News of crime and punishment across Fairfax County.
UNATTENDED FOOD ON STOVE BURNER SPARKS McLEAN HOUSE FIRE: The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and Arlington County Fire Department dispatched units on Jan. 16 at noon to a house fire in the 2000 block of Great Falls Street in McLean.
Arriving units saw smoke coming from the roof of the one-story, single-family home. Crews quickly located a fire in the kitchen area and extinguished it, along with additional fire found in the attic. There were no reported civilian or firefighter injuries.
One occupant was home at the time of fire. The occupant was cooking and walked away from the kitchen. When she returned, she discovered a fire on the stovetop and called 911. There were working smoke alarms in the home.
Fire investigators determined that the fire was accidental and caused by food left on the burner, which ignited the cooking oil and nearby combustibles.
The fire displaced two adults, who declined assistance offered by the Red Cross. The fire caused about $93,750 worth of damage, officials said.
This blaze was the third McLean house fire in recent weeks.
VICTIM REPORTS ABDUCTION IN MERRIFIELD AREA: A man approached a victim in the 2900 block of Caribbean Court in Merrifield on Jan. 18 at 7:51 p.m., displayed a firearm and demanded to be driven to a residence in Washington, D.C., Fairfax County police said.
After dropping the man off, the victim reported the incident to police. No injuries were reported, police said.
BATHROOM DOOR AT VIENNA PARK DAMAGED DURING BREAK-IN: A town of Vienna employee told Vienna police that sometime between Nov. 22 last year and Jan. 18, someone forced entry into one of the bathrooms at Southside Park, 1317 Ross Drive, S.W., and damaged the door.
VIENNA POLICE INVESTIGATING VARIETY OF FRAUD CASES: Vienna police in recent weeks have been notified about scams that have defrauded local residents.
• A woman living in the 800 block of Plum Street, S.W., told Vienna police she had been defrauded of money on Dec. 27 last year. The victim had responded to an e-mail regarding a McAfee computer anti-virus account and followed the contact’s instructions to wire money.
The following day, the resident received an e-mail from someone claiming to be with the FBI, who advised her of an issue with her computer and instructed her to pay a fine to correct the matter.
Vienna police issued a warning earlier in January after receiving two other reports of McAfee anti-virus scams.
• A woman living in the 400 block of Mill Street, S.E., told Vienna police that, sometime between Dec. 28 last year and Jan. 13, someone used her personal information to open a Macy’s credit account and made purchases.
• A man living in the 600 block of Spring Street, S.E., reported on Jan. 14 at 2:56 p.m. that when trying to open a bank account, the bank instructed him to provide a tax EIN (employer identification number) for the account.
The resident accessed what he believed to be an IRS Website via his cell phone and entered his personal information before he realized the Website was fraudulent.
• In another computer-anti-virus scam, a resident living in the 200 block of Walnut Lane, N.W., told Vienna police on Jan. 19 at 12:33 p.m. about receiving an e-mail that appeared to come from NortonLifeLock, showing charges to the victim’s account.
The resident called the number listed in the e-mail to discuss the charges. After following the caller’s direction, the resident was defrauded of money from his bank account, police said.