Crime Up in Arlington, Alexandria

Rates Still Relatively Low Despite More Shoplifting And Vehicle Break-Ins; Chief Blames Economy

Crime in Arlington County and Alexandria went up last year, mostly due to more thieves shoplifting and breaking into cars. Criminals have been increasingly snatching Global Positioning System devices and other electronics they can easily grab from cars, police said.

Overall, crime in both places remains low, with each reporting four homicides.

In Arlington, crime increased 14 percent; in Alexandria, 2 percent.

Arlington Police Chief M. Douglas Scott attributed the jump to the recession.

"We have such a strain on the economy now," he said. "Some folks might think Northern Virginia is immune to these types of influences in our crime picture. We're not."

The number of vehicle break-ins in Arlington jumped from 742 in 2007 to 1,122 last year, a 51 percent increase. Shoplifting cases rose 57 percent, from 466 to 732.

Reported cases of rape fell from 26 to 23, and burglaries went down from 396 to 389.

Robberies increased by two, and aggravated assaults increased by six. Scott said those jumps were small.

"One is too many," he said. "But I would consider that a slight flux. You're going to have it every year, and it could have gone in either direction."

Homicides went up from two to four in Arlington, a county of about 200,000.

Victims included Matthew Hicks, 32, of Loudoun County, who was shot about midnight Dec. 7. He and a woman advertised an erotic service on the Internet, and after they went to the home of an Arlington man who answered the ad, Hicks was killed, police said.

Willie Donaldson, 35, was charged with murder. He told police he acted in self-defense because Hicks threatened to kill him if he didn't go to an ATM and give him money.