VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

FAIRFAX COUNTY

Police Officer Makes a Special Delivery

A new life entered the world along Braddock Road in Fairfax County yesterday, and a Fairfax police officer served as the midwife.

Police said Officer Syed Ahmed, a four-year veteran, was on patrol in the Ravensworth area, just west of the Capital Beltway, when a car flashed its headlights at him shortly before 1 p.m., Officer Eddy J. Azcarate said. Ahmed pulled over with the other car at Inverchapel Road and found Jennifer Resner, 36, ready to deliver a baby in the front seat.

Ahmed radioed for a paramedic, but the infant girl would not be delayed. She emerged moments later, with the assistance of Ahmed and her father, Chad Resner.

Mother and baby were taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital and were said to be in good health, Azcarate said.

-- Tom Jackman

Safe at Restaurant Is Emptied of Cash

Three men casually strolled into a Fairfax City restaurant one night last week, opened and looted a safe in the manager's office, then escaped unnoticed while patrons ate and drank around them, police said yesterday.

The men walked into P.J. Skidoos, in the 9900 block of Fairfax Boulevard, about 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Sgt. Pam Nevlud said. They went down a flight of stairs to the manager's office and pried the door open, Nevlud said. One man went inside while the other two kept a lookout, video surveillance tape shows.

The man in the manager's office unlocked the safe, Nevlud said. She declined to say how much cash he took.

No weapons were visible in the surveillance video, Nevlud said.

-- Tom Jackman

LOUDOUN COUNTY

Suspect in Animal Cruelty Case Held

A man charged with 48 counts of animal cruelty in Loudoun County was taken into custody in West Virginia on Monday for violating the terms of his probation in an earlier animal cruelty case.

Dennis B. Danley, 55, of Charles Town, W.Va., has been accused of mistreating four dozen thoroughbreds, which the county seized in January at a farm in Unison after animal control officials found many to be severely malnourished and diseased.

Danley pleaded no contest to one count of animal cruelty in West Virginia last year in a similar case and was given a suspended sentence of 90 days, placed on probation and ordered not to own any horses. According to Loudoun Commonwealth's Attorney Jason Faw, a magistrate in West Virginia ruled Monday that Danley had violated his probation. "He was immediately remanded to the custody of the sheriff to begin serving his sentence," Faw wrote in an e-mail.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

ALEXANDRIA

Board Extending Superintendent Search

The Alexandria School Board announced yesterday that it is extending its search for a superintendent and abruptly ended its relationship with the search firm that helped narrow the candidates to three.

The board had been expected to chose one of the finalists identified by Ray & Associates.

The board said William Symons will continue to serve as interim superintendent.

-- Theresa Vargas