Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

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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

Fairfax, VA
Breaking News
Masked Gunman Sought On Same Groveton Block As Bizarre Balcony Burglary (DEVELOPING) Masked Gunman Sought On Same Groveton Block As Bizarre Balcony Burglary (DEVELOPING)
Masked Gunman Sought On Same Groveton Block As Bizarre Balcony Burglary (Developing) Police are back on a familiar Virginia block, and this time they're looking for a masked gunman. Fairfax County Police were called to the 3500 block of Robert E. Lee Place in Groveton late Saturday morning, Sept. 12, where a man was found suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was rushed to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the department. As of shortly before noon, Fairfax County Police said detectives were heading to the scene, and officers were searching for a suspect described as a Hispanic man wearing a black ski mask and gray hoodie. Investigators bel…

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by Zak Failla
Randallstown, MD
Breaking News
8,000-Gallon Gasoline Tanker Erupts In Flames On Maryland Highway (PHOTOS) 8,000-Gallon Gasoline Tanker Erupts In Flames On Maryland Highway (PHOTOS)
8,000-Gallon Gasoline Tanker Erupts In Flames On Maryland Highway (Photos) A wall of flames lit up a Maryland highway overnight. A tanker hauling approximately 8,000 gallons of gasoline erupted in flames late Friday night, sending a massive column of fire into the sky above a Maryland highway. The tanker caught fire on I-795 near Westminster Pike in Reisterstown, prompting a large response from firefighters as flames engulfed the truck and forced the highway to close. The fire in Baltimore. White Marsh Volunteer Fire Company Photos from the scene show just how intense it got. Flames shot high above the tanker as thick black smoke poured into the night sk…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Driver Charged, Truckers Identified After Oxygen Tank Explosion On I-81: State Police Driver Charged, Truckers Identified After Oxygen Tank Explosion On I-81: State Police
Driver Charged, Truckers Identified After Oxygen Tank Explosion On I-81: State Police The driver who caused the fiery crash that claimed the lives of two truckers on I-81 in Virginia is now facing charges, state police announced. Rockingham resident Mario A. Saldivar-Romaro, who was not hurt, was cited for reckless driving following the double fatal crash on Thursday night in Frederick County. At around 8:10 p.m. on Sept. 10, police say Saldivar-Romaro was attempting to enter the southbound lanes of I-81 and failed to yield to traffic. Saldivar-Romaro crossed two lanes and struck a tractor-trailer that was heading southbound on the interstate.  The trac…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Small Fire, Big Charges For Maryland Woman Accused Of Torching Neighbor's Porch Small Fire, Big Charges For Maryland Woman Accused Of Torching Neighbor's Porch
Small Fire, Big Charges For Maryland Woman Accused Of Torching Neighbor's Porch A fire that caused relatively minor damage to a Maryland home in July has led to a lengthy list of charges months later. Amanda Lee Iliff-Williams, 33, of Cumberland, was arrested on Thursday, Sept. 10, following an investigation into an incendiary fire set on the front porch of a home on the 400 block of East Fourth Street, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. The fire was discovered by a neighbor shortly before midnight on July 9, officials said. The neighbor called 911 and began using water to extinguish the flames before Cumberland firefighters arrived. Investigators with the …

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by Zak Failla
Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (UPDATED) Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (UPDATED)
Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (Updated) A Maryland gunman remains in the wind after leaving a 32-year-old man dying in the middle of the road. Rafael Jeremias Brewster, of Beltsville, has been identified as the man found shot at approximately 2:05 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the 1700 block of January Drive in White Oak, Montgomery County Police confirmed on Friday. Brewster was lying in the roadway with an apparent gunshot wound when officers and paramedics arrived. First responders attempted to save him, but Brewster was pronounced dead, police said. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later det…

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by Zak Failla
Hyattsville, MD
Breaking News
Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors
Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors Leonard Warren was desperate to get away. That decision ended with a Maryland mother dead and, more than a year later, the District resident headed to prison. Warren, 25, was sentenced for the Feb. 28, 2025 crash in Prince George's County that killed 33-year-old Esmeralda Carolina Montoya-Perez as she waited for a bus. The deadly chain of events began when a Hyattsville Police officer spotted Warren, who was wanted on a second-degree rape warrant, behind the wheel and attempted a traffic stop. Warren initially pulled over. Then he took off. Despite not having a valid driver's licens…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Breaking News
Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars
Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars A former police officer convicted of attempted murder in Maryland won't spend a day of his sentence behind bars. Robert Warrington, 37, a former City of Bowie police officer, was sentenced on Friday, Sept. 11 in Prince George's County Circuit Court in connection with a September 2024 shooting along Collington Road in Bowie. The sentence: 30 years, with all but 18 months suspended. Those 18 months will be served on home detention. The punishment came nearly four months after the same judge found Warrington guilty following a two-day bench trial in May. Prosecutors had asked that Warringto…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief
ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief ICE agents had a blunt response when Maryland police asked whether they had a warrant during an operation that ended in a violent confrontation with protesters. “We’re not gonna discuss that with you.” That’s what Frederick Police Chief Kevin Meyer said federal agents told his officers during the Sept. 4 operation in the Taskers Chance neighborhood, according to Hagerstown Rapid Response, citing a Sept. 9 interview with WFMD. The exchange is the latest development following a nearly two-day ICE presence in Frederick that ended with agents using batons to remove protesters who had linked ar…

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by Zak Failla
Dundalk, MD
Breaking News
Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (DEVELOPING) Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (DEVELOPING)
Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (Developing) A group of kids wound up in the hospital after a vehicle veered off a Maryland roadway near a high school. At least six juveniles were struck near Dundalk High School in Baltimore County at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, according to Baltimore County Police. Investigators say the vehicle reportedly left the roadway in the area of Delvale and Holabird avenues before striking the pedestrians. All six were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The crash prompted a response from the department's Crash Team and caused delays in the area during t…

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by Zak Failla
Herndon, VA
Your Community
He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach
He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach Darwin De La Cruz spent one of his last days as a Virginia teacher making sure his students would have instruments after he was gone. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Herndon orchestra teacher drove to a warehouse in Springfield, loaded up 100 instruments for young musicians at Dranesville and Herndon elementary schools, hauled them back and prepared them for students, according to colleague Allison Devereux. Then he went to Back to School Night. By the next day, De La Cruz could no longer work for Fairfax County Public Schools. "He could have said I’m done, but he went. He always goes abov…

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by Zak Failla
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