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Wednesday, aug 13

Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

zfailla@dailyvoice.com

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

Police & Fire

VA Man Ignored Friends, Hit Tequila — Then Hit Tree Twice Fleeing Deputies: Sheriff A Virginia man downing tequila shots at a bar and claiming he was having “a bad night” made things a whole lot worse for himself, deputies say. German Alfaro, 23, of Woodbridge, is accused of getting wasted at Buffalo Mo’s early Friday, Aug. 1, before crashing his beat-up Honda Civic — not once, but twice — while leading Stafford County deputies on a bizarre drunk-driving chase. It started around 2:10 a.m., when deputies were called to the bar on Wicomico Drive for a report of an intoxicated driver who had already driven into some bushes. When a sergeant showed up, they spotted the Civic — …

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Gunmen Caught In Armed Standoff That Rocked Arlington Street: Police Gunfire erupted in a Virginia neighborhood after a dispute between two groups turned into an armed standoff in broad daylight last year. Now, three alleged gunmen are in custody, according to the Arlington Police Department. Shots were fired shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in the 1200 block of South Ross Street in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, police said. The shooting stemmed from a verbal argument between two groups that rapidly escalated, they noted. Members of each group pulled out guns and began firing, according to investigators, though no injuries were reported…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

News

Virginia ‘Reaper’ Who Made Teen Girl Carve His Name Into Her Leg Learns Prison Fate A 26-year-old Virginia man who was the leader in an online group that cyber stalked and terrorized young girls online will spend years in federal prison, authorities announced. Evan Strauss, of Moneta, who goes by the monikers "Reaper" and Kobe Deonsons" was sentenced on Thursday, Aug. 1 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and child pornography offenses last year. The charges stem from a toxic relationship he formed online with a 17-year-old girl from Wyoming, whom he harassed and controlled for months. The minor—identified in court documents only as Minor A—was t…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Weather

Small Tornado Touches Down In Maryland During Storms: Weather Service The National Weather Service confirmed that a small tornado was spotted in Maryland during the peak of Thursday's storms. Forecasters say that a waterspout formed over Spa Creek — near the US Naval Academy — and what registered as an EF-0 tornado briefly touched down in Eastport on July 31. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado was reported shortly after 2:45 p.m. on Thursday with peak winds estimated at 65 mph. Its path was just 0.1 miles long, and it had a max width of 25 yards. A combination of videos and photographic evidence have confirmed that a waterspout b…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Pedestrian Killed In Oxon Hill Hit-And-Run; Driver Sought: Police (Developing) Police in Maryland are asking for help identifying the driver in a deadly hit-and-run that left a man dead early Friday morning in Temple Hills, authorities said. Officers were called to the area of Branch Avenue and Woods Way at around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 1 for a crash involving a pedestrian, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department. When they arrived, they found the victim suffering from trauma in the roadway. He died at the scene, police said. Detectives believe the driver was heading south on Branch Avenue when they hit the man and kept going. The striking vehicle i…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Naked Woman Attacked Officers During Bizarre Woodbridge Sidewalk Arrest: Police A nude morning walk ended in handcuffs for a Virginia woman who police say assaulted officers during a bizarre indecent exposure incident. Susan Yohannes Tewolde, 32, was arrested after allegedly walking naked along a sidewalk in Woodbridge and fighting with police when they tried to detain her, according to the Prince William County Police Department. It happened around 7:39 a.m. on Wednesday, July 31, in the 14700 block of Candlewood Court, officials said in a release issued Friday. When officers arrived, they saw Tewolde walking unclothed on the sidewalk. As they approached, she …

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Business

Viral Lamborghini Vs. Tesla Cybertruck Race Shared By Elon Musk Lands Sterling Driver In Jail He lost the race. Now he’s losing a few nights of sleep — in jail. The man behind the wheel of the Lamborghini in a viral street race with a Tesla Cybertruck in Virginia has been sentenced to 90 days in jail, though most of that time was suspended, officials said. Carlos Montero, 38, of Sterling, was hit with the sentence this week after being convicted of reckless driving in the October 2024 showdown on Leesburg Pike in Tysons, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced Friday, Aug. 1. A judge suspended 85 of the 90 days, and fined Montero $1,000, with $250 suspended, …

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Man Found Dead In Fairfax Jail Cell Just Hours After Arrest: Police Investigating A man who had just been arrested was found dead in a Virginia jail cell just hours later, authorities said. Omar Maknassi, 32, of Alexandria, was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on the night of Wednesday, July 30, according to police. By the early morning of Wednesday, July 31, he was found unresponsive inside a single cell, the Fairfax County Police Department announced on Friday. Deputies and EMS immediately began life-saving efforts, but Maknassi was pronounced dead at the jail, officials said. Detectives from the Major Crimes Bureau are now handling the invest…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Woodbridge Man Shoots Two Family Members After Argument Turns Deadly, Police Say A deadly argument inside a Virginia home ended with one man dead and a woman fighting for her life — both shot by a family member, police said. Khampheng Toune Quanlangsy, 56, is accused of opening fire on two relatives after a verbal dispute at a Woodbridge home on Thursday, July 31, according to the Prince William County Police Department. Officers were called around 5:42 p.m. to the 12900 block of Kenmar Drive, where they found Quanlangsy waiting outside and took him into custody without incident. Inside the home, they found two shooting victims — a 42-year-old man and a 70-year-old wom…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

Police & Fire

Teen Arrested Nearly 2 Years After 16-Year-Old Killed In Clinton Gas Station: Police Nearly two years after a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed inside a Maryland gas station, a suspect is finally behind bars, police said. Stephon Johnson, 18, of District Heights, was arrested and charged this week in connection with the 2023 murder of Robert Isiah Walker, according to the Prince George’s County Police Department. The deadly shooting happened around 2:40 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2023, at a gas station in the 9800 block of Piscataway Road in Clinton, police said. When officers arrived, they found Walker suffering from gunshot wounds inside the store. He was pronounced dead a…

by Zak Failla

08/01/2025

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