Crime is generally down in Mason District

MPO Mike Meszaras (center) was honored as the Mason Police District 2017 Officer of the Year.

Crime in the Mason Police District has generally decreased over the past year, the station commander, Capt. Thomas Rogers, announced at the March 6 meeting of the station’s citizen advisory committee.

An incidence report shows all major crimes are significantly down in Mason from 2016 to 2017 – except for two. Arrests for drugs and prostitution were up last year from the previous year. Many of the drug arrests were for marijuana, but the police are seeing all types of drugs.

Prostitutes aren’t soliciting on the streets, Rogers says. They’re in hotels, often along the Route 50 corridor, advertising on websites like Backpage. They’re brought in from out of state, installed in a hotel for a couple of weeks, then leave. The police have been staking out hotels, leading to more arrests, he says.

Gangs violence

Gang activity has been up and down, but seems to have been steady in the past couple of years. The county’s gang unit has had an increased presence in the community and spent three nights in Mason District last summer.

Gangs are concentrated in Culmore, Annandale, and Seven Corners. Crimes tend to involve rival gang members, Rogers said. “They are a very small threat to the average person.”

Robberies were down 14 percent last year. The first bank robbery since last May occurred March 1, when a man wearing a skirt attempted to rob a Capital One bank in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Despite the downward trend, the last couple of weeks were busy ones for the Mason police station, Rogers said. 

There were three stabbings in the last 10 days. No one was injured seriously; the attacks involved teenagers who knew one another.

The driver of a car that struck a mother and daughter on Columbia Pike on Feb. 24 is still at large, Rogers said. Another mystery detectives are working on is trying to find out who has been firing shots at the Goodwin House.

There was only one fatal pedestrian accident in 2017 in the Mason Police District, compared to four in 2016. There were two non-pedestrian fatal crashes last year and none in 2016.

Of the 24 school threats in Fairfax County following the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., he says, only one of them was in Mason District. Someone had overhead a student at Stuart High School talking about the Florida shooting and mistakenly called it in as a threat. 

Gang activity has been up and down, but seems to have been steady in the past couple of years. The county’s gang unit has had an increased presence in the community and spent three nights in Mason District last summer.

Gangs are concentrated in Culmore, Annandale, and Seven Corners. Crimes tend to involve rival gang members, Rogers said. “They are a very small threat to the average person.”

Recent crimes

Among recent crimes reported by FCPD in the Annandale/Mason area, a pizza delivery man was robbed while trying to make a delivery in the 4800 block of Manitoba Drive in Lincolnia at around 9:30 p.m. on March 6. Two men asked for money and attempted to take the pizza. After a brief struggle, the attackers ran away.

On March 2, a man was robbed in the 4300 block of Americana Drive, Annandale, during a prearranged sales transaction. The victim was trying to sell shoes via a phone app. The man who responded brandished a gun, took the shoes, and fled. The suspect is described as Hispanic, approximately six feet tall, and of average build. He was wearing a navy blue hat with a red stripe.

On March 1, Michael Proctor, 54 of Annandale, was arrested for brandishing a firearm and reckless handling of a firearm in the 4900 block of Americana Drive at about 6 p.m. He had gotten into an argument with someone in the parking lot, got a shotgun, and fired one round into the air. No one was hurt.

Steve Maldonado of Bailey’s Crossroads, a 38-year-old AT&T employee, is facing charges for impersonating a police officer. He allegedly created a prepaid phone number and account and used it to send text messages to a company he was tired of being solicited by. He also created a voicemail greeting in which he identifies himself as a police officer.

[The Mason Police District is not contiguous with the supervisory jurisdiction of Mason District. Parts of Mason District are in the Franconia and West Springfield police districts.]

Officer of the Year

Also at the CAC meeting, Master Police Officer Mike Meszaras was named Mason District Officer of the Year. He had the most traffic stops of any officer, 420, in 2017, but that’s not the main thing: Meszaras was honored for his “upbeat positive attitude,” and as a 28-year veteran of the Fairfax County police force, for being a role model for the younger officers.

Rogers presented a plaque to Meszaras, and the Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club presented him with a trophy and $100 gift card.