(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) Arlington County Police are investigating two separate attempted bank robberies inside supermarket this morning.

A man entered the SunTrust bank at 3713 Lee Highway around 11:10 a.m. and passed a note to a teller demanding money. A weapon was implied but not seen, and the man reportedly fled before receiving any cash.

The bank is located within a Safeway supermarket in the Cherrydale neighborhood.

The suspect is described as a black male wearing a red Nationals hat, a navy blue raincoat, jeans and New Balance sneakers. The man was between 5′ 9″ and 5′ 10″, in his late 40s or early 50s, with a black and gray beard.

Some 20 minutes later, police were called for another attempted bank robbery at the PNC Bank at 2901 S. Glebe Road, inside a Giant supermarket.

The suspect passed a note demanding money and implying a weapon, but appeared nervous and again fled before receiving cash. The suspect description is similar to that of the first attempted robbery, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

From a police press release:

The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit, along with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a bank robbery suspect captured in surveillance footage at separate locations.

The initial robbery attempt occurred at 11:08 a.m. on June 10, 2013 in the 3700 block of Lee Highway at the Suntrust Bank inside of Safeway. Twenty minutes later, the suspect attempted to rob the PNC Bank located inside the Giant Food Store in the 2900 block of S. Glebe Road. On both occasions, the subject entered the bank and approached a teller with a handwritten note demanding money and implying he had a weapon. The suspect fled the scene on foot each time without receiving money.

He is described as black male in his late forties or early fifties with a medium build. He was wearing a striped polo shirt underneath a dark-colored jacket, with blue jeans and a Washington Nationals baseball hat.

Anyone with information on the identity or whereabouts of this individual is asked to contact Detective Gary Skeens at 703.228.4166 or Detective Richard Conigliaro at 703.228.4193 with the Arlington County Police Department or investigations@arlingtonva.us. To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS (8477).

Update at 6:00 p.m. — Nothing hazardous was found inside the truck, according to a fire department spokeswoman. The scene is being cleared and roads reopened.

Arlington County police and bomb squad personnel are on the scene of a suspicious vehicle in the county-owned surface parking lot in Courthouse.

An Arlington sheriff’s deputy spotted the suspicious truck earlier this afternoon while walking from the area near the movie theater to the jail. It’s described as a Hertz rental truck.

Two adult men who were inside the truck are being questioned by police. The bomb squad is preparing to open the back of the truck to see what’s inside. It’s expected to be another hour or two before the scene can be cleared.

Police have shut down parts of N. Courthouse Road, 14th Street and 15th Street near the scene. The county’s Emergency Operations Center has been evacuated.

File photo

A police chase that started in D.C. ended with a wreck at a busy Crystal City intersection.

U.S. Park Police had chased the car from D.C. to Crystal City when, just before 8:30 p.m., it was broadsided by a Jeep at the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway and 23rd Street S. The fleeing vehicle slammed into a gas pump at the Exxon station at the southwest corner of the intersection. Three men ran from the car, with one dropping a gun on the ground in the process.

The wreck caused a fuel spill but did not cause a fire. An occupant of the Jeep was transported to George Washington University Hospital with serious injuries, according to Arlington County Fire Department Battalion Chief Daniel Fitch.

While the suspects were fleeing, Fitch said, a U.S. Park Police offer was involved in a separate crash at Jefferson Davis Highway and 20th Street. The officer was injured and transported to Virginia Hospital Center.

A third accident, possibly caused by a driver distracted by the subsequent police search for the suspects, occurred at 25th Street and S. Fern Street. No injuries were reported in that crash.

According to NBC 4, two of the three suspects have been apprehended, while one remains at large. A police helicopter was brought in to help search for the suspects.

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) A woman has died after falling from the top of a building in Ballston.

Initial reports suggest that the individual, currently believed to be female, jumped from the top of the Randolph Towers apartment building, at 4001 9th Street N., and landed on a car parked in front of the 9th Street side of the building.

A witness tells ARLnow.com that a man was inside the vehicle when the woman landed on it. He was unhurt but ran out of the vehicle, distraught, we’re told. The vehicle has diplomatic license plates.

The woman left several bags on the roof of the building, according to police radio traffic. Police are investigating the incident as a probable suicide.

A man died after jumping or falling from Randolph Towers in April 2011.

If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, help is a phone call away. Call CrisisLink at 703-527-4077.

Update at 7:50 p.m. — Officers entered the apartment and found a 37-year-old man dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to police. A Chihuahua that was in the apartment has been turned over to animal control. Units are clearing the scene.

Earlier: Police have surrounded an apartment building on S. Glebe Road, near Shirlington, after officers heard a gunshot from one of the apartments.

Shortly before 4:00 p.m., officers responded to the Twenty400 building (2400 24th Road S.) to check on the welfare of a man who had not shown up for work for several days. Upon making entry into the apartment, officers heard a gunshot, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. They immediately backed out of the apartment and called for additional resources.

The apartment complex has been at least partially evacuated. Arlington’s SWAT team and bomb squad are now on the scene, preparing to use a robot to look inside the apartment, Sternbeck said. Police negotiators are also on scene. They’re not sure whether this might be a case of a suicide, or a subject who’s barricaded in the apartment.

“We don’t know what we have inside at this time,” said Sternbeck.

Police and bomb squad units have staged around apartment building, blocking at least one lane on S. Glebe Road and causing some traffic backups. Drivers should expect delays in the area.

Photo courtesy Brian Ossip

(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) Police are on the scene of a bank robbery in Courthouse.

A man robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at 2200 Clarendon Blvd just before 1:00 p.m. today (Friday). The bank is in the courtyard of Courthouse Plaza, just steps from the Arlington County government office building and a couple of blocks from police headquarters.

The suspect presented a note to the teller implying he had a gun, and fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to police. He “was in and out within minutes,” said police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Police quickly surrounded the bank following the robbery, but the suspect remains at large. The FBI also responded to the call, which is protocol in a bank robbery.

The suspect is described as a black male in his 20s or 30s, between 5’6″ and 5’9″, wearing a black windbreaker, a “boonie” hat and dark blue jogging pants with light blue piping on the leg. The man had a thin build and a short beard, police said. He was last seen running northbound in the area of Me Jana restaurant, according to scanner traffic.

Update at 4:30 p.m. — Police say the 35-year-old man who fell at the construction site has been pronounced dead at Virginia Hospital Center. Police remain on the scene as part of the investigation. OSHA is on the way to the scene to conduct its own investigation.

Earlier: Medics are performing CPR on a construction worker who fell two stories at a construction site on Columbia Pike.

The worker fell about 20 feet at the Rosenthal development site at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Glebe Road. He is reported to be unconscious and bleeding from the ears, according to scanner traffic.

A technical rescue team has been dispatched from the scene and is discussing using a crane to extricate the worker from the site.

Police have shut down all southbound lanes of Glebe Road at Columbia Pike due to the emergency response. Arlington County detectives and state occupational safety investigators are en route to the scene.

Police are investigating a possible drive-by shooting in the Nauck neighborhood.

The incident took place this evening (Friday) on the 2400 block of S. Oxford Street.

So far, police are not confirming any details about the incident; it’s unclear if anyone was injured. Police are on the lookout for a vehicle connected to the incident.

Update on 10/7/13 — Police have not responded to multiple calls from ARLnow.com, but the department released the following about the incident today (Monday).

SHOOTING, 10/04/13, 2400 block of S. Oxford Street. At 9:15 pm on October 4, a 32 year-old male victim sustained a single gunshot wound to his abdomen outside of his residence. He was transported to Fairfax Hospital with non life threatening injuries. The two suspects were described as black males in their 20’s. They fled the scene in an unknown make and model vehicle that was driven by a third subject. The investigation is ongoing.

Courtesy photo

(Update at 11:25 a.m.) An office worker has been hurt from a fall behind 950 N. Glebe Road in Ballston.

The incident happened just before 10:00 a.m. The worker was walking to a meeting when he stepped on a steel grate, adjacent to the sidewalk, which collapsed. He fell about 15 feet into a ventilation shaft, landing on a concrete ledge. Scanner reports suggest he suffered head and rib injuries.

A technical rescue team from the Arlington County Fire Department used a Stokes basket to lift the man from the shaft. With dried blood visible on his face, he was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the trauma center at Inova Fairfax Hospital around 11:00 a.m.

The man, a white male in his 50s, was conscious, alert and breathing, fire department spokesman Capt. Bill Shelton said. There’s no official word on the nature of his injuries.

In his experience, Shelton said, incidents like this one, in which a grate collapses under the feet of a pedestrian, are uncommon.

Two lanes of N. Glebe Road were blocked by the emergency response. A county building engineer has responded to the scene to inspect the grate.

(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) Police are on the scene of a robbery at the Pentagon Federal Credit Union branch in Pentagon City.

The PenFed branch is located on the ground floor of the Transportation Security Administration headquarters at 701 12th Street S.

Two men entered the credit union around 1:20 p.m. and passed a backpack and a note demanding cash to the teller, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The men were given an undisclosed amount of cash. They then fled and were last seen getting into a blue-and-white taxicab.

According to scanner traffic, the cab was likely an Arlington Blue Top cab that was waiting at the cab stand between the Pentagon City Metro station and the Ritz Carlton hotel.

No one was hurt during the incident, Sternbeck said. Arlington police are investigating the robbery in cooperation with the FBI and the TSA. From a police press release:

Suspect one is described as a black male, approximately 6’0” tall with a skinny build and a short beard. He was wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket, along with a black and red hat and glasses at the time of the incident. Suspect two is described as a black male, approximately 5’10” and was wearing blue jeans, a grey hooded sweatshirt and blue jacket.

Anyone with information on the identity or whereabouts of these individuals is asked to contact Detective Gary Skeens with the Arlington County Police Department at 703.228.4166,gskeens@arlingtonva.us or investigations@arlingtonva.us. To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS (8477).

The credit union is located within the TSA headquarters complex. Its entrance faces a public plaza that’s open to pedestrians but closed to vehicle traffic. There is an entrance to the TSA headquarters building within the branch, according to TSA spokesman Mark Howell, but one must present an ID badge to use it.

A guard station is located about 100 feet from the credit union, but Howell said the contract guards who man it are trained to initially call police in the event of a crime. They do not provide security to PenFed, which leases space in the building from the property owner, not from TSA.

Police released the following surveillance footage from the robbery:

(Updated at 3:00 p.m.) Fire and rescue personnel responded this afternoon to a report of a man who fell about 30 feet from a construction site in Virginia Square.

The fall happened just after 2:20 p.m. at 3446 Fairfax Drive, near the intersection with N. Lincoln Street. According to scanner traffic, the victim was conscious, but not moving.

Firefighters and medics had unimpeded access to the victim, so a technical rescue was not necessary, according to ACFD spokesman Capt. Bill Shelton. The victim was transported via ambulance to the trauma at George Washington University Hospital. So far, there’s no word on his condition.

Arlington County police and Virginia occupational safety officials are investigating the incident.

(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) Two workers were rescued by firefighters after their scaffolding collapsed at a Columbia Pike apartment building this afternoon.

The incident happened just before 3:00 p.m., at 2200 Columbia Pike. Fire department officials say the men were lowering the scaffolding when one of the sides caught and the scaffolding “went vertical.” One worker was caught in netting in the scaffolding, while the other was saved by a safety harness and was hanging from a rope.

Firefighters set up netting below the workers to catch them in case they fell. It wasn’t needed, however. Firefighters using a ladder truck were able to pluck the workers from the side of the building within 10 minutes of arriving on scene.

The workers suffered only “very minor” injuries and did not require transport to a hospital. They were doing masonry work on the building, a fire department spokesman said. Virginia occupational safety officials are now investigating the incident.

Columbia Pike was shut down in both directions during the rescue. The Pike has since been reopened.

(Updated at 5:50 p.m.) The westbound lanes of Route 50 were blocked during Wednesday night’s rush hour due to an overturned vehicle.

The accident occurred at the intersection with Park Drive, near the Arlington Forest Shopping Center. Initial reports suggest an SUV was heading westbound on Route 50 when it hit a median, ran into a pedestrian crossing signal, clipped a van and flipped on its roof. Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to free a person who was trapped in the overturned vehicle.

The person freed from the vehicle was transported to the trauma center at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

As of 5:40 p.m. one westbound lane of Route 50 had reopened, but outbound traffic was very heavy due.

(Updated at 10:20 a.m.) Two workers have been taken to the hospital after falling 20 feet at a construction site in Ballston.

The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. at an apartment construction site at 650 N. Glebe Road, across from the mall at the intersection of N. Carlin Springs Road.

Two workers were standing at a wall at the construction site when they somehow fell 20 feet into the construction pit, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Bill Shelton. One worker was able to walk out and seek medical attention on his own power, while the other had to be lifted out of the site with a crane.

Both workers were taken to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, Shelton said.

This is the fourth technical rescue of a construction or maintenance worker in Arlington in the past month and a half.

(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) A Ferrari crashed and caught fire on the GW Parkway this morning, prompting an emergency response that then led to an accident involving a fire department vehicle.

The first wreck happened around 9:30 a.m., in the southbound lanes of the GW Parkway under I-66, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani.

The Ferrari lost control on the rain-slicked road and struck the bridge, coming to rest on the side of the parkway. The Ferrari then caught fire, quickly becoming fully engulfed before the flames were extinguished by firefighters. The driver was uninjured, according to Marchegiani.

Just past 10:30 a.m., a pickup truck rear-ended an Arlington County Fire Marshal’s truck that was stopped in the northbound lanes of the GW Parkway, adjacent to the first wreck. A third vehicle was also hit but no injuries were reported, Marchegiani said.

The dual wrecks shut down lanes and caused major backups for GW Parkway commuters. Two trucks are currently on scene to haul away the vehicles involved.

Video (above) courtesy David Johnson. Photos (below) courtesy @Chief288.

(Updated at 2:05 p.m.) An elderly woman was taken to the hospital after being injured in a bank robbery on N. Glebe Road.

The robbery happened around 11:20 a.m., in the Wells Fargo bank at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Lee Highway.

Police say two black males entered the bank, displayed a handgun, and ordered everyone inside to the floor. An 82-year-old woman was hurt when one of the robbers threw her to the ground while exiting the bank, said Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

About 14 people were inside the bank at the time of the robbery, according to Sternbeck.

The men fled the scene with an undetermined amount of money and remain at large. The woman was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with minor injuries, Sternbeck said.

Surveillance photos courtesy of ACPD

A Maryland man has been arrested and charged with negligent homicide following a fatal crash on Memorial Circle.

The crash occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 11. According to police, a vehicle was heading outbound on the Memorial Bridge when it “lost control and overturned for unknown reasons” at the circle. At the time, the deceased — 36-year-old Katharine Jane Rahim of Reston — was said to be the vehicle’s sole occupant.

However, police now say the vehicle’s driver, 24-year-old Carlos Joel Alonso, fled the scene prior to the arrival of first responders.

“United States Park Police investigated the crash which revealed negligence of the operator resulting in the fatality of passenger,” according to a Park Police news release. “Alonso… left the scene [and] was found several hours later at Columbia Island Marina.”

Alonso, a Maryland resident, was arrested yesterday (Dec. 3) on charges of negligent homicide. He surrendered his passport and was released on bond, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 13.

(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) A large water main break has been reported on Columbia Pike, just in time to cause significant issues with the evening commute.

The water main break was reported at Columbia Pike and Carlin Springs Road, on the Arlington/Fairfax county line. Fairfax County police are shutting down the Pike in both directions between Carlin Springs and Route 7.

Police have shut down the eastbound side of the Pike to pedestrian traffic, because workers are cautious to prevent the sidewalk from collapsing into a sinkhole, according to police on the scene. Fairfax Water workers are trying to turn off the water — which is still pouring out of the sewer grates in the closed-off section of Columbia Pike — before beginning repairs.

There are no estimates so far for the timeline of work to be completed, so drivers should avoid the area entirely on their commute, if possible. As of about 5:30 p.m., Carlin Springs Road was backed up all the way into the Buckingham neighborhood, and several other roads in the area were also suffering major backups.

(Updated 2:20 p.m.) Three suspects have been apprehended after a bank robbery on Columbia Pike.

The Wells Fargo Bank at the corner of S. George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike was robbed this afternoon, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Three suspects have been taken into custody, he said.

The robbery occurred around 1:20 p.m., according to scanner traffic.

Significant police activity at the intersection is impacting traffic and 16-line Metrobuses. Northbound George Mason Drive is closed at Columbia Pike.

(Updated at 12:15 p.m.) Firefighters from several jurisdictions responded to a fire at the Days Inn on Columbia Pike this morning.

The fire started in an unoccupied room on the second floor of the motel, according to the Arlington County Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani. The blaze was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported.

According to Marchegiani, the fire department received the first call about the fire at 11:36 a.m. and the bulk of the fire was extinguished by 11:42 a.m. Firefighters are now packing up their equipment and the county fire marshal is investigating the incident.

Earlier, flames and smoke could be seen from the motel, located at 3030 Columbia Pike. Early video of the incident shows a significant amount of smoke coming from the structure.

For a period of time the eastbound lanes of Columbia Pike were blocked in the area of the motel. The lanes have since reopened.

Photo courtesy @OwenHassig