A man concealed merchandise, pulled a knife during a struggle with a store employee and then disappeared into the Courthouse Metro station Thursday morning, according to Arlington County police. No one was hurt, and the suspect has not been found.
Police were dispatched around 7:34 a.m. on October 1 to a reported robbery at a business initially identified as the CVS on the 2100 block of 15th Street N., according to ARLnow. Investigators said the suspect entered the business and concealed merchandise, then struggled with an employee over a shopping basket before displaying a knife. The employee walked away and called police while the suspect ran off into the Metro, the outlet reported.
No injuries were reported, and officers who searched the area afterward did not locate the suspect. Police described him as a Black male with a beard, roughly 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, last seen wearing a multicolored hoodie, black pants, a black jacket and sunglasses. The investigation remains ongoing, per the same report.
A Pattern Of Trouble At The Same Store
This is not the first violent incident tied to this CVS location. Back in November 2023, police said a man brandished a firearm at the CVS at 2121 15th Street N., next to the Courthouse Metro entrance, demanded money and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to the earlier ARLnow report. Officers canvassed the area but did not find that suspect either, and no injuries were reported in that case.
The repeat incidents line up with a broader pattern the outlet's own review uncovered. An ARLnow review of police scanner traffic from August 11 through September 22 found 56 public-safety calls in and around Courthouse, 30 of them involving reported violence, weapons or threats. The CVS on 15th Street N. came up more often than any other single location, generating 11 of those calls, with most involving thefts, the outlet's review found.
Suspects Repeatedly Head For The Metro
In at least four of the CVS-related calls reviewed, the suspect was reported to be heading toward the Metro, echoing Thursday's escape route. The pattern has not gone unnoticed by residents: at the September 19 County Board meeting, a resident raised concerns about public safety around the nearby county government headquarters, according to the same ARLnow review.
The string of incidents near the Courthouse Metro stop is not limited to the CVS. A separate case highlighted by Patch described an Arlington police officer who witnessed an assault and attempted robbery near 15th Street North and North Courthouse Road and took the assailant into custody on the spot. The victim in that incident suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening and later went to a hospital on his own, Patch reported.
For now, Thursday's case remains unresolved. No arrest has been announced, and police have not released additional details beyond the suspect's description and the circumstances of his escape into the Metro system.
