Regional Briefing

CRIME

2 1/2 Years for Woman in Identity Scam

A 35-year-old Southeast Washington woman was sentenced yesterday to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for using the purloined identities of Library of Congress employees to purchase nearly $40,000 in goods.

Federal prosecutors said Labiska Gibbs enlisted a relative, a Library of Congress worker, to access an internal database and give her the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of at least 10 employees.

Gibbs used that information to open credit accounts at retailers, including Target and Victoria's Secret. In court papers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn S. Leon said Gibbs made a living selling gift cards she fraudulently purchased.

-- Del Quentin Wilber

Va. Girl Evades Kidnapping Attempt

A 9-year-old Fairfax County girl, playing in the front yard of her home in the Oakton area Sunday afternoon, escaped from a man who grabbed and apparently tried to kidnap her, Fairfax police said yesterday.

The incident happened about 2:30 p.m. in the 10700 block of Dudley Court, just east of Jermantown Road near the Flint Hill School's upper campus. Police said a man grabbed the girl and tried to drag her out of the yard. The girl told police that the man seemed to signal to a second man down the street. But the girl screamed, broke free and ran to an adult for help. The two men fled, apparently on foot, Officer Tawny Wright said. The girl did not need medical attention.

The girl did not see a vehicle and did not report that the men said anything to her, Wright said.

The man who grabbed her was described as a black male, 40 to 50 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a chubby build, a gray mustache and a missing tooth. Police said he wore a dark blue, short-sleeve collared shirt with a name tag. The second man, described only as a black male between 20 and 35 years old, wore a similar shirt.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at 877-411-TIPS.