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Tuesday, jul 22

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

Police & Fire

Couple Stole $36K From Nonprofit Helping Blind, Deaf, Veterans In DMV: Sheriff A Maryland couple is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a nonprofit that helps some of the state's most vulnerable residents. Melissa Funkhouser, 40, and her husband, Ronald Funkhouser, 43, both of Ridge, schemed for a year to siphon more than $36,000 from Lions Camp Merrick in Nanjemoy, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday, July 2. The camp is a nonprofit organization that serves the blind, deaf, diabetic, and veterans with PTSD. Melissa Funkhouser was hired in May 2023 after volunteering with the organization and had sole access to the nonprofit…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

News

Man Sexually Abused Ex-Girlfriend's Child For Years In DC, Prosecutors Say A man who sexually abused his former girlfriend's young child is facing life in prison, federal authorities announced. Benjamin Hernandez Torres was convicted on Tuesday following a multi-day trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of raping the child multiple times over the course of several years. According to the evidence and testimony presented at trial, between 2010 and 2014, Hernandez Torres, who was the victim’s mother’s then boyfriend, raped the victim multiple times when she was between 5 and 8 years old. She disclosed around 10 years later when she saw …

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Police & Fire

New Dc-area Fire Chief Hospitalized During Safety Press Conference It was a dramatic moment just days into the job. Prince George’s County’s newly appointed fire chief was rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency during a fireworks safety press conference on Wednesday, July 2, the department confirmed. Chief Thelmetria “Meme” Michaelides — who was sworn in Monday — collapsed during the event and was treated on the scene by her own crew before being transported to MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. Officials say the emergency was non-life-threatening, and that she has already fully recovered. “I am so thankful for the immed…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

News

Former Peace Corps Official From DMV Accused Of Double-Dipping In Federal Fraud Scheme: Feds A former high-ranking Peace Corps official from Maryland is accused of secretly double-dipping from taxpayers while abusing his federal access in a fraud scheme that netted tens of thousands of dollars, federal prosecutors announced. Evester Edd, 64, of Silver Spring, was arrested Wednesday, July 2, and charged with wire fraud, theft of government funds, and making false statements, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Edd worked as a senior human resources official at the Peace Corps while also allegedly working as a federal contractor. Prosecutors say…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Police & Fire

‘To Catch A Predator’ Sting: 16 Men Arrested In Virginia Trying To Meet Minors For Sex: Police Sixteen men — including suspects from Virginia, Maryland, and Canada — were busted in a months-long undercover sting targeting online predators in Fairfax County, police announced. Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit (CEXU) wrapped up the operation this week, arresting 16 suspects who allegedly arranged to meet minors for sex after chatting with undercover officers online, officials said. The men — ages 20 to 65 — showed up in the county, or planned to, expecting to commit sex acts with children. Instead, they were met by detectives from CEXU and t…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Police & Fire

Tipster Leads Cops To Mercedes-Driving Drug Dealer Staying At Stafford Motel, Sheriff Says Tipsters dropped the dime, and a Mercedes-driving motel guest in Virginia wound up in cuffs, deputies said. Marc Morgan, 60, was busted with cocaine in his car and motel room after a search warrant was executed at the Super 8 on Wicomico Drive in North Stafford, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday, July 2. Deputies say they were first alerted to suspected drug dealing at the motel by a concerned citizen. They soon saw Morgan make a hand-to-hand transaction in the parking lot and passed the information to the Special Investigations Unit. Detectives moved quickly.&nbs…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

News

Man Who Helped Lure Teen Before Fatal Ambush In DMV Learns Prison Fate: Prosecutors A Maryland man who set a deadly plan in motion that ended with a teenager shot in the head has been sentenced in Charles County, prosecutors said. Ricardo Kevon Colbert-Lyles, 24, of Waldorf, was handed a 25-year prison term, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the 2022 killing of 19-year-old Aden Christopher Garcia, according to Charles County State’s Attorney Tony Covington. Garcia was ambushed on Oct. 23, 2022, during a planned drug deal that never happened. Prosecutors said Colbert-Lyles, along with co-defendant Dalvin Devonte Risi and an unidenti…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Schools

School Employee In Virginia Had Inappropriate Contact With Student, Police Say A school employee in Virginia is facing charges — and now police seek additional victims — for engaging in a relationship with a young student, officials say. Rene Alfredo Escobar Jr., 31, of Arlington, an Instructional Assistant assigned to Washington-Liberty High School, was the subject of an investigation launched in late May, resulting in his arrest this week, police say. According to the Arlington Police Department, Escobar had inappropriate contact, both online and in person, with a juvenile female student. On Tuesday, July 1, Escobar was arrested and charged with contribu…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Police & Fire

Fugitive In Maryland Rape Case Caught 6 Years Later In DMV: Police A Maryland man wanted for a violent sexual assault in Frederick more than seven years ago is finally behind bars. Roberto Carlos Campos Roque, 43, was arrested on Monday, June 30, in the Baltimore area after being on the run since September 2019, police announced. Campos Roque was wanted in connection with a kidnapping and rape investigation stemming from an incident in downtown Frederick in March 2018. Surveillance video showed him dancing with an intoxicated woman at the Cellar Door restaurant on East Church Street, where he and another man were seen dragging her out toward his car…

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

Traffic

Beltway Reopens In Maryland After Tractor-Trailers Crash, Spill Fuel Traffic is up and running on the Beltway Inner Loop after two tractor-trailers crashed and overturned, officials in Montgomery County say. Early on Wednesday, July 2, first responders were called to a stretch of I-495 in Silver Spring, where there was a reported crash that ended with a fuel spill and debris strewn across the roadway. All lanes were shut down for hours in the area of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road near exit 31. Traffic later got by single file along the right shoulder while crews cleaned up the debris and fuel spill. The crash caused traffic chaos in Maryland. …

by Zak Failla

07/02/2025

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