While a victim remains in intensive care, Fairfax County police have arrested a 21-year-old Burke man who they allege committed a pair of crimes at the Twinbrooke Shopping Center in Burke.
Police arrested Todd W. Pomeroy of the 9700 block of Braddock Road in Burke on Feb. 10, charging him with robbery for an incident that occurred on Feb. 8, at 10:50 p.m. Police now believe they can tie Pomeroy to a beating that took place behind the shopping center in the early morning hours of Feb. 8.
"Once they had [Pomeroy] in custody, they established him as a suspect in the wounding," said Officer Bud Walker, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department.
According to police reports, on Feb. 8, around 1 a.m., police were on routine patrol near the Twinbrooke Shopping Center, when they noticed suspicious behavior on the part of two pedestrians in front of the plaza. Upon a search, officers discovered a man unconscious behind the plaza, who was "bleeding from massive head trauma," according to a search warrant affidavit. That man, a 65-year-old maintenance worker, was taken to Fairfax Inova Hospital and placed in intensive care.
THAT SAME NIGHT, a woman was walking from the Safeway store in Twinbrooke to the AM/FM Radio store, when she was assaulted and threatened with a knife. Police allege Pomeroy demanded the victim's purse, but she did not have one, so he stole a bag of groceries and a portable stereo.
Police were able to arrest Pomeroy for this incident through what Walker called "good old-fashioned detective work."
"Based on what they found from walking the area and talking to people, they were able to establish Pomeroy as a suspect," he said.
According to the affidavit, police learned about Pomeroy based on conversations with someone who let him use a cell phone shortly after the assault. Using a photo lineup, the victim of the robbery identified Pomeroy as the person who robbed her. After he was arrested, police say, Pomeroy made "incriminating statements" about the Feb. 8 assault in the rear of the plaza. According to police, a search warrant yielded several possibly incriminating pieces of evidence.
Police are seeking malicious wounding charges against Pomeroy, but as the victim of the assault remains in intensive care, the charge could possibly be altered to manslaughter.