Author: Potomac Local News
Prince William County, Va. — Aaron H. Thomas, the man police have dubbed the East Coast Rapist, arrived in Prince William County today to face charges of rape in a case dating back to Halloween 2009.
Thomas was extradited from Connecticut, where he was arrested at his home in New Haven in March.
In preparation for a planned “Occupy Mary Wash” event, similar to an Occupy Wall Street protest, the UMW Bullet reported earlier this month the students held a teach-in to express their frustrations about lack of representation on the school’s Board of Visitors.
“What’s important is that we all realize that education is becoming a business. What we can do with the BOV is to show them that we want our own voice,” the newspaper quoted one of the students.
A special program will be held at the planetarium at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge beginning at 7 p.m. Friday called “Star of Bethlehem.” Held over three Friday’s in December, the show will also feature a program on how to view stars from your own backyard as well as a holiday laser light show.
More information is available on the planetarium’s website. Show times are 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, then again on Dec. 9 and 16. Tickets are $10 cash (exact change is required), and seats will be available to the first 65 patrons, according to the website.
North Stafford, Va. — Those who eat at Chili’s in at Stafford Marketplace today can help donate to a good cause.
The Stafford County SPCA will hold a “spirit night fundraiser” from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the North Stafford eatery where 20 percent of all sales for the day will be donated to the organization – the county’s first and only no-kill animal shelter.
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A man was robbed while inside a gym in Woodbridge. Police were called to Powerhouse Gym on Golansky Boulevard, off Smoketown Road, at 7:27 p.m. Saturday after a two men got into an argument and a cell phone was stolen.
Police said the 20-year-old victim was approached by another man whom he knew, and an argument ensued. The man pushed the victim, grabbed his cell phone valued at $600 and fled the gym, said police.
For the first time in recent memory, tickets for the trains sold out on the same day they went on sale.
Online tickets for $6 each went on sale at 9 a.m. Monday on VRE’s website and sold out in 12 minutes. At vendors at rail stations where tickets were $5 each, tickets had all sold out by 2 p.m.
The victim was walking along the tracks in the area of Range Road when it appears he was struck by a passing train, police said.
The victim was pronounced dead on the scene, and police said his death appears to be an accident.
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Woodbridge, Va. — After 34 years with Prince William County’s fire department, Chief Hadden Culp will take off his fire hat one last time Wednesday.
From his office in at the McCoart Building on Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge, Culp, 54, has overseen a large portion of the department, including community outreach division in charge of fire prevention, safety education, and the fire marshal’s office that investigates some of the most sinister fires.
Police were called for a robbery at a shoe store inside Potomac Mills mall about 2:20 p.m. Friday. A man walked into a store, grabbed a pair of shoes valued at $90, and then fled, police said.
Security guards confronted the man, but were pushed away by him. Police officers later found the man after a brief foot pursuit and arrested him.