Local Digest

Last week, Circuit Court Clerk John T. Frey contacted police to say his staff had detected irregularities in the office's fee tracking system, he said Wednesday. He said he did not know how long the alleged thefts had been occurring or how much money might have been taken.

"At this point, it doesn't appear it's a huge amount of money," said Frey, who added that Sterling had been fired.

The Fairfax clerk's office handled about $200 million in revenue and trust funds last year, police said, and is the largest clerk's office in Virginia. Sterling was charged with four counts of embezzlement by a public official, one count of computer fraud and one count of forging a public record. Police were continuing their investigation, police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said.

-- Tom Jackman

THE DISTRICT

Crash victim dies

A 25-year-old North Carolina woman died Tuesday of injuries she suffered when she lost control of her car and crashed in Northeast Washington last weekend, D.C. police said.

Natasha Leann Davis of Hope Mills, N.C., spun out in her 2002 Honda Civic as she tried to turn left from a southbound lane of North Capitol Street onto Hawaii Avenue NE about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, officials said. Another woman in the car was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Davis was brought to Washington Hospital Center with critical injuries. She died about 6 p.m. Tuesday.

-- Clarence Williams