SNIPER INVESTIGATION
The Federal Government will reimburse Arlington County $124,361 of the $215,714 it reported in overtime costs accumulated during last October's sniper attacks.
Most of the funds for Arlington will come as refunds for overtime costs that the Arlington Police Department incurred during the investigation, said detective John Ritter, a police department spokesman.
“We had detectives working with the task force, officers conducting traffic stops and people at all major interchanges and exits. Every officer was working 12-hour shifts,” he said. “I can’t think of anything that wasn’t manpower, but there was a lot of manpower.”
Arlington resident Linda Franklin was killed on Oct. 14 outside a Home Depot store in Falls Church. Lee Boyd Malvo, the juvenile sniper suspect charged with the murder of Franklin, has been indicted on two charges of capital murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 10, 2003.
During the three-week sniper attacks last October, 10 people were killed and three more were wounded in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. The trial of John Muhammed, 42, is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2003 in Prince William County.
The sniper investigation cost Virginia, Maryland and D.C. law enforcement agencies over $4.3 million in approved overtime costs.
The Federal Government will reimburse Virginia $1,221,283, nearly 58 percent of the $2.1 million in overtime costs that state and local law enforcement reported. Maryland will be reimbursed $985,210 of its $1.7 million overtime expenses and the District of Columbia will be reimbursed $293,507 of the $509,112 reported.
The difference between the allocated funds and the requested funds is not a burden, Ritter said, and comes with the salve that all police departments got 58 percent of the money they asked for. “We would like to have that money back, but it hasn’t decreased the level of service,” he said. “I think the county is prepared for contingencies”
Other area governments will receive reimbursement from the federal government, including:
* Virginia State Police, $25,912 of $44,946 in overtime
* Fairfax County Police Department, $348,806 of $605,032
* Fairfax County Sheriff's Department, $17,085 of $29,635
* Fairfax City, $16,697 of $28,961
* City of Falls Church, $5,839 of $10,127
* City of Alexandria, $101,372 of $175,837
* Arlington County, $124,361 of $215,714
* Loudoun County, $18,339 of $31,809
* Town of Herndon, $5,856 of $10,157
* Town of Vienna, $1,564 of $2,712
VEGETABLE TRUCK THEFT LEADS TO ARREST
After a short chase, Arlington police arrested a man Tuesday for stealing a refrigerated truck.
Police charged 29-year-old Eric Bowen of the 1400 block of S. Eads St., with grand larceny, eluding police, hit and run, and driving while intoxicated.
Officers were dispatched to the 800 block of South 20 Street at about 6:45 a.m. on a report of a man who had stolen a refrigerated box truck, which the driver left idling as he unloaded vegetables at a market. They saw the man outside the truck, at which point he jumped in and drove away, hitting many parked cars as he fled.
Police tried to stop the truck, but said that Bowen ignored their attempts and tried to flee. After a brief pursuit, they said, Bowen crashed the truck and attempted to flee on foot before officers caught him.
At least 18 parked vehicles were hit during the incident. Bowen is currently being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Center and is awaiting a court appearance.