A Fairfax County grand jury last week indicted four people from elsewhere for crimes they allegedly committed in the local area. They are Wesley Creel of Maryland, Timothy Fitzpatrick of New York, Steven Yokel of Missouri and Makubani Reel of no fixed address.
<sh>Wesley Creel
<bt>When a Maryland man showed up at a Chantilly sandwich shop, March 9, say police, he was looking forward to having a sexual liaison with a teen-age girl. He instead met an undercover Fairfax County police officer and was busted.
He is Wesley Creel, 52, of 12424 Rivers Edge Drive in Potomac. Police say he allegedly exchanged e-mails with someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl and eventually solicited her for sexual purposes. But the person with whom he was chatting was actually a detective with the Child Exploitation Unit.
Police charged him with using a communications system to facilitate certain offenses involving children. On Sept. 21 in General District Court, Judge Stewart Davis certified this case to the grand jury. Creel was indicted last Monday, Nov. 21, and is slated for a Dec. 21 non-jury trial.
<sh>Dr. Timothy Fitzpatrick
<bt>Fairfax County police also arrested this 53-year-old man for allegedly soliciting a minor for sex via the Internet. He is Dr. Timothy Fitzpatrick of 1220 Hartwick Lane, Vestal, N.Y.
Fitzpatrick is a well-known, local veterinarian in Vestal, but he was barking up the wrong tree when, say police, he reportedly exchanged instant messages with a detective posing online as a 13-year-old girl. They said he allegedly arranged to meet her in a Centreville parking lot so they could have sexual relations.
But when Fitzpatrick arrived for their tryst, March 24, he was greeted instead by police. He was charged with use of a communications system to facilitate certain offenses involving children.
On Sept. 27 in General District Court, Judge Mitchell Mutnick sent this case to the grand jury. Fitzpatrick was indicted Nov. 21 and is scheduled for a jury trial, Jan. 11, 2006, in Circuit Court.
<sh>Steven Yokel
<bt>A 29-year-old man from Joplin, Mo., was arrested Sept. 20 at Fair Oaks mall and charged with exposing himself to a woman and her two young sons. He is Steven Dale Troy Yokel of 304 W. 17th St.
At the time, the woman, 36, of Fairfax, and her sons, ages 5 and 3, were shopping in a Hallmark store. Police say two other people witnessed the alleged incident and Yokel reportedly tried to flee from police and security personnel, but was apprehended.
He was charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a minor child (which are felony charges) and one count of indecent exposure. On Oct. 28 in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, one count of indecent liberties with a minor was certified to the grand jury. Yokel was indicted on Nov. 21 and is slated for a Dec. 12 jury trial.
<sh>Makubani S. Reel
<bt>Fairfax County police arrested Makubani S. Reel, 25, of no fixed address, on Oct. 6, after he allegedly broke into the apartment of a 28-year-old Centreville woman and assaulted her. She was sleeping at the time and her 5-year-old son was nearby.
Police say the alleged incident occurred around 4 a.m. in the 6400 block of Paddington Lane in the Lee Overlook community. They say the woman awoke to find Reel, whom she knew, in her bedroom. They also say he was reportedly armed with a knife.
Police responded after a neighbor contacted them when she heard the woman scream. Meanwhile, the intruder fled, and officers pursued him on foot, capturing him nearby. They charged Reel with burglary, abduction and assault and battery.
On Nov. 7 in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery and was sentenced to two months in jail — 12 months, with 10 months suspended. The abduction charge was dropped.
At the same time, Reel's burglary charge was amended to attempted grand larceny and was certified to the grand jury. He was indicted on Nov. 21 and is scheduled for a non-jury trial, Dec. 5, in Circuit Court.