Police Log: Nielsen's Custard Owner Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanors, Embezzlement Charges Dropped

CASE UPDATES:

The owner of Nielsen's Custard pled guilty Aug. 15 to two misdemeanor counts of failure to obtain a business license.

Michael Willis, 28, of Vienna, had The felony warrants were a last-resort measure by the town after several attempts to get Willis to pay business license fees and file meals tax returns, Murray said.

The embezzlement charges for failure to pay meals taxes were dropped because those outstanding funds had been paid to the town.

"[Owners] act as agents of the town to collect meals tax, so when it's not turned over to the town that’s considered embezzlement," Vienna Police Officer Bill Murray said.

Police said Willis did not pay meals taxes from May to July 2010 and for September 2010.

In May, police issued five misdemeanor warrants for Willis, charging him twice for failing to obtain a business license and three times for not filing meals tax returns.

Willis filed for a business license in 2010, but did not pay the tax, which for retail businesses, including restaurants, is $0.17 per $100 of gross receipts of the prior year. In 2011, he neither filed nor paid the tax. The three charges for not filing returns were for May, June and July 2010; September to December 2010; and January to March 2011.

Vienna Town Code requires all businesses that sell food to pay 3 percent of its qualifying meals sales, whether or not that food is prepared on premises. It is not an assessed tax on the business, but instead included in the price that patrons pay at the time of purchase.

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After investigating a woman's report of threatening text messages July 13, Vienna Police obtained two warrants for Dante M. Grayson,
43, of Woodbridge for stalking and threatening language over a public airway. On Aug. 18, Grayson turned himself in at Vienna Police Headquarters based on the two warrants. He was arrested and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

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Highlights Aug. 12 to Aug. 18

• A resident of Hillcrest Drive reported sometime between Aug. 5 and 11, someone entered his home and stole property. It appeared they entered the home through a patio door. A family member told Police he may have accidentally broadcasted his home would be unoccupied by posting the fact he would be out of town on his Facebook page. Police collected forensics evidence and are investigating the case. Police are reminding citizens to be careful about what they post online, particularly their whereabouts, which can alert criminals to a target.
• A mother and her 9-year-old son reported while the son was walking home around 3 p.m. Aug. 10, a man the boy did not know asked for help catching his dog. The dog was running loose in the parking lot of Navy Federal Credit Union on Follin Lane S.E. They spent about 30 minutes trying to capture the dog before the boy headed home. No criminal activity was reported, but Police warned the boy about the dangers of his actions even though the request seemed legitimate.
• Police around 9:31 a.m. Aug.12 for a report of three live bats inside a home on Hunter Court S.W. The town's animal control officer located the bats and returned them to the wild.
• A man going door to door around noon Aug. 12 approached a resident on Valley Drive S.E. and said he would seal his driveway for a per-gallon price. The man did not have a solicitor's license. The resident agreed to the price and wrote the man a check, but the man returned shortly later and said he could not cash the check and would need the payment in cash. The resident gave the man the cash, and has not heard from the worker since. No work had begun on the project. Police are asking residents to remember to ask for a Town of Vienna solicitor's license before agreeing to work or making payment.
• A resident on Charles Circle reported Aug.13 an unidentified caller, referring to her as "grandma," said he was in jail after being involved in a crash with someone tied to the Dominican Republic. The resident, who does have a grandson, said another person who said he was the man's attorney told her charges would be dropped if she wired a large amount of money to another person in the Dominican Republic on behalf of the grandson. The resident went to her bank, took out money and wired the money to the Dominican Republic, believing she had helped her grandson. A while later, the resident got another phone call from the "attorney" saying the charges were dropped but needed more money. The resident became suspicious and notified police. Police remind residents to always verify the validity of any monetary requests made over the telephone or in person by anyone other than a known individual.
• A contractor told police around 1:10 p.m. Aug. 12 that while he was sealing the driveway at Church of the Holy Comforter one of his employees took a company vehicle without permission. The employee eventually returned the vehicle to the company office and subsequently resigned.
• A citizen reported they found a backpack at 3:10 p.m. Aug. 12 near Whole Foods. The backpack was placed into storage pending retrieval by its owner.
• A resident on Patrick Street SE reported at 2:40 a.m. Aug. 14 that he woke up and saw two people trying to steal an air compressor out of the bed of his truck. The resident chased them and the men fled in a white vehicle. They did not succeed in removing the compressor.
• Around 3:20 a.m. Aug. 14, a citizen on Patrick Street SW woke up after hearing a struggle in a spare bedroom in his home. He found an intruder struggling with a friend inside the room. The intruder and other subject struggled and eventually the intruder
  fled from the home. Nobody was injured during the event. Police responded and found the intruder had entered the room
  through an exterior window.Fairfax County Police K-9 responded and tracked the subject to an area near DeSale Street but
  could not locate them. Police collected forensic evidence from the scene and are contuing to investigate.
• Around 8:50 a.m. Aug. 16, the town's animal control officer responded to Courthouse Road NE for a report of three dogs fighting a cat. A resident broke up the fight and the officer took the cat to be treated for its wounds.
• At a traffic stop around 3:51 a.m. Aug. 17 on Maple Avenue West, Police suspected there was alcohol inside the vehicle. During the stop, the driver backed up into a police cruiser and caused minor damage.
  Anna Craig Eadie- Friedmann, 19, of Reston was issued a summons for Underage Possession of Alcohol and Speeding.
• A resident on Thelma Circle SW reported around 2:27 a.m. Aug.18 his daughter and wife were arguing about missing documents. The two separated for the evening after Police responded.
• A stray, corgi-type dog wandered onto the property of Navy Federal Credit Union on Follin Lane around 10:15 a.m. Aug. 18. The dog was transported to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter to await retrieval by its owner.
• Police assisted Fairfax County EMS in responding to a call at 2:49 p.m. Aug. 18 on Moorefield Road S.W., for a teenage boy having an allergic reaction after smoking marijuana. The boy was taken to a local hospital.
• Around 5 p.m. Aug. 18, a resident of Cedar Lane SE said following a stay at the hospital, an unknown person called him and demanded more money for his treatment. The caller wanted the resident to give him a VISA  number to pay the “outstanding bill” right away. The resident, who believed he had paid all bills relating to his treatment, refused and contacted the hospital, which told him they had no knowledge of any outstanding bills. Police are reminding citizens to refrain from giving out personal information to a caller unless they initiated the call themselves. 
• At 9:37 p.m. Aug. 18, roommates at Pickett Place S.W. were arguing about visitors who had come to the house. After talking with Police, the visitors left the home.

ARRESTS

• An employee at Sesen Spa on Church Street reported she saw a customer concealing facial cream at the store around 3:45 p.m. Aug.11. THe same person purchased other itmes with a personal check and did not pay for the cream. After investigating, Police obtained a warrant for  Kristina Larsen, 43, of McLean for petit larceny. Fairfax County Police used the warrant to arrest Larsen. She was taken to Vienna Police Headquarters and then to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
• Police watched a vehicle drive over a curb and become disabled around 1:45 a.m. Aug. 13 near Neighbor's Restaurant on Cedar Lane. Investigation revealed the two occupants left restaurant without paying their tab, and one had purchased alcohol for the other because he was underage. Police arrested Peter Thomas Embree, 20, of Harrisonburg and charged him with drunk in public, underage possession of alcohol and petit larceny. Dumitru Gorgan, 21, of McLean, was arrested and charged with purchasing alcohol for an underage Individual, petit larceny, and drunk in public. Both were taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and held on a $500 bond.
• At a traffic stop at 5:20 a.m. Aug. 14 at Park Street and Talahi Road, Police noticed the driver appeared to be impaired. After attempting  to complete several field sobriety tests the driver, Patrick Thomas Prendergast, 21, of Washington, D.C. was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center for a breath analysis.
• After the driver of the vehicle in which he was riding was arrested (case above),Kevin Lambert, 23, of Alexandria was arrested for drunk in public. Attempts to secure a ride for Lambert were fruitless and due to his intoxicated state he was taken into custody and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.