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Tuesday, mar 4

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

Man Airlifted With Severe Burns After Trash Fire Spreads In Maryland, Officials Say A backyard fire in Maryland took a dangerous turn when heavy winds spread the flames, leaving a 61-year-old man badly burned and in need of an emergency airlift, officials said. The victim had been burning trash and brush in a metal barrel at his home on Joseph Drive in Salisbury around 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, when the fire quickly got out of control, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. Firefighters from the Fruitland Volunteer Fire Department arrived after reports of a shed fire and burn victim but instead found a small brush fire—and a seriously injured man. Maryland State P…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Police & Fire

41,000+ Birds Perish In Maryland Chicken House Blaze: Fire Marshal A devastating fire tore through two chicken houses in Somerset County, killing upwards of 41,000 chickens and destroying a vehicle, officials said. The blaze broke out over the weekend at a property on Pete’s Hill Road in Princess Anne, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal. When the property owner arrived at the farm, one of the chicken houses had already collapsed in flames. Investigators say he tried to prevent the fire from spreading to another chicken house but was overtaken by the fast-moving flames, which also engulfed his Toyota Highlander. Firefighters from the Princ…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

News

ICE Arrests International Gang Leader With Terrorist Affiliation Living In Hyattsville A notorious MS-13 leader with international ties has been captured in Maryland, where he was in the country illegally, federal officials announced. David Alejandro Orellana-Aleman, 27, was arrested in Hyattsville last week in a joint operation between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI. A high-ranking leader of the transnational MS-13 gang, Orellana-Aleman was wanted in El Salvador for firearm possession, extortion, and terrorist affiliation, according to ICE officials. “The apprehension of David Alejandro Orellana-Aleman strikes a significant blow to the leadership a…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Traffic

SUV Driver, 28, Dragged By Freightliner Dies In Olney Crash: Officials A 28-year-old Maryland woman was killed after a tractor-trailer struck her SUV and dragged it down the road in a violent crash in Montgomery County, police said on Monday. Jiwon Kim, of Silver Spring, was pronounced dead at the scene following the wreck, which happened just before 12:50 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, at the intersection of Layhill and Norbeck roads, according to Montgomery County Police. Investigators say Kim was driving a 2021 Kia Seltos northbound on Layhill Road when a 2006 Freightliner truck pulling a Brazos trailer east on Norbeck Road slammed into her vehicle. The force of…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Police & Fire

Two-Alarm Fire Collapses Potomac Mansion (Developing) A massive fire tore through a home in Montgomery County, leaving a family of six displaced—but not before firefighters managed to save a group of newly acquired baby chicks, officials said. The fire broke out at around 3:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in a large single-family home on Mary Mead Court in Potomac, according to Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer. Firefighters were dispatched after a call came in from the homeowners reporting flames coming from the roof. The scene of the fire in Montgomery County. Twitter/@mcfrsPIO When first r…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

News

Serial Metrobus Groper From Silver Spring Learns Prison Fate In Montgomery County A serial sex offender who repeatedly preyed on women riding public transit in Maryland and DC is now behind bars for good after a determined victim caught him in the act, officials said. Kokouvi Apetoh, 45, of Silver Spring, was sentenced to 26 years and 231 days in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and admitting to violating his probation in a previous metrobus groping case, according to Montgomery County prosecutors. Authorities say Apetoh, a registered sex offender, was a repeat predator who systematically targeted unsuspecting women on their daily commu…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Police & Fire

Months-Long Search For Deadly Montgomery County Shooters Lands Two Behind Bars: Police A months-long investigation into a deadly Montgomery County shooting has led to murder charges against two men, authorities announced. Two men have been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Antoine Lavale Parker last fall, according to detectives. The suspects have been identified as 65-year-old Erick Darryl West, of Gaithersburg, and 45-year-old Daryl James Howard, who was previously arrested on unrelated charges in Carroll County. Parker was found suffering from gunshot wounds inside his apartment in the 400 block of Christopher Avenue in Gaithersburg around 11…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Police & Fire

Man Dies After Sterling Stabbing; Suspect Caught During Traffic Stop, Sheriff Says A Sterling man died at the hospital hours after being stabbed outside an area home, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). Lathius Noel Martin, 40, of Alexandria, has been arrested and charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of 40-year-old Wesley Richard Scott over the weekend, officials said. Deputies were called to the 20 block of Carolina Court around 10:20 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, where they found Scott suffering from stab wounds, authorities said. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he died the next day, Sunday, March 2, acc…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Police & Fire

Revenge Killer Caught On Camera At White Oaks Shopping Center Convicted: Prosecutors (Videos) A Maryland man faces more than a century behind bars after being convicted for a brazen, caught-on-camera restaurant murder in Montgomery County that prosecutors say was a calculated act of retaliation. A jury found Markus Dowdy, 34, of Silver Spring, guilty of second-degree murder and other offenses following a violent shooting and assault that was caught on camera, prosecutors announced on Monday, March 3. Markus Tyrell Dowdy Montgomery The deadly shooting happened just before 6 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2023, at America’s Best Wings in the White Oak Shopping Center on New Hampshire Ave…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

Obituaries

Columbia Mall Shooting Claims Second Teen's Life: 'His Legacy Will Endure' Just weeks after celebrating his 15th birthday, Blake Raymon Andrew McCray has passed away—becoming the second young victim of a targeted shooting outside the Columbia Mall, officials confirmed. McCray, a Columbia resident, was critically wounded in the Feb. 22 attack that killed his friend, 16-year-old Michael Jerome Robertson III, in the parking lot near the Lidl grocery store on Little Patuxent Parkway, according to Howard County Police. After spending days fighting for his life in the hospital, McCray succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, March 1, officials said "He was a beloved son,…

by Zak Failla

03/03/2025

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