A female victim reported to the Charlottesville Police Department that a man in a small silver extended cab pickup truck attempted to abduct her on February 27 at 12:28am in the 700 block of Rockland Avenue.
She said she was walking from her vehicle to her house when the man pulled up beside her, stopped his truck and told her to get in. When she responded with a “negative answer,” the man got out of his truck and grabbed her by her arms, according to police.
The victim fought back and the man fled the area. He is described as a white male, approximately 5’10” tall and between the ages of 45 and 55. He has white hair, cut in either a crew cut or a flat-top, a salt-and-pepper mustache and a scruffy beard. On the night of the attempted abduction, the victim says he was wearing a dark shirt, possibly black or dark blue.
His truck is described as not a full crew-cab with four doors and not brand new, but not old. The victim was unable to provide police with any license plate information.
She sustained minor scratches to her arms, but did not seek medical attention. Charlottesville police ask anyone with information related to the attempted abduction to call Crime Stoppers at 977-4000 or the CPD’s main office at 970-3280.
Lieutenant Steve Upman says there are no new details.
Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington. Photos courtesy Charlottesville Police Department and Virginia State Police
Jesse Matthew is set to enter a plea deal in the abduction and murder of Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington in Albemarle Circuit Court on March 2.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci issued a letter February 29 stating that although it is anticipated that Matthew will plead guilty and resolve both cases, Tracci’s office will not provide any additional details or comments before the hearing.
Legal expert David Heilberg says most capital murder cases now end in plea bargains, and he expected this as the likely outcome for Matthew and his defense attorneys, Doug Ramseur and Michael Hemenway.
“It would take the death penalty off the table,” which Heilberg says is likely Matthew’s motivation. “At this point, it can’t get any worse.”
Last summer, Matthew was given three life sentences for abducting and sexually assaulting a Fairfax woman in 2005. “You only have one life to serve,” Heilberg adds.
Matthew is accused of capital murder in the death and abduction of Graham, an 18-year-old UVA student who disappeared September 13, 2014, and was found dead several weeks later on Old Lynchburg Road. He has also been indicted by a grand jury for the 2009 murder and abduction of Harrington, a Virginia Tech student, who was last seen at a Metallica concert at the John Paul Jones Arena that October. She was 20 years old at the time.
The UVA student detained in North Korea last month for allegedly committing a “hostile act” against the country publicly apologized for making “the worst mistake of [his] life” February 29 at a government-arranged news conference in Pyongyang.
Otto Franklin Warmbier, a third-year commerce student, Echols scholar and Theta Chi fraternity brother, was visiting North Korea with the Chinese travel agency Young Pioneer Tours when he was arrested at an airport on the last day of his trip.
The UVA student admitted to taking a banner with an “important political slogan” from a staff-only area of his hotel, the Yanggakdo International, on January 1. Charges against him say he was encouraged to take the banner by a member of an Ohio church, a secretive university organization and the C.I.A., according to the New York Times.
In his statement, Warmbier said he attempted to take the banner as a trophy for a member of a church who wanted to hang it on the church’s wall. He identified the church as the Friendship United Methodist Church in Wyoming, Ohio, and said the church member agreed to buy Warmbier a used car worth $10,000 for bringing back the banner, or pay his mother $200,0000 if Warmbier was detained and didn’t return, according to the Korean Central News Agency. Warmbier added that a member of UVA’s secret Z Society also encouraged him to take the banner and promised him membership in the society.
“I beg that you see how I was used and manipulated,” Warmbier said at the news conference, according to CNN. “I was used by the United States administration like many before.”
In a video of the conference, edited and posted by the Associated Press, Warmbier can be seen sobbing and pleading for his release.
“I am begging to the Korean people and government for my forgiveness,” he said, adding that he has no idea what kind of penalty he could face.
The current generation of adolescents is projected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents for the first time since the Civil War, so a University of Virginia pediatrician and his collaborators have developed a test to determine the future risk of heart disease in kids between the ages of 13 and 19.
“A significant number of teens are at risk for early onset diabetes,” Dr. Mark DeBoer of the UVA Children’s Hospital says. “This [test] is something that can be used to motivate a teen and family to make some changes and try to turn that around.”
While taking into account a teen’s race and gender, the test gives each person a metabolic score by evaluating each individual’s severity of the metabolic syndrome—a combination of conditions including increased blood pressure, high levels of blood sugar, excessive body fat and abnormal cholesterol levels, which increase the threat of cardiovascular disease.
The score is determined by entering several measures into a formula, including a teen’s body mass index, systolic blood pressure and results from three blood tests. That number shows how far the individual is from the average person.
The score is linear, too, so it can be followed over time—DeBoer says this is helpful because it can help kids and families set goals. For instance, he says he might ask a patient to start exercising four times a week and cutting out sugary drinks and see if his or her score improves. A perfect score is zero.
According to DeBoer, the overall goal of the test is to improve the health of entire families. “The key thing is that families be thoughtful about making healthy choices,” he says.
In a photo from September, Donald Healy stands in his backyard where he said noise from the recently developed Costco behind his townhouse was deafening. Now that a noise baffling project is complete, Healy says it still sounds just as loud. Photo by Martyn Kyle
In September, C-VILLE Weekly reported that neighbors living near the recently constructed Costco on U.S. 29 North complained of loud noises produced by fans on top of the building. Representatives of the massive wholesale store agreed to baffle the noise, and the project is now finished. However, according to one neighbor, the noise not only persists, but could be louder than before.
Donald Healy, a local elementary school teacher, lives in a townhouse on Commonwealth Drive, behind Costco in The Shops at Stonefield. His home is situated atop a hill, putting it in line with the roof of the store, which is covered in heating and cooling units.
“With the leaves off the trees, it’s even louder,” Healy says about the persisting sound. During the quietness of a recent storm that blanketed the area in approximately 20 inches of snow, he called the noise “deafening.” The “invasive” noise varies in decibel level, he says, but it’s often unbearable—as he lies in bed near closed windows he can almost always hear it.
Healy was surprised to learn that the sound baffling project is now completed.
According to Jeff Rudder, Costco’s director of real estate development for the eastern region of the U.S., a crew wrapped up the project at the beginning of February, and though “it didn’t happen quite as fast as we wanted it to,” he says, the actual installation of the baffles only took a few days. The sound study, design and baffle manufacture took five months to complete. And although Rudder says this type of noise reduction has likely been installed at other Costco locations, he has never instituted it on one of his projects.
Healy says he can drive by Walmart on a road that’s level with the store’s roof and not even hear a hum. County code compliance officer Lisa Green says that people living near Walmart have never complained about noise pollution, and she isn’t sure why that store emits less noise than Costco. In September, Brad Sheffield, Albemarle supervisor for the Rio District, said there was a similar issue with Gander Mountain on 29 North, where the store’s air conditioning units were backed up against a row of homes. Though Sheffield was not a supervisor at this time, he says he’s been told the developer complied and reduced the noise.
Green took the initial Costco reading in September in a neighbor’s backyard behind the store. At the property line, where she is required to measure noise, the reading was 52 decibels, just under the daytime residential noise limit of 60 decibels.
But because the backyards of the homes on Commonwealth Drive are on a hill, Green noted in September that the readings went slightly above the ordinance limit when she stepped farther into a home’s backyard and closer to Healy’s property.
Since the sound-reduction project’s completion, Green says a neighbor who lives directly behind the store said the noise has lessened.
Rudder, who is aware of Healy’s concerns, says a crew will return to Costco for a secondary sound study in the coming weeks.
Albemarle County police officer Steve Watson teaches a class on how to prepare for an active shooter. Photo by Ryan Jones
Just days after six people were killed in a weekend shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Albemarle Police Department and the Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle Office of Emergency Management hosted an active shooter training session to encourage community members to plan for such an incident, though the odds are “one in a million,” presenting officer Steve Watson says.
“Time and time again, you hear people say, ‘I had no idea what to do,’” says Officer Andrew Gluba. “Research has shown that if someone has something to draw from, they’ll react. We’re trying to give them something to draw from.”
Sticking with the motto, “run, hide, fight,” Albemarle police say steps should be taken in that order, with fighting for your life the last alternative. If fighting an active shooter is the only option, Watson suggests turning any feasible object into a weapon to strike or throw at the shooter. “You’re on the front lines,” he says, adding that it’s incredibly important to keep a survival mindset during such an attack.
If hiding from an active shooter, try to lock yourself in a room or barricade a door with heavy objects, and never hide in a room without a door to lock or block, like a bathroom that a shooter could trap you in, or cubicles, which Watson calls “little death traps.” Keep your phone on silent, he suggests, and be as quiet as possible.
During a recent trip to a restaurant, Watson asked his wife to stand and leave the eatery through the exit she would take if an active shooter were to enter and open fire. Though she was annoyed, Watson says it’s a good strategy to practice, and people should always note at least two exits in every building they enter.
When escaping on foot, which is the best option, Watson says, “Don’t crawl. Run.”
“Quick decisions can mean the difference between life and death,” Watson adds. “It’s sad to say we’re living in those times.”
Active shooter incidents usually last about 10 to 15 minutes, according to Watson, and when police initially respond, don’t expect them to tend to the wounded. Emergency responders will follow and they’ll take care of those who have been injured. As police enter the building, don’t scream or make sudden movements, Watson says. Keep your hands empty and where police can see them. Don’t come out of a hiding place until police have identified themselves and said it’s safe to do so.
What’s most important, Watson and Gluba say, is to rehearse for such a situation.
Albemarle police help organizations such as retirement homes and faith-based communities review their emergency action plans, which Gluba says should include training for an active shooter situation. “Unfortunately the times have changed in our society,” he says, referring to the December mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. Gluba also says school and airport shootings are becoming more prevalent.
Albemarle County schools are prepared to go into “lockdown mode” in an emergency situation, spokesperson Phil Giaramita says.
Classroom doors now lock from the inside and a protective coating on door windows makes it more difficult to break them. Each exterior door in county schools is now numbered so an emergency responder will know ahead of time which door he should enter to get to the area that needs assistance, according to Giaramita.
In Charlottesville, individual schools form teams to make crisis plans that are specific to their schools. Staff and students also have two lockdown drills each year, according to Jim Henderson, a city associate superintendent.
Platinum-selling recording artist Thomas Rhett hosts a boot camp at one of Charlottesville's Snap Fitness locations.
Platinum-selling country music singer Thomas Rhett, in collaboration with Snap Fitness, hosted a Charlottesville “boot camp” February 19, just hours before playing the John Paul Jones Arena.
His biggest thrill for being in town, though? “A burger from Riverside.”
Talking fitness, Rhett says exercising became a priority in his life after he graduated from college and hit the road to tour. He has to stay in shape so his vocals don’t sound terrible when he’s jumping and jiving on stage, he says.
When he’s working out, Rhett likes to listen to hip-hop artists like Drake and when asked his favorite exercise, he says, “None of them, actually.” Burpees, a full-body exercise, get him through the days he can’t make it to the gym because he can do them anywhere—even a hotel room on tour, he says.
Rhett kicked off a six-month tour with Snap Fitness in January that will take him to five different cities. He and his trainer host hour-long workout sessions to promote his I Feel Good health initiative with the fitness franchise, which he named after one of his top hits.
Hear Rhett perform as a special guest on Jason Aldean’s We Were Here tour at the John Paul Jones Arena February 19 at 7pm.
Local musician Peyton Tochterman stars in a short music video for Ting, which was shot on the Downtown Mall. Staff photo
The filming for a new Ting commercial has begun on the Downtown Mall and local musician Peyton Tochterman is the star, singing about how Charlottesville will be as connected as Shanghai.
The “crazy fast” Internet company, which launched its first ever network in Charlottesville in June, has already given half the city access to its fiber optic cable service and expanded to a few other U.S. cities. With big plans to continue advertising, marketing director Trish Mclean says production companies are recording TV and radio spots in each city.
Local company Silverthorn Films, along with Ting-hired agency Real Life Creative, began filming a music video starring Tochterman and some of Charlottesville’s favorite hotspots February 16 and are wrapping it up at the Southern today.
Some of the places that will appear in the video include the Mudhouse, Chaps Ice Cream, Ike’s Underground Vintage Clothing and Strange Cargo, Bittersweet and the ice skating rink.
It’s a “cute, humble concept,” says Michael Goldstein, Ting’s vice president of sales and marketing. “A great town deserves great Internet.”
And while Tochterman was busy recording his 30-second, Charlottesville-specific track, the crew’s makeup artist Mariah Johnson bragged about the service off screen.
“I actually didn’t know before I showed up that [the music video] was for Ting,” she says. “I love Ting!”
The commercial and radio segment will begin airing in March. Get a sneak peek here.
Attorney Jeff Fogel is representing Rodney and Savannah Hubbard, as well as four other plaintiffs, in three lawsuits that accuse an Albemarle police officer of unlawfully targeting African-American males for stops and intrusive searches. Staff photo
Local attorney Jeff Fogel filed three lawsuits February 11, accusing Albemarle County Police officer Andrew Holmes of unlawfully targeting African-American males in stops and intrusive searches.
One plaintiff, Rodney Hubbard, details a September 11, 2015, interaction with Holmesin which he was stopped in his black Denali driving north on Route 29 from Lynchburg. Officer Holmes insisted he smelled marijuana and ordered Hubbard out of the car and searched him, specifically reaching down the back of Hubbard’s pants and searching around the groin area, Hubbard says.
“It’s humiliating to be pulled over and basically you’re being accused of traveling with your mother with drugs in your car,” Hubbard says, adding that his mother, Savannah, was in the front seat of his car.
Holmes then handcuffed Hubbard and forced him into the back of the police car, head first. He searched the elder Hubbard’s purse and instructed her to wait in the back of the patrol car while he searched the Denali for several hours, ultimately finding no drugs, says Hubbard.
The officer then gave Hubbard a summons for driving with a suspended license and let him go.
Hubbard calls the experience “mentally tormenting” and says he still has “bad dreams” about it and feels uncomfortable around police officers.
In 2011, Holmes rear-ended a stopped car and was charged with reckless driving and convicted of improper driving. Photo by Hawes Spencer
Savannah Hubbard says black people shouldn’t be targeted by cops. “We are not all drug dealers or drug pushers or drug users,” she says. “We are hardworking people. We work for what we have.”
Leon Polk and UVA football player Malcolm Cook allege in their suit that Holmes ordered them out of Polk’s car at gunpoint last June, accusing the two of smoking marijuana and searching the car for several hours with no probable cause while they sat on a curb in the Kmart parking lot. When Holmes didn’t find anything illegal in the car, he ticketed Polk for not having a front license plate, excess window tinting and not having his registration, the lawsuit alleges.
In the case of plaintiffs Bianca Johnson and Delmar Canada, Holmes gave Canada a summons for driving with a suspended license in April 2014. He then obtained a search warrant for their home to look for the DMV’s suspension notification form, which was issued more than a year earlier, according to the suit, and showed up at their house with several other Albemarle police officers to search it on a Friday at midnight.
“It was totally unexpected and unnecessary to be woken out of your sleep and to look through your peephole and see three police officers,” says Johnson, who is the retail advertising manager at C-VILLE Weekly. “You know that you’re not a criminal and you’re not involved in any illegal activity and you’ve been asleep for a couple hours so what in the world could have taken place for police to be banging at your door at midnight?”
Johnson believes Holmes thought he was going to make a big bust when he saw her black fiancé driving a BMW. She says she feels unsafe in her own home, and adds, “Someone could just knock down the door at any time.”
After the officers raided their house, Johnson and Canada filed a complaint with the police department, but never learned if any disciplinary action had been taken. Albemarle police spokesperson Madeline Curott says she cannot comment on Holmes’ personnel record.
Fogel says the officers lacked probable cause to search the home for the “supposed paper.”
He met with other potential plaintiffs who were not willing to file suit against Holmes. “Many people are afraid to come forward,” he says. “They’re worried about retaliation.”
The day after his press conference, Fogel said 14 people called to say they had similar experiences with Holmes and he plans to interview each person before deciding how to proceed.
Holmes has been an officer with Albemarle police since August 2004. In 2011, he rear-ended a stopped car on Barracks Road. He was charged with reckless driving and convicted of improper driving.
The Albemarle County Police Department says in a statement it takes claims of alleged misconduct involving officers very seriously and the department “has well-established mechanisms in place to determine if there has been any violations of our policies and procedures.”
Fogel has subpoenaed the Albemarle Police Department to produce all of Holmes’ tickets, which include a person’s race, warrants, criminal complaints and search warrant affidavits over the last several years. His next step will be to analyze the documentation to see if he has a strong case against the officer, who is white.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline's new route still goes through the Monongahela and George Washington national forests, but aims to dodge sensitive area. Map courtesy of Dominion
A new route proposed for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline February 12 will dodge sensitive areas in the George Washington and Monongahela national forests, but will impact about 249 additional landowners in Virginia and West Virginia.
The new route—which will go through Highland, Bath and Augusta counties in Virginia and Randolph and Pocahontas counties in West Virginia—will add about 30 miles to the $5 billion natural gas pipeline, which was originally slated to be 550 miles long, and reduce total mileage in national forests from 28.8 miles to 18.5 miles, Dominion spokesperson Aaron Ruby said in a press release.
“This new route would still cause dramatic forest fragmentation through some of the most high-quality forest habitat in our region,” says Ben Luckett, staff attorney with Appalachian Mountain Advocates. His organization notes that the new proposed route would cut through Fort Lewis, a historic site in Bath County, and still “slice a large and permanent clear-cut” through the George Washington and Monongahela forests.
“While we’re pleased Dominion has chosen not to ram this pipeline through sensitive habitat areas, it remains a wrecking ball for our climate,” Drew Gallagher, a field organizer with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said in a press release on the day of the announcement. “There’s only one sure way that Dominion can help protect a livable future for vulnerable species and all Virginians: by investing in truly clean energy solutions, not a dirty and dangerous pipeline.”
