Fairfax County police have charged a 31-year-old Fairfax man with the recent robbery of a Centreville gas station’s convenience store.
The incident occurred April 26. Officers responded at 7:02 p.m. to the Sunoco station at 14709 Lee Hwy. in response to a report of a robbery there. Police say a man entered the store, walked around the counter and indicated he had a firearm. He demanded the clerk open the register and then fled on foot with the money from it.
Afterward, a K-9 officer arrived on the scene and saw a man speaking with a Fairfax Connector bus driver in the commuter lot across the street from the Sunoco. The man boarded the bus, which drove him away from the area. However, officers obtained the gas station’s surveillance footage of the suspect, and it allegedly matched the description of the man who’d boarded the bus.
The K-9 officer obtained the bus number, and police then responded to the 6400 block of Old Centreville Road, where they saw the suspect. When officers challenged him, they say he “refused commands and mimicked drawing a firearm from his waistband” before running from them.
Another K-9 officer arrived on scene and deployed his partner dog. Police were then able to take the suspect into custody. According to police, “The money stolen from Sunoco was [allegedly] found in his possession.”
The suspect received medical treatment at a nearby hospital and was then taken to the Adult Detention Center, where he was charged with robbery and served with a warrant for petit larceny from Fairfax City police. He was held without bond; no firearm was recovered.
Anyone with information about this event or who may have witnessed it is asked to call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 5. Tips may also be submitted anonymously via Crime Solvers by phoning 1-866-411-TIPS.