Regional Briefing

Thursday, September 24, 2009

PUBLIC SAFETY

2 Arrested in Woman's Stabbing Death

Two men have been arrested this week in the stabbing death of Erika Yancey, who was found dead in her car in the Herndon area in November, Fairfax County police said Wednesday.

Yancey, 22, worked at Dulles International Airport moving airplanes, her family said, and she lived nearby at the Camden Dulles Station apartments, just off Sunrise Valley Drive near the Dulles Toll Road. She was reported missing, along with her car, Nov. 17, and the property manager noticed a trail of blood in the parking lot.

Two days later, Yancey's body was found in her gray 2007 Hyundai Elantra along Sunrise Valley Drive. She had been stabbed in the upper body, her family said.

Fairfax homicide detectives recently obtained murder indictments from a Fairfax grand jury for two suspects. On Monday, Michael Thomas, 27, of the 5200 block of Newton Street in Bladensburg agreed to meet with detectives at the Mason district station. He was arrested there, police said.

On Tuesday, U.S. marshals arrested Marcus Williams, 28, in Sterling Heights, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, police said. He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to determine whether he would agree to be extradited to Virginia.

Williams was Yancey's roommate in Herndon, Fairfax Officer Bud Walker said. Thomas is a friend of Williams's but did not live with them, Walker said. Walker said he did not know a motive for the killing.

-- Tom Jackman

Man Charged in School Drug Case

An 18-year-old man from Rockville, who authorities said set up drug deals with high school students using text messages, has been charged with marijuana-related offenses, Montgomery County police said Wednesday.

Authorities identified the suspect as Arian Mohammadi, who they said graduated from Walter Johnson High School last year.

Detectives working the case, who watched Mohammadi outside a Bethesda shopping center during lunch hour, pulled him over in his Toyota 4Runner on Tuesday. In the truck, police said, were 15 small bags of marijuana, a glass marijuana pipe, two ecstasy tablets, $1,200 in cash and three teenagers.

Two of the passengers, 14 and 17, are students at Walter Johnson, police said. Officers told the teenagers' parents what had happened, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge them, police said. The third passenger, an 18-year-old, is not a student and wasn't charged, police said.

Mohammadi was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and other offenses.

-- Dan Morse

Baltimore Man Gets 2 Years for Fraud

A Baltimore man was sentenced Wednesday to more than two years in prison for stealing $750,000 from a District-based trade association during a 10-year span, federal prosecutors said.

James Pearson, 56, who pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud, worked for the Nuclear Energy Institute starting in 1982, prosecutors said.

Pearson acknowledged that, beginning in 1998, he ordered goods on behalf of the institute and sold them for profit. The items included office supplies, flat-screen TVs, DVD players, video cameras, MP3 devices and computers, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman sentenced Pearson to two years and three months in prison and ordered him to pay $764,846 in restitution to his former employer.

-- Del Quentin Wilber

Help Sought in Identifying Pedestrian

Arlington County police were asking for help identifying a man who died Monday night after he was struck by a car about 7:40 p.m. in the 1000 block of Arlington Boulevard.

The victim, described as a white adult, was trying to cross Arlington Boulevard just before the George Washington Parkway exit ramp. He died at the scene. The driver of the sedan that hit him was cooperating with police, officers said.

No charges had been filed, and the investigation was continuing. Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call Detective Robert Icolari at 703-228-4240.

-- Allison Klein

GOVERNMENT

Annapolis Candidate Quits Race

Former White House aide Zina Pierre is dropping out of the Annapolis mayor's race -- again.

Pierre made the announcement Wednesday afternoon at a news conference. She did not take questions from reporters but said she didn't want questions about her finances to be a distraction.

Pierre narrowly won her Democratic primary by 127 votes last week.

But questions arose about her personal finances and residency. Her campaign announced abruptly that she had dropped out of the race, then announced a day later that it was a mistake and she was running after all.

The Democratic party will choose a new nominee after a meeting Friday night.

-- Associated Press

Gaithersburg Official Is Charged

Fred Felton, Gaithersburg's assistant city manager, was placed on administrative leave after a warrant was issued Wednesday charging him with reckless endangerment and discharging a firearm within city limits, a Gaithersburg city spokeswoman said.

Felton has been a city employee for 20 years, holding his current position since 1999. "The conduct of City employees is an important matter," City Manager Angel Jones said in a statement. "We treat all such incidents seriously."

A phone message left for Felton wasn't returned.

-- Dan Morse

EDUCATION

Loyola to Add 'University' to Its Name

In a ceremony Friday, Loyola College in Maryland will become Loyola University Maryland.

The Baltimore school, founded in 1852, will celebrate the official name change with an afternoon convocation featuring a keynote address by Georgetown University President John DeGioia.

Loyola's president, the Rev. Brian Linnane, said the designation "college" no longer reflects "who we are as an institution," with 3,700 undergraduates, 2,500 graduate students and graduate programs in nine disciplines. Market researchers surveyed prospective students and found that two-thirds said they thought it is more prestigious to attend a university than a college.

Loyola is a Jesuit institution, like Georgetown, with a college of arts and sciences and schools of business and education. The institution offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology and pastoral counseling.

A new branding strategy is afoot, including an updated Web site that will go live Friday, and new advertising and road signs. The name will continue to include "Maryland" to distinguish the school from Loyolas in Louisiana, Illinois and California.

-- Daniel de Vise