Commercial Robbery in the Merrifield Area
McLean Police District – On Tuesday, November 2 around 7:30 a.m., two men entered the Unique Thrift store located at 2956 Gallows Road. The men displayed handguns and ordered everyone in the store to the floor. Store employees turned over an undisclosed amount of cash and the suspects fled on foot. No one was injured.

The first suspect was described as black, about 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, 190 to 200 pounds, wearing a black jacket. The second suspect was described as black, about 6 feet 1 inch to 6 feet 4 inches tall, 240 to 260 pounds, wearing a gray sweat shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187†plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.


###

Since I use FXU for all my local news - you guys have sadly disappointed me on missing this.

We are all so sad you are so sad.

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Thansk for bringing it up. My family shops there regularly.

Wow. That's pretty low.

Did they make off with a shabby chic toilet?

What kind of pathetic piece of shit robs a thrift store?

Seriously, some people...

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13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

So I guess this means the different FCPD officers doing security work there, are only present during certain hours. Kind of defeats their purpose if they aren't covering certain time gaps....

MrMephisto Wrote:
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> What kind of pathetic piece of shit robs a thrift
> store?
>
Someone who wants to steal money.

Most of the stores that have cash already have guards and other antitheft measures, so you pick the target that has the weakest.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What kind of pathetic piece of shit robs a thrift
> store?
>
> Seriously, some people...


NO, what kind of pathetic piece of shit robs a thrift store first thing in the morning when the registers are empty. Duh.

Howe Knott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Most of the stores that have cash already have
> guards and other antitheft measures, so you pick
> the target that has the weakest.

Thanks for the tip

Did the robbers give their demands in Spanish because nobody who works there speaks any English?

Did you all take a look at that video? Pretty good security camera system for a thrift store. Makes you wonder just how many cameras there are out there watching us all...

Did one of the pretty girls that use to work there spill the beans to the alleged robbers?



Where's the video located? If it be so good might the cameras have picked up on someone who attacked the young lady who got killed.

Google is a wonderful thing you should try and use it sometime

bad criminal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NO, what kind of pathetic piece of shit robs a
> thrift store first thing in the morning when the
> registers are empty. Duh.

The registers aren't empty first thing in the morning. Most stores put a few hundred dollars in the till (anywhere from $250 to $750, sometimes more) when they open.

If you wanted to catch the employees off guard, while they're still sleepy and maybe even before the manager remembers to turn on all the in-store security systems, this makes perfect sense.

Also, one of the other posters mentioned that they use off-duty FCPD officers to provide security, so unless you want to shoot it out with a cop, which is not profitable, you hit the store when the guards aren't around.

"Armed Robber" is neither a smart nor wise career choice, however, and has limited opportunities for advancement.

They were probably actually hispanic, but the hispanics there didn't want to give their own people even more of a bad name, so they defaulted to blacks.

Wally Pip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Where's the video located? If it be so good might
> the cameras have picked up on someone who attacked
> the young lady who got killed.
>

The cameras that captured the parking lot & the murdered girl's car are from the storage place next door. They are really crappy cameras. The video of the two BLACK guys robbing Unique looks to be the back door/employee entrance. That really is a sharp video.

FFXCoPD only puts rookie cops at Unique on certain days (sale days, etc.). They park their car conspicuously at the front door. I'm sure these two "professionals" know that.

Probably an inside job and/or the 2 robbers cased the joint. There are alot of outside cameras around the building so they probably have more video of these bad guys.

> ...a wonderful thing...

Why is the video reversed? Taken off a mirror?

Because it's fake.

A Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wally Pip Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
>
> FFXCoPD only puts rookie cops at Unique on certain
> days (sale days, etc.). They park their car
> conspicuously at the front door. I'm sure these
> two "professionals" know that.

Are these actually on-duty cops? Or are the cops doing it as paid overtime from Unique?

I do not suspect Unique calls and says "we have a sales today, send a cop over" and Fairfax County does it out of the goodness of their heart and my tax dollars. I would really be pissed if that were the case.

Love the description of the suspects. That narrows it down to about 500,000 people.

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A Resident Wrote:
>
> Are these actually on-duty cops? Or are the cops
> doing it as paid overtime from Unique?
>

They're real FCPD cops. They look like rookies to me. What the arrangements are between FCPD and Unique I couldn't tell you. Unique probably requested police presence due to the amount of crime that goes on inside the store (shoplifting, sexual predators, purse snatchings) when it's busy. I just read a report about the vendors in the front hallway getting busted for selling counterfeit merchandise from China (Gucci handbags, etc.). I'm not surprised. Unique is a great place to shop but it's ghetto.

Google is a wonderful thing you should try and use it sometime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> Google is a wonderful thing you should try and use
> it sometime


I was waiting for somebody to do an up close scream at the end of the video.

>
> > A Resident Wrote:
> >
>
> I just read a report about the vendors in
> the front hallway getting busted for selling
> counterfeit merchandise from China (Gucci
> handbags, etc.). I'm not surprised.
>

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2010/080410counterfeitgoodsseized.htm

It was quite obvious that they were selling counterfeit crap. You can thank Jihad Gerry and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for our large Latino population. They've transformed Fairfax County into a culturally diverse ghetto. If you knew how much low income housing there is in the area you would be amazed.

Here's a previous armed robbery at Unique. Black male, check. 25 YO, check. 5'10" wearing a black mask and clothes, check. I wonder if FCPD investigators can ad 1+1?

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2008/040808merrifieldrobbery.htm

Wait! the two robbers were black? son of a bitch

---------------------------------------------------
W.W.S.D. what would Scooby Doo

> > ...a wonderful thing...
>
> Why is the video reversed? Taken off a mirror?

>
>Posted by: JFC ()
>Date: November 04, 2010 09:43AM
>
>Because it's fake.


That really is very interesting. Someone nicely edited the video camera footage and put a nice fade to black in the middle. Po-lice editing? The footage could have been reversed easily in editing. But why? Something about that video does reek. Those two bad guys look way too calm and those guns don't look entirely real either. Neither gun looks cocked and neither bad guy has a finger on the trigger.

The plot thickens...

The reason the guns look strange is because they're toys; either air pistols or CO₂ pistols.

These guys are just ripping off the store for drug money, like that dummy who robbed the Presidential bank in Reston.

I wonder how many of these toys have been shoplifted from local stores recently, and if any of these low-rent Dillingers have been caught on store surveillance video?

A Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> If you knew how much low income housing there is
> in the area you would be amazed.


Please start a thread and document this for everyone else. It's time we discuss how many contruction permits require section 8 acceptance, etc, and how many housing code violations there are from these illegally overcrowded rooming houses/tenements.

A Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Radiophile Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A Resident Wrote:
> >
> > Are these actually on-duty cops? Or are the
> cops
> > doing it as paid overtime from Unique?
> >
>
> They're real FCPD cops. They look like rookies to
> me. What the arrangements are between FCPD and
> Unique I couldn't tell you. Unique probably
> requested police presence due to the amount of
> crime that goes on inside the store (shoplifting,
> sexual predators, purse snatchings) when it's
> busy. I just read a report about the vendors in
> the front hallway getting busted for selling
> counterfeit merchandise from China (Gucci
> handbags, etc.). I'm not surprised. Unique is a
> great place to shop but it's ghetto.

I doubt it. They have to be paying the cops to be there. There level of taxation would not warrant a cop to spend hours there. Think about it- how many police do you see at Tysons burring Christmas time? The cops will be outside directing traffic or maybe patrolling the lots, but not inside looking for shoplifters and purse snatchers.

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I doubt it. They have to be paying the cops to be
> there.
>

They're real FCPD cops, in real uniforms with real guns, driving real FCPD police cars. They're there every Tues. and Thurs. They're there on holidays which usually are a saleday. I guess they're off on "robbery" days. Call your FFXCO supervisor or secret police office and I'm sure they will explain how these cops are paid.

One day soon upchuck I will start a thread on FFXCO public housing. Here's a little teaser:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/26/AR2010012603891.html

A Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Radiophile Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > I doubt it. They have to be paying the cops to
> be
> > there.
> >
>
> They're real FCPD cops, in real uniforms with real
> guns, driving real FCPD police cars. They're there
> every Tues. and Thurs. They're there on holidays
> which usually are a saleday. I guess they're off
> on "robbery" days. Call your FFXCO supervisor or
> secret police office and I'm sure they will
> explain how these cops are paid.


I am sure Unique is paying them by the hour. Even Tiffany's in Tysons does not get a cop for free.

MOAR than that lol

to "a resident"

here's a clue. The citizens of FX county wouldn't stand for our Police Dept to be doing private security on their tax dollars. Anytime you see a cop working a private detail such as directing traffic for a church, or a mall, or security at a thrift store or jewelry store - they are working overtime and being paid by the organization they work for. Minimum pay to have an off-duty officer work for your organization is $25 an hour for a minimum of 3 hours. Most pay closer to $40-$50 an hour. With some organizations paying as much as $75 an hour. Each and every overtime spot is scrutinized to ensure that it is a "service to the community" and a "necessity" that cops are there. That way they don't end up working security for someones drunken backyard bbq.

Each overtime spot is based on seniority with the senior guys getting first dibs on spots, and the junior guys getting whats left. So the ones that pay more are gonna be snatched up first. The ones that pay less are taken by the junior guys, or just left empty if no one wants to work them.

So Radiophile is right. The cops are off duty and not getting paid by the county.

Isn't this how it works everywhere?

Be thankful that Virginia does not have a law requiring a state police officer to be "rented" for anything that involves a road (any construction near whatsoever near a road, etc.) That's a major scam in Massachusetts. Here in Virginia we are allowed to have a flagman.

to "In the Know",

I never said they were getting paid with tax dollars. Since the cops I see appear to be rookies right out of the academy the job obviously doesn't pay very well. I would like to see more police presence at that shopping center. It's a gathering point for the areas poor Hispanics and MS13.

Spacy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Isn't this how it works everywhere?
>
> Be thankful that Virginia does not have a law
> requiring a state police officer to be "rented"
> for anything that involves a road (any
> construction near whatsoever near a road, etc.)
> That's a major scam in Massachusetts. Here in
> Virginia we are allowed to have a flagman.


I dont know if it is a "law" per se, but I do know that many VDOT road contracts require the contractor to hire a State or County policeman to be present durring major and sometimes minor lane closures and construction.

so if you drive through a construction zone and see a cop sitting there with his lights flashing, he is 99% of the time overtime and working for someone else.

In the Know Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
.
>
> So Radiophile is right. The cops are off duty and
> not getting paid by the county.


Radiophile is usually correct.

A Resident Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Radiophile Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > I doubt it. They have to be paying the cops to
> be
> > there.
> >
>
> They're real FCPD cops, in real uniforms with real
> guns, driving real FCPD police cars. They're there
> every Tues. and Thurs. They're there on holidays
> which usually are a saleday. I guess they're off
> on "robbery" days. Call your FFXCO supervisor or
> secret police office and I'm sure they will
> explain how these cops are paid.
>
> One day soon upchuck I will start a thread on
> FFXCO public housing. Here's a little teaser:
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic
> le/2010/01/26/AR2010012603891.html



Only thing I took from that article: the county paid $160k per unit for some low rent apartments in Annandale. Wonder what the ROI on that is gonna be.

"Five years ago, the county began an effort to buy, build and preserve the dwindling supply of lower-rent housing, funded through property tax collections. In its largest purchase, the county bought Wedgewood Apartments, a 672-unit complex in Annandale, in 2007 for $107.5 million."

Wedgewood costs the county about $6 million a year in debt financing.

Jihad Gerry Connolly brought the worlds poor to Fairfax County. You got to house them right?

This thread will continue elsewhere...

So who edited the Unique robbery video and why is it reversed?

Where exactly are the "Wedgewood Apartments"?

The manager at the Unique Thrift store on New Hampshire said the robbers got $30,000. cash.

itisme Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The manager at the Unique Thrift store on New
> Hampshire said the robbers got $30,000. cash.

That sounds very fishy. Why would a thrift store have 30k on hand? The video and the robbers look faked. Sounds like an inside job for insurance or whatever. The "robbers" obviously had inside knowledge of the large amount of cash available.

Former Unique Shopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> itisme Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The manager at the Unique Thrift store on New
> > Hampshire said the robbers got $30,000. cash.
>
> That sounds very fishy. Why would a thrift store
> have 30k on hand? The video and the robbers look
> faked. Sounds like an inside job for insurance or
> whatever. The "robbers" obviously had inside
> knowledge of the large amount of cash available.


Any large store will have that much or more cash on hand before the armored car picks it up. The money is usually kept in a time lock safe or some other precautions to prevent or delay access to it. Uniques safe is very prominently displayed in the front of the store.

Despite all the precautions with "time lock safe - clerk can not open" or "employees have no access to cash" etc - most places have a policy of just "give them the money without question" because an employee getting hurt or killed in a robbery is just bad for business.

Just to show you how scared companies are of this, my brother worked in a shoe store in college. The company policy was that if someone walks out without paying for the shoes, the salesperson is to say "sir did you forget something" then if the thief kept walking or said no or whatever, the salesperson was to say "have a nice day".

itisme Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The manager at the Unique Thrift store on New
> Hampshire said the robbers got $30,000. cash.

Actually, the robbers got away with $300.00 cash. The manager of the Unique Thrift Store in Merrifield and his accomplices, on the other hand, got away with $29,700 in cash.

They said that it was thirty thousand and that it was not the first time. That is why starting last month they have a hired guard.

Why is it hard to believe that the robbers get so much?
There are shady things going in the Unique and Value Village thrift stores all day long. Most of the employees are illegal and undocumented workers INS and the police department know this. The owner is a JEW owns his own private plane and a very small amount of the money goes to the Lupus organization that he claims

Just don't forget, they mistreat their employees. In these bad times, they even go to court, but LOSE, to deny unemployment.

I say, don't shop at Unique Thrift Stores! Then, Apogee Retail goes out of business and the owners can make money honestly.

http://apogeeretailwatch.blogspot.com/

Learn to defend yourself with various methodologies... You never know when shit can happen and you might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When seconds count, cops are just minutes away.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I say "fuck" a lot...

A lot of customers do pay with cash instead of credit cards. Some people have reported that when they have used their credit cards at thrift stores or Wal-mart it causes their credit scores on their credit report to drop because it appears to the banks that they are in financial ruins.