The week in review

Worst spate of muggings: A 51-year-old man is beaten and suffers a broken arm and black eye in an attempted robbery around 5:30am August 10 on East Market near Lee Park, NBC29 reports. The suspects are described as two black males in their 20s. That night, a 21-year-old man is robbed in the 100-block of West Jefferson by a single thief, and a couple of hours later, according to WINA, a man and woman are held up on 2nd Street NE.

21-year-old man was robbed of his cash at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday in the 100 block of West Jefferson Street. - See more at: http://wina.com/local/police-search-for-suspects-in-attack-near-lee-park/#sthash.ZhVGxrze.dpuf
21-year-old man was robbed of his cash at around 10:40 p.m. Saturday in the 100 block of West Jefferson Street. - See more at: http://wina.com/local/police-search-for-suspects-in-attack-near-lee-park/#sthash.ZhVGxrze.dpuf

Worst assemblage of armed robbers: Three men wearing ski masks hit the BP station on Fontaine Avenue around 5am August 9. And early August 11, three men rob a cab driver at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Villas of Southern Ridge apartments.

Villas of Southern Ridge

Worst fall: nTelos contractor Payman Biazarikari, 37, of Iran, dies after plunging off a 100-foot cell tower August 8 in Waynesboro.

Worst motorcycle accident: Nelson resident Richard Donald Dameron, 32, dies August 9 on his motorcycle in Waynesboro while attempting to elude police, according to the News Virginian. Police say he was traveling between 90 and 100 mph when he struck a tree.

Latest in UVA attempted abduction: Former Runk Dining Hall worker Matthew Rene Beaulieu, 27, is sentenced to eight years in prison on one count of abduction with intent to defile for trying to drag a 19-year-old woman into his red Hyundai Santa Fe November 9 on Stadium Road, according to the Progress.

Latest county traffic fatality: Michael F. Dritto, 60, of Stuarts Draft, runs off I-64 on Afton Mountain early August 8, overturns his truck, and is thrown from the vehicle. Virginia State Police say he was not wearing a seatbelt, and fatigue was a factor.

Latest to get on the city ballot: The executive manager of the 10th Street Bed and Breakfast, Taneia Dowell, announces she's a candidate for Charlottesville commissioner of revenue.

Most sodomy charges: Former Scoutmaster David Brian Watkins, 50, picks up another 69 charges August 5, including 48 felony counts of carnal knowledge of a child between the age of 13 and 15; 12 counts of sodomy with a child younger than 13; five counts of sexual abuse of a child younger than 13, and four counts of sexually abusing a child with whom he was in a custodial relationship, according to the Daily Progress.

Biggest pileup: Forty-one vehicles, including six tractor-trailers, collide on I-81 near Lexington August 11 around 5pm. Ten people are injured.

Most puzzling strategy: Albemarle school officials place an ad seeking bids to "rebrand" problem-plagued Walton Middle School, J. Reynolds Hutchins reports in the Progress. Besides the PR campaign to address the school's bad image from reports of students found with alcohol on a school bus or seeking oral sex, the school division has also taken some steps to address the actual problems, such as bringing in experienced assistant principal Rick Vrhovac and a "refocused" student discipline plan (although we're not quite sure what that means). No word on what the county has budgeted for the rebranding.

Most dubious-sounding DIP: Sean McDonnell, the 21-year-old son of the guv, is convicted of public drunkenness August 12 after a police officer testifies that McDonnell "appeared to be unsteady on his feet" around 1:20am July 6 in the 1400 block of Wertland Street near the train tracks, the Progress reports. The rising UVA fourth-year's attorney said McDonnell was trying to help his four-inch-heels-wearing girlfriend navigate rough terrain. 

Most likely someone's lunch? The parking garage at Darden is cleared around 9am August 9 when a suspicious package is reported. A hazmat team reopens the area about 30 minutes later without revealing the source of the scare, the Newsplex reports.

1 comment

At least the race of the perps was published in the first robbery mentioned, but why not in the next 2 incidents?
Wouldn't the public like to to know who's doing these things?
But we can guess and be right 99.44% of the time...