Police With Few Leads in Myrtle Street Armed Robbery, Sexual Assault Case

Alexandria police remain vexed by an armed robbery and sexual assault that occurred more than a month ago on E. Myrtle Street in the city’s Rosemont neighborhood.

Capt. Scott Ogden of the Alexandria Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Section said this week there hasn’t been a good lead in the case.   

At 10 a.m. Aug. 1, a man wearing a mask covering his nose to his chin approached a 30-year-old woman while she was parking her van in the unit block of E. Myrtle Street near its intersection with Braddock Road.

The suspect showed the woman a black, semiautomatic pistol and demanded money. He then asked the woman to step out of the vehicle. The two met at the front of the van and the suspect put his arm around the woman, who handed him cash.

The victim was then touched inappropriately, which is considered sexual battery. The suspect walked away and the woman drove off and called the police.

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Usually those crimes don’t mix,” Ogden told the Del Ray Citizens Association at its September meeting. “We haven’t had anything like that and neither have our counterparts in region. … It’s a standout-type crime.”

The suspect was described as a tall, black male with dark skin and a medium to heavy build. He was wearing a green reflective vest under a black hooded jacket.

Ogden said police have identified a good suspect in an unrelated armed robbery that occurred July 29 at the near the corner of Howell and Leslie avenues in Del Ray.

“We believe the suspect is known to victim,” Ogden said.

Marquita Thompson and her fiancé, Miguel Crouch, were held up at gunpoint that July morning. Thompson handed over a Chanel bag including an iPad, Wi-Fi connection device and her birth certificate, which she had just gotten a copy of from Richmond.

The suspect, described as a slender, light-skinned black male with freckles, pointed a gun at Crouch’s genital area and said to Crouch: “If you move, I’m going to shoot you in the ass or in your private area.”

Thompson said the suspect patted down Crouch’s pockets at took $1,000 from him.

Those with information or who may have seen something in either incident are asked to call Alexandria Detective Will Oakley at 703-746-6606 or the department’s general line at 703-746-4444.