Assault near government center in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault along a street that is home to several government buildings, including the Montgomery County Council office building, a Montgomery County courthouse, and Rockville City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The assault was reported in the 100 block of Maryland Avenue at 2:30 PM on February 28, 2023.

Richard Montgomery High School student arrested in armed robbery of gas station in Gaithersburg

Rockville City police officers converged on Richard Montgomery High School Monday, and arrested a student in connection with the February 20, 2023 armed robbery of a Gaithersburg gas station. Jeffrey Gabriel Johnson, 18, of Rockville was taken into custody at the school without incident. Johnson has been charged with armed robbery, first-degree assault, and second-degree assault. He is being held at the County's Central Processing Unit.

Detectives allege that Johnson and an accomplice entered the convenience store at the Summit Shell gas station at 15 South Summit Avenue at 9:52 AM on February 20, which was a school holiday. One of the two - police have not said which one - pulled a knife from his waistband. He allegedly ran behind the counter, threatened the cashier with the knife, and demanded he open the cash register. 

The clerk opened the cash drawer, and the armed suspect grabbed an unspecified amount of cash. Both suspects then ran out of the store. The second suspect, also an African-American male, has not been publicly identified by police and remains at large. Given that the police statement does not ask for the public's help in finding him, it's likely detectives know who they are looking for.

Loyal Companion pet store closes in Rockville

Loyal Companion has closed at 1643-A Rockville Pike at the Congressional Plaza shopping center. Its space has been cleaned out. Loyal Companion's parent company, Independent Pet Partners, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of its bankruptcy plan, it is closing many of its stores under the brands of Loyal Companion, Kriser's, Especially For Pets, Bark! Dogma – Life, With Your Pet, Pet Source, Pet Life and Whole Pet Central.

Swarovski moves, Sheepskin moves out, 2 the 9s signs in at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

The great post-holiday musical chairs game is fully underway at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Seasonal shop Sheepskin Gifts & Alpaca Too has moved out of its space on Level 1. The store has become as much of a holiday tradition at the mall as Santa Claus. We're very likely to see them once again this fall, when the crisp air conjures thoughts of Black Friday at the mall.

Swarovski

Meanwhile, on Level 2, Swarovski has moved out of its existing space, and is headed to its new home next to UNTUCKit on the same floor. Lastly, fashion boutique 2 the 9s now has a sign installed. It appears to be just a banner, not a permanent, light-up sign.

Swarovski

2 the 9s

2 the 9s

2 the 9s

Montgomery County loses another corporate HQ to Virginia

There goes another one. Amentum Services, a leading government contractor in the fields of engineering, project management and advanced solutions integration, is moving from Germantown to Chantilly in Fairfax County, Virginia. The latest corporate decision to choose Virginia over Montgomery County will bring 157 new jobs to Fairfax County - good jobs with high pay. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced the move in a press release Monday.

According to Youngkin's statement, Virginia competed directly with Maryland to woo Amentum, which has 44,000 employees working in 85 countries around the world. “Fairfax County offers the location, access to decision-makers, and talent pipeline that global providers like Amentum are seeking, and we are proud to welcome the company’s leadership and operations team to Virginia,” Youngkin said. “Amentum joins the ranks of the Commonwealth’s diversified ecosystem of more than 800 corporate headquarters across a broad cross-section of industries.”

“I want to thank and congratulate Amentum for choosing Fairfax County for its home base,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay said in statement. “Our long-term investment into making Fairfax County the top choice to locate a global business continues to bear fruit, and I am thrilled that Amentum has chosen to take advantage of what we offer.” 

Amentum is the latest corporation to abandon moribund Montgomery County for Virginia, or choose Virginia over Maryland in a relocation search. It joins Amazon, Northrop Grumman, Volkswagen, Lidl, Hilton Hotels, Intelsat, Corporate Executive Board, Nestle, Lego, and Gerber, to name a few. 

Montgomery County and Maryland have had difficulty even gobbling up the crumbs under Virginia's dinner table. When Youngkin made the surprising decision to reject a Ford Motor Company battery plant recently, Maryland wasn't even a serious contender to grab the jump ball. That fumble apparently happened on the watch of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and the 2018-2022 Montgomery County Council, as Michigan was quickly named as Ford's backup choice. 

Armed robbery at Rockville restaurant

Rockville City police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a restaurant in the Fallsgrove area of Rockville late Saturday night. The robbery was reported at a restaurant in the 14900 block of Shady Grove Road at 11:52 PM, February 25, 2023. That is in the Fallsgrove Village Center. A food delivery driver was robbed at gunpoint in Fallsgrove a few days earlier, on February 18.

Police respond to fight at Rockville Town Square

Twenty-four hours after an aggravated assault was reported at Rockville Town Square, police were back at the property after a fight broke out on Gibbs Street around 2:00 AM Sunday morning, February 27, 2023. Twitter user @Trellis_DMV captured video footage of officers at the scene. "This is a sample of the nightly BS that goes on around 2am that the police make zero efforts to respond to in spite of nightly noise complaints," he tweeted.

Photo courtesy @Trellis_DMV via Twitter