not require principals to install in-school surveillance, but would make it an option.
A Ghana airport security supervisor was indicted Nov. 23 by a federal grand jury for allegedly assisting members of an international heroin trafficking ring to smuggle the drug into the United States through Dulles International Airport.
Edmund Darkwah, also known as “Henry,” 37, a resident of Ghana, was charged with conspiracy to import heroin and two counts of heroin distribution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If convicted, Darkwah faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for each count.
Authorities said Darkwah conspired with Edward Macauley, aka “Cudjoe Opoku,” a resident of Ghana and the alleged leader of a Ghana-based heroin trafficking organization that recruits couriers to smuggle heroin into the United States through Dulles International Airport.
The organization pays couriers up to $15,000 to transport the heroin, either in carry-on luggage or stitched into a wig of artificial hair.
Darkwah is a supervisor with the Ghana Aviation Security Section (AVSEC) and was employed at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. The indictment alleges the Macauley organization paid Darkwah $2,000 to ensure safe passage through the airport for its couriers.
Eleven people to date have been charged in the ongoing investigation. Four of those charged and taken into custody in Ghana Macauley, Frank Ehiobe, Fred Oppong Brobbey, and Matilda Antwi were extradited to the United States and made an initial appearance in federal court on Nov. 15, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Drug Enforcement Agency announced they've worked with other federal agencies to arrest a Ghana man who they say has been instrumental in that drug pipeline.
Edmund Darkwah, an airport security supervisor at the Kokota International Airport in Ghana, was taken into custody by law enforcement in Ghana for the investigation.
U.S. investigators say Darkwah took $2,000 bribes to let heroin-carrying couriers slip through security at his Ghanan airport. The DEA says the couriers received $15,000 to smuggle quantities of heroin into the United States, often hidden in carry-on luggage or in wigs.
Darkwah faces charges on heroin distribution and conspiracy to import heroin, which carry maximum sentences of life in prison. Four others arrested in the investigation have already been extradited from Ghana to the United States.
A Centreville family is relieved with the arrest of a suspect in the murder of their handyman. Twenty-two-year-old Reynard Prather of Oxon Hill, Md., has been indicted by a federal grand jury for weapons violations and conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the attempted robbery and murder.
"We are very happy. Fairfax County police have done their job," said the son of the owner of the mansion which the incident took place.
On May 17, 2010, Jose Cardona confronted the would-be robbers and grabbed one of their guns, but was shot in the head by one of two intruders, according to court documents. The second alleged robber and driver of the get-away vehicle have NOT been charged.
Jose Cardona was a native of Guatemala, a father of two, and a beloved handyman to the family that employed him.
Court document say Prather and another man, each armed with a semiautomatic pistol, entered the mansion's garage with the intent to rob the owner of a check cashing businesses. Both the son or the owner and Jose Cardona confronted them. Cardona gained control of one of the guns; moments later he was fatally shot in the head by one of the intruders. The robbers fled to waiting pickup truck, driven by a third alleged conspirator.
"Jose was an amazing person. He was like an older brother to me. He's always missed. We think of him every single day," said the son.
eynard L. Prather of Oxon Hill was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria in the home-invasion robbery that ended with the death of Jose Ramiro Rosales Cardona, 39, hailed as a “guardian angel” by the family he died trying to protect.
Prather was indicted of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, use of a firearm in a crime of violence, use of a firearm in a crime of violence causing death, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. If convicted, Prather faces a maximum penalty of life in prison or death.
Prosecutors say Prather and at least one other man broke into the garage of the Brar family’s home in Centreville, thinking the family kept large sums of cash there. The Brars operated a check-cashing business in Manassas.
Fairfax Police said that Cardona returned from an errand the morning of May 17, 2010, to find two armed men hiding in the family’s garage. He alerted the family and Cardona was shot in the head in an ensuing struggle.
According to the grand jury indictment and federal court records, Prather allegedly conspired with two unnamed individuals to rob the owner of a check-cashing facility at gunpoint at the store owner’s residence in Centreville, where prosecutors said the conspirators thought the target kept the store’s proceeds.
According to court documents, on May 17, 2010, Prather and an unidentified co-conspirator allegedly drove from Maryland to a shopping center in Virginia, where a third co-conspirator picked them up and dropped them off at the target’s residence.
Court records allege Prather was armed with a semi-automatic gun and entered the target’s garage with his unnamed partner — who also was armed with a semi-automatic gun — to await the target’s arrival.
Prather and the unnamed co-conspirator are accused of confronting Jose Cardona, an employee of the home’s owner, and the owner’s son, when they arrived at the residence. During the struggle, court documents say Cardona was shot and killed by one of the two men.
Police said Cordona, 39, of Manassas was found dead outside the home in the 14200 block of Compton Road after police responded to a call of gunshots.
Cordona, a father of two young children, worked regularly for the Clifton family, whose 9,000-square-foot home is situated on a 10-acre lot.
At a press conference on the one-year anniversary of the shooting, homicide detective Chester Toney told reporters Cordona found two men hiding in the home’s garage and confronted them, along with the mother and a son who lived in the home. He was then fatally shot.
In August, Vincent L. Milhouse, 37, of Fort Washington, Md., also was indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged role in the event.
According to that indictment, he initially was charged with “making a false declaration to a grand jury.” He is accused of lying about his involvement and his knowledge of the alleged shooters while being questioned under oath at a proceeding before the grand jury.
According to court records, Milhouse’s charges were dismissed in September.
“His perjury charges have been dismissed,” said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. He decline further comment
Attorney information for Prather was not yet available at press time.
