Thanks for your inside report of the home invasion incident.

Now that the suspect has been captured, there are a few questions that beg to be answered:

1. How was he identified as a suspect? Was there a connection between him and the victim? Did she know him?

2. His address is given as: No Fixed Address. Was he homeless? Was he living with friends? Was he living in the woods? Where?

3. If he was homeless, was he being provided services by the Good Shepherd Alliance (GSA)?

4. The Ironwood Road address is within a couple blocks of the W&OD Bike Trail. Many/Most of the recent prowler incidents also occurred in areas close to the W&OD. In addition, the new GSA homeless “facility” is located a block from the trail. Was this suspect a “client” of the GSA facility?

If you have any more inside info, it would be very interesting to get answers to these questions.

Thanks.

Old Ashburn Lover

http://novatownhall.com/2008/09/14/sterling-rape-suspect-in-custody/

Does anyone know if anyone in the neighborhood has tried to start a neighborhood watch? I for one would like to get involved. I am not interested in going after zoning violations, but I am very much interested the safety of my mother, and therfore, by extension, my neigbors as well.

Martin Jose Morales-Mancia, 24, of no fixed address, is wanted by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly entering a residence of a senior citizen on Ironwood Road. Inside he brandished a knife and sexually assaulted the female victim.

Morales-Mancia, also goes by the first name Arnold or Jose, is a light skinned Hispanic male. He is described as being 5’9” tall and weighs 170 pounds.

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Morales-Mancia, you are asked to immediately contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office at 703-777-1021 or your local police department. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Loudoun Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919. If the information leads to the suspect’s apprehension the caller could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1000.

Authorities are asking residents to never approach the subject as he is considered dangerous.

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http://www.loudoun.gov/controls/speerio/resources/RenderContent.aspx?data=e3c40e2aa1c3490ebfdb54605aa3013c&tabid=330&fmpath=%2fNews+Releases

Anyone who wishes can subscribe to the sheriff’s alert system and receive notification of incidents ranging from traffic accidents to crime at https://alert.loudoun.gov/index.php?CCheck=1.

In my opinion, the sheriff’s alert regarding the most recent home invasion minimized the incident to the point where recipients might have come away with the impression that the 911 call placed by the victim was the result of her imagination and not a crime in progress.

In light of radio broadcasts indicating that Loudoun authorities are warning residents of a Peeping Tom, I cannot thank you enough for presenting the victim’s description of the incident here.

The amount of information that can be handed out to citizens about a specific crime is always a contentious issue, I see both sides of it. I won’t defend blatant PCism in alerting the public on any crime by the PIO (Public Information Office), anymore than I would condone blaming a patrolman for not handing out a description of a suspect at the crime scene. Policies governing this type of information vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and I suspect if someone were to inquire as to why information (if known) was not included in a press release, the reason given would be “departmental policy” – for good or bad.

I think the lesson here, and I am pretty sure Sentinel and Joe would concur, is that there is a level of complacency in our community that enables crimes and ordinance violations to flourish. The complacency extends to our BOS as well, which is why it is so important to let your voice be heard.

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. I really have to say thanks again to Sentinel and Joe for getting information out there, starting a dialogue and becoming involved. Without these 2, I don’t think I would even be boring y’all with this post:)

I just want to point out, in case anyone should think otherwise, that any complaints made are against the dept heads and not the deputies. Most of the deputies we have dealt with have been terrific and all are to be commended and thanked for putting their lives on the line.