Police said five employees of a Charlottesville-area tow truck firm assaulted two Stafford sheriff’s deputies at a McDonalds over some French fries. Those two deputies were treated at a local hospital for injuries and released.
Today, those five employees are walking free after being released by a county magistrate after they promised to return to Stafford to appear in court.
The sheriff’s office reports:
On March 21st at 6:24 p.m., deputies responded to a report of a fight involving 10 people in the lobby of the McDonald’s at 44 Stanstead Road [off Route 17 in south Stafford]. The investigation revealed Jamie Morris, 48, a tow truck driver from Dyke, was upset over his French fry order. This led to a verbal dispute with store staff. Another customer came to the defense of employees, and the verbal altercation continued in the lobby.
Deputies determined there was no assault, and store management requested Morris and the group of Ace‘s Towing employees with him leave the property. The tow truck group was given ample opportunity to leave, but refused. Management proceeded to tell the group they were trespassing from the property.
One tow truck employee, William Morris, Jr., 36, of Dyke was unfamiliar with trespass laws and refused to leave. Morris, Jr. was subsequently informed he was under arrest for trespass. Instead of complying with the arrest, he attempted to flee on foot. He was tackled approximately 20 yards away and handcuffed.
As he was being brought to a patrol car for transport, an irate mob of tow truck employees began encircling one of the deputies.
The tow truck employees became more agitated and were impeding the investigation. They had been previously told to leave, but continued to shout obscenities and refused to vacate the property.
OC spray was utilized as the rowdy group surrounded the deputy. As one suspect was being detained, Jamie Ragland, 27, of Gordonsville grabbed a deputy around his neck and threw the deputy on the ground.
Consequently, Ragland was tasered and placed in handcuffs. As additional deputies, Fredericksburg Police Officers and Virginia State Police rushed to the aid of the two deputies, three additional suspects were taken into custody.
Jamie Morris was charged with obstruction and trespass. William Morris, Jr. was charged with trespass, obstruction and vandalism. Jamie Ragland was charged with assault and battery on law enforcement, and obstruction. William Morris, Sr., 57 of Dyke was charged with obstruction. Monica Morris, 45, of Gordonsville was charged with obstruction. All five were released by the magistrate.
Two deputies were injured during the incident and required treatment at a local hospital. Please continue to pray for the safety of all law enforcement officers and the speedy recovery of our deputies.
Route 1 at the Prince William County/Stafford County line is closed due to a brush fire, the Stafford sheriff reports on X.
That has prompted a significant back up for people trying to get off Quantico Marine Corps Base. Phyllis Thibodeaux sent us the photo above. “Trying to get off Quantico base to 95. Been stuck in traffic for three hours,” she texted Potomac Local.
Thibodeaux is sitting in her car on Russell Road, trying to reach the base’s main gate near Dumfries. We’ve asked her to text us again to tell us when she gets moving.
Her delays, and those for many other area drivers, come as firefighters in both counties have been working several brush fires all afternoon since about 1 o’clock.
“It’s been a very busy afternoon,” said Prince William Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Matt Smolksy.
A total of 39 outside and brush fires have been dispatched since Noon today. The majority of those are small fires, but Prince William fire crews are working three larger fires at the following locations:
4700 blk Locust Shade & Rt 1. – units still actively fighting a brush fire. This incident was also reported on Richmond Highway/Russell Road. Richmond Hwy NB is closed for FD operations.
2800 block Dale Blvd. (this fire is extinguished)
10600 block of Parkgate Drive in Nokesville (this fire is nearly extinguished)
“It appears things are quieting down. All fires are under control, and the number of dispatches has slowed. More normal weather conditions are predicted for tomorrow,” said Smolksy.
No injuries or damage to structures have been reported. Prince William fire crews received help from Quantico, Manassas, Manassas Park, Stafford, and Fairfax counties.
In Stafford County, crews have been working on three larger fires for the majority of the afternoon. We’ll have more on that as we have it.
Earlier today, the National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning for the entire region up until 8 p.m. The combination of dry conditions, low humidity, and strong gusty winds of up to 50 and 60 mph have created favorable conditions for the rapid spread of these fires.
Please email or text your photos to 571-989-1695. More as we have it.
A tree smashed a Prince William County School bus traveling on Linton Hall Road, at the Merrifield Garden Center near Gainesville.
There were no children on the bus. An ambulance was called to treat the driver.
We’re working to get more information. We’ll update this post as soon as we have it.
A strong cold front is bringing 50 to 60 mph wind gusts to the region.
Updated 4 p.m. March 11, 2024: Searchers located the body of a woman who went missing after her kayak capsized on Lake Arrowhead. The 48-year-old victim has not been identified. There there are no signs of foul play, a Stafford sheriff’s spokesman said.
The woman was not wearing a life jacket. Investigators are still trying to determine how the boat capsized.
Original post: Authorities are working to recover the body of a woman who went missing today in Lake Arrowhead.
According to initial information, the woman was on a kayak that capsized on the big lake at about 2:45 p.m. A second person on the vessel swam to shore to summon help.
Fire and rescue crews were called to Oak Lane at 3:50 p.m. Stafford County Fire and Rescue deployed five boats, and Quantico used its flat-bottom boat to search the lake. The rescue effort transitioned to a recovery effort shortly before 7 p.m.
The sheriff’s office has not identified the woman, nor has it said if foul play is suspected.
Sunny conditions were deceiving, as strong winds whipped around the lake as searchers in boats and swimmers in the water searched for the woman. The high winds caused powerlines elsewhere in the county, like Route 1 and Coal Landing Road, to snap. Several tree branches also fell victim to the winds.
There are two lakes in the Lake Arrowhead subdivision. The big lake, the focus of search teams, is at least 15 feet deep.
Police in Stafford and Fairfax counties say they arrested a suspect in the slayings of 18-year-old Amy Baker and 4032-year-old Jaqueline Lord in 1989 and 1986, respectively.
Stafford County Sheriff’s Major Shawn Kimmitz credits the excellent work of detectives from both agencies, who used DNA evidence to identify a suspect.
On November 14, 1986, Lord, was working at Mount Vernon Realty in the 300 block of Garrisonville Road. She was last seen that evening at 9 p.m. as the business closed. Lord never made it home.
The next morning, employees of other businesses in the area prepared to open for the day and discovered a crime scene at the realty office, which indicated a struggle. Lord and her vehicle were both missing. Stafford County detectives, assisted by the Virginia State Police Crime Scene Unit and the FBI processed the scene and collected blood and other evidence.
The following day, two teenagers played in a wooded area off Route 1 at Railroad Avenue in Woodbridge, about 20 miles north of the realty office. They discovered a body beneath a pile of discarded carpet. Stafford detectives joined Prince William detectives and the FBI to process the scene and identified the deceased as Lord.
Lord’s missing vehicle was located abandoned in Fairfax County on December 18, 1986, leading to the recovery of additional evidence. Over the years, detectives from multiple federal and state agencies followed up on countless leads and conducted interviews, eliminating numerous suspects and persons of interest.
The FBI created a task force combining the efforts of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, Prince William County Police Department, the FBI, and the DEA. DNA was extracted from the evidence, but repeated searches of the Virginia and National DNA Databanks via CODIS, in addition to direct comparisons against submitted persons of interest and familial searches, failed to identify the killer. The leads were exhausted, and the investigation was moved to cold case status.
At the order of Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur, D.K. Wood explored a new technology, forensic investigative genetic genealogy, to help identify the killer.
Wood worked with Parabon NanoLabs, a company providing DNA phenotyping. The analysis of the DNA linked the Lord’s murder to the unsolved 1989 murder of Amy Baker in Fairfax County. A Stafford resident, Baker, ran out of gas while traveling on Interstate 95 and pulled off the highway at Backlick Road in Fairfax County.
Baker met her killer while walking toward a gas station. She was raped, assaulted, and left for dead in the woods.
On December 14, 2023, identified their suspect. Detectives followed up on the leads this technology created and ultimately obtained a search warrant for DNA from Stafford County residents. In February, the Department of Forensic Science reported that the DNA matched.
On March 4, Elroy Harrison, 65, was indicted by a Stafford County Grand Jury for first-degree murder, abduction with the intent to defile, aggravated malicious wounding of Lord, as well as breaking with the intent to commit murder.
He was arrested at his Stafford County home on March 5 and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond. Cold Case detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department are working alongside the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth Attorney to seek charges against Harrison for the murder of Baker’s murder.
More as we have it.
Updated: A quiet morning on Musselman Road in Stafford County was disrupted today when a man broke into a home just before 7 a.m. The incident has prompted a significant police presence in the area, with authorities deploying various resources including drones and K9 units to track down the suspect.
They eventually found and arrested a man in the Rappahannock Landing neighborhood. Sheriff’s Major Shawn Kimmitz said deputies took the man to the county magistrate and that the department is seeking multiple charges for the man.
The man’s name was not released.
According to reports, the man entered a residence on Musselman Road only to be confronted by the homeowner. Frightened by the encounter, the intruder quickly fled the scene on foot. Shortly after, he attempted to break into a car parked nearby, still armed with a chainsaw and a hammer.
Eyewitnesses say the suspect dropped the chainsaw during his escape, but it remains unclear if he still possesses the hammer. As law enforcement continues their search, a drone has been deployed to hover over the Olde Forge neighborhood while K9 units are on the ground tracking the suspect’s scent.
To ensure the safety of residents, particularly students waiting for school buses, authorities are closely monitoring bus stops in the area.
The suspect is described as a heavyset white male in his 30s or 40s, heavyset, wearing a brown trench coat and a flannel shirt. Residents are advised to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity by dialing 911.
We first told you about it in November, and now the Walmart of gas stations has made it official.
Stafford County’s website shows Buc-ees, known for its signature barbeque and Beaver Nuggets, applied for a conditional use permit to build a gas station on 36 acres on Courthouse Road next to Interstate 95 exit 140 in Stafford.
Should the Board of Supervisors approve its conditional use permit, the new 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s convenience store, complete with 120 gas pumps, will open outside the Embrey Mill neighborhood.
No public hearings are scheduled on the matter. The beloved roadside megastore was founded in Texas in 1982.
The Stafford location would be the third Buc-ees in Virginia. The mega gas station will build locations on I-64 in New Kent County and on I-81 in Harrisonburg before the end of the decade. The Stafford County location would give the company stores on all three major Virignia interstate highways.
Stafford County has also lured Amazon to build two logistic centers and the international shipping firm DHL in recent years. Buc-ee’s has about 60 stores, with the most in Texas. It also has stores in Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky.
The coming of Buc-ees has proved contentious in the halls of the Stafford County Government. Since we reported that Buc-ees was considering opening a new store in Stafford, the county’s economic development director, Kyle Alwine, resigned at the end of 2023.
Sources tell Potomac Local News that pressure from locally elected officials and Laura Sellers, whom Glenn Youngkin appointed to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, and a former county supervisor, all oppose Buc-ees, and were a factor in Alwine’s resignation.
Alwine declined to comment on why he left, saying only in an interview with Potomac Local. Sellers, who lives near the proposed gas station site, texted to Potomac Local, “[The Commonwealth Transportation Board] has nothing to do with Buc-ees.”
Sellers also sits on the Stafford County Planning Commission, appointed by Garrisonville District Supervisor Pamela Yeung. The Planning Commission will review Buc-ee’s permit application before it reaches the Board of Supervisors.
“If you have a fairly common type of project, and it will bring benefits to the county, and you fight it, it will send a message [to businesses],” said Alwine. “Sometimes it’s not all about [tax revenue]. Sometimes, it’s about sending a message that you’re open for business.”
Alwine was on the job for less than one year. Meanwhile, the county’s top administrator, Randal Vosburg, announced his resignation after 20 months on the job. His last day is April 5, during the height of the county’s FY2025 budget deliberations.
Yorkshire Elementary School, located at 7610 Old Centreville Road near Manassas, closed today due to a significant safety concern. The closure affects over 820 students, staff, and the School Age Child Care (SACC) program.
A total of 831 electricity customers were out in the neighboring Manassas city. Crews have been on site since 3:30 a.m. this morning, trying to reroute power. As of 7:30, all power was restored, a city spokeswoman tells us.
The outage comes as Prince William police investigate a single-vehicle crash that struck a pole along Old Centreville Rd in front of Yorkshire ES. The driver fled—prolonged traffic impacts expected due to needed repairs. Drivers are urged to expect delays and to follow police directions.
The decision to close the school was made in response to a power line down in front of the building, posing potential hazards to students, staff, and visitors.
Prince William County Schools (PWCS) officials have confirmed that this incident impacts no other schools within the district.
Emergency crews are on-site to address the situation and ensure the area’s safety. Parents and guardians are advised to make alternative arrangements for their children today, and updates regarding the school’s reopening will be provided as soon as more information becomes available.
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Stafford County Administrator Randall Vosburg has signaled his intent to resign. Vosburg is the top government official in the county, overseeing the operation of county government services.
Vosburg held the job for 20 months. He did not provide a reason for his departure.
“During my time here, I have witnessed the dedication, passion, and resilience that defines Stafford. Together, we have overcome challenges, celebrated successes, and forged meaningful connections that I will always cherish,” Vossburg stated in his resignation letter.
There is no effective date for his resignation. The Board of Supervisors has yet to accept his resignation, said county spokesman Andrew Spence.
The Board may decide to go into closed session to discuss the matter during its 4 p.m. meeting tonight, at the Courthouse Community Center, 29 Stafford Avenue, Stafford.
Before coming to Stafford, Vosburg had served as County Administrator of Highlands County, Florida, since his appointment in 2017. Before that, he had served as Assistant County Administrator for Highlands County when he was hired for the position in 2013. Vosburg’s experience includes serving in the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Vosburg replaced Fred Presley, who vacated the role in April 2022.
The news comes as Vosburg presented his proposed FY2025 budget to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. For the first time, the county proposes spending more than $1 billion on county services.
The news comes as biannual commercial and personal Real Estate property assessments out this week show an eye-popping 24% 23% for commercial properties and a 13% increase for homes, on on average, respectively, leaving residents to wonder just how much more money they’ll pay in property taxes starting July 1, 2024.
More as we have it.
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