On Sunday, September 25, at 5:50 p.m., officers were called to the 14400 block of Club House Road in the Virginia Oaks neighborhood in Gainesville to investigate a shooting. The investigation revealed a man was walking along the street and pointing a firearm at passing drivers.
One of the motorists, an off-duty federal law enforcement officer with the Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service, pulled to the side of the road a short distance away and observed the accused firing into the air.
The off-duty officer warned nearby homeowners before contacting the police. The accused continued walking before being confronted by the off-duty officer as he approached the driveway of a nearby residence.
The off-duty officer identified himself as law enforcement and commanded the man to drop the weapon. During the encounter, the off-duty officer fired his department-issued weapon, which struck the suspect in the upper body.
Officers arrived at the location shortly after and provided immediate first aid to the accused until rescue personnel arrived and transported him to an area hospital. His injuries were determined to be non-life threatening, police said.
No additional injuries or property damage were reported. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Pete Donovan Womack, 29, of 14595 Crown Hollow Court in Gainesville, is charged with one count of reckless handling of a firearm, one count of shooting within a roadway, and three counts of brandishing a firearm. His court date is pending and he remains hospitalized
Home invasion
On Saturday, September 24, at 6:45 p.m., officers were called to a home in the 1500 block of Carter Lane in Woodbridge, near Hammill Mill Park, to investigate a home invasion.
A 60-year-old man tried to enter his home when someone snuck up from behind and struck him in the head. The victim fell to the floor, and the intruder continued to strike the victim before demanding the victim’s property.
During the encounter, the suspect also brandished a gun, took his property, and fled in a white Chevy Equinox. While investigating the incident, officers located a bullet in the roadway and damage to a living room wall, consistent with being struck by a projectile.
The victim was treated at the scene by rescue personnel. Officers and helicopter assistance from Fairfax County police searched the area for the suspect and the vehicle, neither of which were located. An undisclosed amount of money was reported missing.
Suspect Description:
A male wearing a black wool hat, a stocking-style mask, a black jacket, and jeans
Chair Ann Wheeler acknowledged that the Prince William Digital Gateway CPA review was “confusing” and announced a delay in bringing it to the Board of County Supervisors for a vote.
Despite the compromised nature of the September 14th Planning Commission public hearing, there was no mention of invalidating its recommendation or conducting a new hearing under more trustworthy conditions. So, you can expect the pause is merely designed to give weary citizens time to forget.
Now we must pivot almost immediately to another public hearing on updates to the county’s comprehensive plan this Wednesday evening.
The comprehensive plan is an exhaustive document that the average citizen cannot possibly digest and review in a single evening. We would normally rely on professional government staff and our elected officials to look out for our best interests.
Unfortunately, we have very recently been reminded that they cannot be trusted to do so. It is far more likely that they intend to sneak sweetheart deals for their developer cronies past us, literally in the dark of night.
Unless you have the time and expertise to interpret the myriad changes, you won’t notice subtle alterations with significant impacts. Watch for blanket zoning recharacterizations that sidestep contentious CPA reviews and surreptitiously authorize data centers where public outcry would have created obstacles. I would specifically watch for this to happen in the areas where Devlin Technology Park and John Marshall Commons were contested.
The Comprehensive Plan update is too important and sweeping to be relegated to late-night railroading. If the Prince William Board of County Supervisors is confident of their vision for the future of this county, they should exhibit the transparency to explain it to the citizens and the courage to debate it during the upcoming 2023 election cycle.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
The nine-mile western segment, which spans Route 29 in Gainesville to Route 28 in Centreville, opened ahead of schedule on Saturday, Sept. 10. This westernmost portion is the first section of the 66 Express Lanes to open, and will provide early benefits to I-66 travelers including added capacity, smoother pavement, better travel reliability and new connections. The remaining 13 miles of new express lanes along I-66 between Route 28 and I-495 (the Capital Beltway) are scheduled to open in December 2022.
“Today’s early opening of the first section of the 66 Express Lanes allows the Commonwealth and its partners to begin providing long awaited relief to drivers who have dealt with daily congestion, unreliability, and most recently, five years of heavy roadway construction,” said Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller. “By the end of this year, we expect to open the remainder of the more than $3-billion 66 Express Lanes megaproject, benefitting I-66 travelers, and becoming a critical part of the Commonwealth’s planned 90+ mile express lanes network in Northern Virginia.”
The new western section of E-ZPass lanes is open to all traffic toll-free initially so that motorists can benefit from the additional capacity, become familiar with the new express lanes and access points, and open an E-ZPass account, if needed. Tolling and HOV rules are expected to begin by the end of September.
“Extensive planning and design, ongoing collaboration and hard work have made today’s early opening of the western section of the 66 Express Lanes Megaproject a reality,” said VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich. “We are proud to be able to start delivering positive results to I-66 travelers earlier than expected, despite experiencing unprecedented times and a global pandemic for the last few years. Drivers should remain alert to the continued construction occurring on the eastern end of the corridor, as our team focuses on completing and opening this remaining section of 66 Express Lanes by the end of the year.”
Drivers can access the newly opened western end of the 66 Express Lanes through a variety of entrance and exit points including access from the general purpose lanes at each end of the segment, and via new dedicated ramps at Route 234/Sudley Road, Route 28, and Braddock and Walney Roads. Direct access is also available from two new commuter parking lots at University Boulevard (Gainesville) and Balls Ford Road/Century Park Drive (Manassas), which were built as part of the overall Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project.
Once tolling operations begin, eligible high occupancy vehicles (HOV) with an E-ZPass Flex set to “carpool mode” will be able to travel the 66 Express Lanes toll-free. The express lanes will also be available for motorists who choose to pay a toll, using either E-ZPass or by paying online at Ride66Express.com. In the initial tolling phase of the western segment, vehicles must have two or more occupants to qualify as HOV, and may include carpools, vanpools and commuter buses. Additional information on how to use the 66 Express Lanes can be found at ride66express.com.
The lanes will operate similar to those on I-95, 395, and 495.
Opponents of data centers will hold a protest outside the Prince Wiliam County Government Center.
Drivers on Prince William Parkway should see the protesters at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 13, at the county government center, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.
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The Prince William County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the controversial Prince William Digital Gateway project.
The project aims to convert open space next to the Manassas National Battlefield into data centers. Three applicants have filed rezoning applications for the area, which would rezone more than 800 acres from agricultural and estate land to an area zoned for technology/flex space.
Data centers are server farms that power the internet, typically two-to-three-story warehouse-type buildings. In recent years, data center firms like Amazon, QTS, and Iron Mountain have built server farms outside Manassas, Haymarket, and Gainesville due to cheaper land costs, access to fiber data lines, and water.
Since June 2021, land planners at the Prince William County Government have been evaluating the proposed Digital Gateway Project, which would convert 27 estates on Pageland lane to land on which data centers may be built.
Many property owners, including the Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, banned together to sell their property to data center firms. Supporters of the project say the new centers will generate millions in tax revenue for county government coffers, build new schools, and hire new police officers and fire and rescue personnel.
The project’s detractors say the buildings are too close to Manassas National Battlefield, the site of two of the first skirmishes of the Civil War. They also say the paving over the landscape will negatively affect the region’s groundwater and that noise emitted from the machinery on the top of the centers will make for unbearable living conditions for those with nearby homes.
The public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. during the Planning Commission meeting at the McCoart Building, 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge.
The first phase of a $3.7 billion project to add toll lanes to Interstate 66 will open during the weekend of Saturday, September 10.
Project leaders have yet to announce the exact opening date. Crews are working to make the final preparations for opening after five years of construction.
The nine-mile western stretch of the E-ZPass Express Lanes spans from Route 29 in Gainesville east to Route 28 in Centreville. The lanes feature multiple new ramps providing access to and from the E-ZPass lanes. The remaining 13 miles of new E-ZPass lanes on I-66 between Route 28 and I-495 (the Capital Beltway) should open in December 2022.
Drivers will access the western end of the tolled E-ZPass lanes through various points. Drivers traveling east on I-66 will merge onto the E-ZPass lanes from the non-tolled travel lanes before Route 29 in Gainesville or use a slip ramp further east at Route 234 Business near Manassas.
Drivers traveling west on I-66 will be able to access the Express Lanes from the general-purpose lanes before Route 28.
Drivers will also have direct access from new dedicated ramps at Route 234/Sudley Road, Route 28, and Braddock and Walney Roads, as well as access from two new commuter parking lots at University Boulevard in Gainesville and Century Park Drive near Manassas, which were built as part of the overall “Transform 66 Outside the Beltway” project.
Drivers will also have direct access from new dedicated ramps at Route 234/Sudley Road, Route 28, and Braddock and Walney roads, as well as access from two new commuter parking lots at University Boulevard and Century Park Drive, which were built as part of the overall “Transform 66 Outside the Beltway” project.
All drivers must have an E-ZPass transponder to use the lanes. Drivers with E-ZPass Flex transponders set to carpool mode can travel the new E-ZPass lanes for free.
During the initial opening phase, vehicles using carpool mode must have three or two occupants in the car to use the lanes for free or face fines. When the remainder of the lanes open, we expect the rules to change, requiring three or more occupants to ride free.
The road rules are the same as E-ZPass lanes on Interstates 95, 395, and 495 in Northern Virginia. Signs will display toll prices near the entrances of the lanes.
Carpools, vanpools, and commuter buses with E-ZPass Flex transponders will use the lanes free.
The new lane segment is opening ahead four months ahead of schedule.
“We are pleased to join our 66 Express Lanes project partners in opening the first segment of one of Virginia’s largest megaprojects ahead of schedule,” said VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich. “By opening the western segment of the new 66 Express Lanes early, we are able to start delivering congestion relief to I-66 travelers sooner than originally planned.”
The Transform I-66 Express Lanes Outside the Beltway project provides 22.5 miles of new express lanes (two lanes in each direction alongside three regular lanes), with dedicated express lane access ramps, and median space reserved for future transit.
In addition, the project will provide 4,000 commuter parking spaces, new and expanded commuter bus service on the Fairfax County Connector and Potomac & Rappahannock Transportation Commission Omniride buses, safety and operational improvements at key interchanges, auxiliary lanes between interchanges, and bicycle and pedestrian paths and connections.
Drivers should expect possible delays now through Sunday on I-66 West between Manassas and Gainesville.
On Wednesday, August 31, crews erected a long-term closure of the left travel lane, which will be in place around-the-clock through Saturday, September 10. The left lane closure will reduce this section of westbound I-66 to three travel lanes from west of Route 234 Business (Sudley Road) near Groveton Road to Route 29 (Lee Highway) in Gainesville.
Additional lane closures will occur in this area during the overnight hours, says VDOT. These lane closures will allow crews to complete work for this section of roadway in preparation for the opening of the future 66 Express Lanes Outside the Beltway later this year.
Drivers should always use caution and pay attention to lane markings and roadway signs in construction zones. All work is weather dependent and will be rescheduled if inclement conditions occur.
The Transform 66 Outside the Beltway Project will add E-ZPass Express toll lanes to a 22-and-a-half-mile stretch of I-66 from Route 29 in Gainesville to I-495. Improvements also include more than 4,000 new park-and-ride spaces, improved bus services, interchange improvements, and 11 miles of new bike and pedestrian trails.
The new lanes are expected to open in December after five years of construction.
On Saturday, July 30, House of Mercy hosted an annual back-to-school event.
The Gainesville-based charity provided 326 local children grades K-12 with free supplies for the upcoming school year. That donations to children represent 4.4% of the total amount of children starting classes Wednesday, August 10, in all 11 schools in the Manassas City Public School district. Below is a full report of the event.
House of Mercy is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit dedicated to feeding, clothing, educating, and praying for those in need, thus demonstrating God’s unlimited love and mercy for those in our community.
The charity operates a thrift store and food pantry at 8170 Flannery Court in Gainesville. The thrift store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m., and the food pantry is Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Police in Prince William County were called to investigate two incidents involving alcohol. One person locked herself in a bathroom at a car dealership and refused to leave, police said.
Another exposed himself to drivers in Gainesville, police said.
Here’s more from Prince William police:
Assault & Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer [LEO] – On August 5 at 9:26AM, officers responded to T and C Auto Sales located at 18405 Richmond Hwy. in Triangle (22172) to investigate a patron refusing to leave.
When officers arrived at the business, they located the patron, later identified as the accused, inside the restroom refusing to leave. After several attempts to have the accused exit the restroom, officers obtained a key from the manager and gained entry.
When officers attempted to take the accused into custody, she actively resisted and refused to follow officer’s commands. During the encounter, the accused bit and kicked the officers. After a brief struggle, the accused was taken into custody.
While investigating the incident, officers determined the accused was intoxicated and in possession of multiple illegal substances. The officer reported minor injuries.
Following the investigation, the accused, identified as Tara Lin GILL, was arrested.
Arrested on August 5:
Tara Lin GILL, 36, of no fixed address
Charged with 1 count of assault & battery on LEO, 2 counts of possession of a controlled substance, 1 count of obstruction of justice, 1 count of intoxicated in public, and 1 count of trespassing
Court Date: Pending | Bond: $6,000 Unsecured Bond– On August 7 at 6:57PM, officers responded to the 14700 block Lee Hwy. in Gainesville (20155) to investigate an indecent exposure.
When officers arrived in the area, they made contact with a man matching the description provided to police. While investigating, officers determined the man, later identified as the accused, was intoxicated, and detained him.
The investigation revealed the victim, a 32-year-old woman, was in the parking lot of the above area when she observed the accused inside a vehicle exposing himself and making obscene gestures. The victim immediately contacted the police.
Following the investigation, the accused, identified as Robert Edward LATIMER II, was arrested.
Arrested on August 7:
Robert Edward LATIMER II, 40, of 4398 Ringwood Rd. in Nokesville Charged with indecent exposure and intoxicated in public
Court Date: Pending | Bond: Held WITHOUT Bond
