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Married DC National Guard Major From Virginia Built Double Life With Fake Divorce, Feds Say Married DC National Guard Major From Virginia Built Double Life With Fake Divorce, Feds Say
Married DC National Guard Major From Virginia Built Double Life With Fake Divorce, Feds Say One fake divorce. Two weddings to the same woman. And a stack of bogus government documents to keep the whole thing going. Collin L. Welch, a 40-year-old DC National Guard major from Arlington, pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington to an immigration fraud scheme that prosecutors say stretched from Mongolia to Virginia and was partly funded with $54,000 in stolen government money. Welch was already married when he began a relationship with a Mongolian woman in 2019 while posted to the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, according to court documents. So he created a divorce decree. The docum…

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by Zak Failla
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Cup Tossed, Gun Drawn: Woman Wanted After Wild Virginia Bar Fight Escalates (DEVELOPING) Cup Tossed, Gun Drawn: Woman Wanted After Wild Virginia Bar Fight Escalates (DEVELOPING)
Cup Tossed, Gun Drawn: Woman Wanted After Wild Virginia Bar Fight Escalates (Developing) Some people throw a drink. Others throw a punch. Police say one woman skipped straight to a gun. Prince William County police are searching for an Ashburn woman accused of turning what started as a run-of-the-mill bar fight into a felony after she was allegedly hit with a cup outside a Woodbridge nightclub. Officers were called to El Establo on Richmond Highway around 1:47 a.m. on Sunday, July 26, after reports of a gunshot in the parking lot. Investigators say 31-year-old Avisha Brianna Smith and an acquaintance had gotten into an altercation with an unknown man when things took a turn. …

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by Zak Failla
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Virginia Teens Hid In Vacant Apartment, Ambushed Facebook Marketplace Seller: Sheriff Virginia Teens Hid In Vacant Apartment, Ambushed Facebook Marketplace Seller: Sheriff
Virginia Teens Hid In Vacant Apartment, Ambushed Facebook Marketplace Seller: Sheriff Several teens are facing serious criminal charges in Virginia after ambushing another group during a planned sale of a sweatshirt in Stafford, according to the sheriff's office. Four juveniles are facing charges following an investigation into reports of shots fired earlier this month on Ebenezer Church Road during a planned transaction. Investigators from the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said the victims had traveled to the area to sell a Spyder-brand sweatshirt to a buyer they met through Facebook Marketplace. Upon arriving, the suspect briefly met with the victims before returning t…

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by Zak Failla
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College Lacrosse Player Suffers Life-Changing Injury In Maryland Beach Diving Accident College Lacrosse Player Suffers Life-Changing Injury In Maryland Beach Diving Accident
College Lacrosse Player Suffers Life-Changing Injury In Maryland Beach Diving Accident It took just one wave. Now a Maryland college freshman who spent the spring playing lacrosse is facing the fight of his life after a beach diving accident left him with a devastating spinal cord injury. Riley, a Chestertown-area resident who recently completed his freshman year of college, was seriously hurt after diving into a wave that turned out to be too shallow, according to a GoFundMe launched by family friend Stefanie Zottarelli. In an instant, several vertebrae were broken, and his spinal cord was compressed. He has since undergone two surgeries at the University of Maryland Medic…

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by Zak Failla
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100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff 100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff
100+ Victims Feared As Virginia Mail Carrier Accused Of Stealing Birthday Cards, Gifts: Sheriff Birthday cards. Graduation money. Holiday gifts. Investigators say they never had a chance of reaching the mailbox. A Virginia rural mail carrier is accused of stealing mail from dozens of people along her route for months, taking everything from gift cards to other valuables in a case investigators now believe could involve more than 100 victims. Crystal Duvonne Dean, 55, of Culpeper, was arrested Tuesday, July 28, following what the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office described as a painstaking, 10-month investigation conducted alongside the United States Postal Inspection Service. Detecti…

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by Zak Failla
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Woman Followed Home From Maryland Live! During Deadly Carjacking Spree, Feds Say Woman Followed Home From Maryland Live! During Deadly Carjacking Spree, Feds Say
Woman Followed Home From Maryland Live! During Deadly Carjacking Spree, Feds Say A night that began outside a Maryland casino ended with one woman carjacked in her own driveway. Days later, another victim was dead. Now, one of the men behind the violent crime spree will spend the next 35 years in federal prison. Antonio Purisima, 25, of Baltimore, was sentenced to decades behind bars followed by five years of supervised release for his role in a string of armed carjackings in Maryland that culminated in a deadly shooting, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced. Federal prosecutors said the spree began in June 2022, when Purisima teamed up with…

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by Zak Failla
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Vehicle Fire Shuts Down US 50, Snarls Maryland Commute Near Capital Beltway (UPDATED) Vehicle Fire Shuts Down US 50, Snarls Maryland Commute Near Capital Beltway (UPDATED)
Vehicle Fire Shuts Down US 50, Snarls Maryland Commute Near Capital Beltway (Updated) A Maryland commuter's worst nightmare unfolded on US 50 Wednesday morning. A fiery three-vehicle crash shut down nearly all westbound traffic approaching the Capital Beltway, backing up miles of traffic as firefighters, hazmat crews and highway responders rushed to the scene. The crash happened around 8:35 a.m. on westbound US 50 near Exit 8 for Martin Luther King Jr. Highway (MD 704) in Prince George's County, just before the I-95/I-495 interchange. Initial reports indicated three vehicles were involved, with one catching fire and prompting a hazardous materials response. According to th…

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by Zak Failla
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10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home 10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home
10 Displaced, 2 Firefighters Hurt As Maryland Fire Tears Through Home In a matter of minutes, 10 people were forced from their home as flames ripped through a Maryland house on Tuesday afternoon. The fire broke out around 1:15 p.m. in the 6800 block of Dower House Road in the Mellwood area, where firefighters found heavy fire on the first floor of a single-family home. Crews quickly knocked down the blaze, but not before two Prince George's County firefighters were hurt on the job. Both were taken to a hospital for evaluation. Their conditions were not immediately available late on Tuesday afternoon. The fire also left seven adults and three juveniles witho…

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by Zak Failla
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Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love' Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love'
Woman Who Filmed Sex With Minor In Maryland Learns Fate: 'Destroyed My Understanding Of Love' A 53-year-old Maryland woman who sexually abused a minor and filmed the illicit acts will spend decades in prison, authorities announced. Frederick resident Rebecca Wightman has been sentenced to 60 years in prison, with all but 40 years suspended, following her arrest and subsequent guilty plea for abusing a minor in her care. According to the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office, on Aug. 10, 2025, deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office were called to investigate a reported sex offense involving Wightman and an underage child. Police were shown video evidence of the 53-…

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say
Maryland Officer Used Badge To Help Auto Theft Scheme In Virginia, Police Say A stolen car parked in a Virginia garage led investigators somewhere they never expected. In Virginia, a Maryland police officer is accused of using law enforcement resources to help a Washington, DC man steal vehicles, alter VINs and disguise stolen cars during an alleged fraud scheme that stretched more than a year, according to Arlington County police. Sierra Alston, 33, and Renaldo Gaines, 35, both of DC, were arrested last week following a lengthy investigation that began on March 18, 2025. Police say an officer conducting extra patrols inside a parking garage in the 800 block of Army…

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by Zak Failla
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Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back
Maryland Woman Who Beat Breast Cancer Twice Left With Only Clothes On Her Back Melissa Varner fought her way back from breast cancer. Then she did it again. Now she's facing another battle she never saw coming. A fire has destroyed the Maryland apartment Varner spent years rebuilding into a home after surviving breast cancer twice, leaving her with little more than the clothes she escaped in, according to her family. For the people who know her, that's the part that's hardest to accept. They watched Varner endure two separate fights with breast cancer, then slowly rebuild the life cancer tried to take away. She worked to create a home that represented far more than …

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by Zak Failla
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Man Who 'Shattered Child's Sense Of Safety' In Maryland Learns Prison Fate Man Who 'Shattered Child's Sense Of Safety' In Maryland Learns Prison Fate
Man Who 'Shattered Child's Sense Of Safety' In Maryland Learns Prison Fate A 40-year-old Maryland man received the max sentence after preying on a minor over the course of nearly two years.  Waldorf resident Terrod Lamar Branson has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 21 years to serve, for the sexual abuse of a minor that occurred between 2023 and 2025, the St. Mary's County State's Attorney's Office announced. The last reported incident of abuse occurred in July 2025, according to court documents. “Few crimes are more disturbing and devastating than the sexual abuse of a child. These offenses shatter a child’s sense of safety, betray their trust, an…

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by Zak Failla