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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

Politics
Twice-Deported Man Accused Of Abducting, Strangling Woman In Virginia: ICE Twice-Deported Man Accused Of Abducting, Strangling Woman In Virginia: ICE
Twice-Deported Man Accused Of Abducting, Strangling Woman In Virginia: ICE Wilmer Ramos-Giron was deported — twice. He came back — again. Now he's accused of choking and abducting a woman in Virginia. A Guatemalan national who was previously deported twice is in custody again after being arrested in Chantilly and charged with abduction, assault, and felony strangulation, federal officials announced. Wilmer Ramos-Giron, 34, was taken into custody on April 24 by officers from ICE Washington, DC and the Virginia State Police, according to ICE. Ramos-Giron, who has a past federal firearms conviction, had already been deported from the US in 2012 and again in 2020, bu…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Woman Used Threatening Note To Rob Bank Before Being Caught In Virginia, Police Say Woman Used Threatening Note To Rob Bank Before Being Caught In Virginia, Police Say
Woman Used Threatening Note To Rob Bank Before Being Caught In Virginia, Police Say She handed over a note — and walked out with cash. An Alexandria woman is facing charges after allegedly robbing a bank in Fairfax County using a threatening note, police said. Vicky Vien Phung, 36, was arrested Monday after detectives linked her to a robbery at a bank in the 7000 block of Little River Turnpike in Annandale, according to Fairfax County Police. Officers responded to the bank at around noon on April 28, after a woman entered, handed a note to the teller, and demanded money. The note, police said, included a threat to harm the teller if they didn’t comply — though no weapon w…

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by Zak Failla
Traffic
DC Sues Four Virginia Drivers With 800+ Tickets, $425K In Unpaid Fines DC Sues Four Virginia Drivers With 800+ Tickets, $425K In Unpaid Fines
DC Sues Four Virginia Drivers With 800+ Tickets, $425K In Unpaid Fines He racked up nearly five speeding tickets a week — now he’s being taken to court. A Maryland man with more than 300 traffic tickets — including 61 for flying more than 30 MPH over the speed limit — is being sued by the DC Attorney General for what officials are calling one of the most dangerous traffic records in recent memory. Charles V. Sanders Jr., of Brandywine, owes $187,200 in unpaid fines tied to 344 traffic citations in DC, most of them for excessive speeding, according to Attorney General Brian Schwalb. From March 2021 to July 2022, Sanders averaged nearly five speeding violations…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
Maryland AG Brown Fights Trump Over Elimination Of Key AmeriCorps Services Maryland AG Brown Fights Trump Over Elimination Of Key AmeriCorps Services
Maryland AG Brown Fights Trump Over Elimination Of Key AmeriCorps Services Thousands of Marylanders could lose access to education, housing, environmental programs, and senior services after the Trump administration abruptly gutted AmeriCorps, Attorney General Anthony Brown said Tuesday. On Tuesday, April 29, Brown announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to dismantle AmeriCorps — a move that wiped out more than $12 million in Maryland-based programs overnight. “This is a direct attack on the communities that rely on national service to survive and thrive,” Brown said in a statement. “In Maryland alone, programs that educate children,…

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by Zak Failla
Obituaries
Virginia Woman Killed In Crash Remembered For Love Of Animals, Art, Nature Virginia Woman Killed In Crash Remembered For Love Of Animals, Art, Nature
Virginia Woman Killed In Crash Remembered For Love Of Animals, Art, Nature A community is mourning a young woman known for her creativity, love of animals, and bright spirit after she was tragically killed in a Virginia crash. Alysia Marie Coffelt, 28, of Edinburg, died Friday, April 25, from injuries she sustained in a three-vehicle crash along John Marshall Highway, Virginia State Police said. The crash happened at 8:35 a.m. just east of Back Road when a Ford F-250 crossed the double solid yellow centerline, sideswiping a Subaru Outback and then colliding head-on with the Toyota Camry Coffelt was driving.  Coffelt, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died at t…

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by Zak Failla
Schools
Woodbridge Teen Secretly Filmed Girls, Inappropriately Touched Classmate At School: Police Woodbridge Teen Secretly Filmed Girls, Inappropriately Touched Classmate At School: Police
Woodbridge Teen Secretly Filmed Girls, Inappropriately Touched Classmate At School: Police A Virginia high school student is facing serious charges after authorities say he secretly recorded female classmates and inappropriately touched one during the school day. On Tuesday, April 29, a 17-year-old from Woodbridge was arrested after a School Resource Officer’s investigation at C.D. Hylton High School in Prince William County, police announced. The officer was first notified on April 22 that a student had been filming others without their consent inside the school, located on Spriggs Road in Woodbridge. According to the Prince William County Police Department, the probe found tha…

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by Zak Failla
News
Sex Trafficker Who Instructed Victim To Abuse 4-Year-Old From Behind Bars In DMV Learns Fate Sex Trafficker Who Instructed Victim To Abuse 4-Year-Old From Behind Bars In DMV Learns Fate
Sex Trafficker Who Instructed Victim To Abuse 4-Year-Old From Behind Bars In DMV Learns Fate A Maryland man will spend decades behind bars after grooming and sex trafficking a woman, then advising his victim to sexually abuse a child from jail, authorities announced. Arcelius Dunbar Lyle, 57, of Hagerstown, was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex abuse of a minor and sex trafficking in Frederick. According to the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office, an investigation into sex trafficking determined that Lyle met his victim at work and began grooming her shortly after that. Prosecutors said that he trafficked her for approximately seven months&n…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
Virginia Woman Critically Injured In Golf Cart Crash During Bachelorette Trip To Mexico Virginia Woman Critically Injured In Golf Cart Crash During Bachelorette Trip To Mexico
Virginia Woman Critically Injured In Golf Cart Crash During Bachelorette Trip To Mexico An Alexandria woman is fighting for her life after a golf cart flipped during a trip to Mexico — and now her family is racing to bring her home for treatment. Shalini Patel Stewart was critically injured on Friday, April 25, while heading to a morning yoga class during a bachelorette trip in Sayulita, Mexico, according to a family friend. Stewart and three close friends were riding in a golf cart when it crashed, they said. All four were rushed to the hospital, where three were treated, released, and returned home, but Stewart remains in intensive care. On Friday night, doctors performed a…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Teen Fires Gun, Steals Glocks From Lothian Sporting Goods Store, Police Say Teen Fires Gun, Steals Glocks From Lothian Sporting Goods Store, Police Say
Teen Fires Gun, Steals Glocks From Lothian Sporting Goods Store, Police Say A 19-year-old is facing felony charges after police say he pulled a gun inside a Maryland sporting goods store, stole multiple handguns. Aaron Delonte Whitley, of Lothian, was arrested on Monday, April 28, after a bold armed robbery at South County Sportsmen on Southern Maryland Boulevard, according to Anne Arundel County Police. Police say Whitley entered the store in Lothian around 11:40 a.m., browsed for a bit, then pulled out a handgun and demanded the clerk open a display case containing firearms.  While the clerk was retrieving the weapons, Whitley allegedly fired a round into t…

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by Zak Failla
News
Sentencing Set For Rachel Morin’s Killer In Maryland Murder, Rape Case Sentencing Set For Rachel Morin’s Killer In Maryland Murder, Rape Case
Sentencing Set For Rachel Morin’s Killer In Maryland Murder, Rape Case A sentencing date has been set for the man convicted of raping and murdering 37-year-old Rachel Morin along a popular Maryland trail, prosecutors announced. Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, Aug. 11, at 9:30 a.m. at Harford County Circuit Court in Bel Air, according to the Maryland Judiciary case search. The sentencing will take place before Judge Yolanda Curtin, according to Randolph Rice, an attorney for the Morin family. Earlier this month, a jury found Martinez-Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sex offense, …

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by Zak Failla
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