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

Riverdale, MD
Breaking News
Riverdale Burglar Busted Breaking Into Maryland Home With 92-Year-Old Man Inside, Police Say Riverdale Burglar Busted Breaking Into Maryland Home With 92-Year-Old Man Inside, Police Say Riverdale Burglar Busted Breaking Into Maryland Home With 92-Year-Old Man Inside, Police Say
Riverdale Burglar Busted Breaking Into Maryland Home With 92-Year-Old Man Inside, Police Say This time, the house wasn't empty. A 92-year-old was asleep inside a Maryland home when an accused serial burglar forced his way in, unaware that police were watching his every move, authorities said. Anderson Javier Santacruz Gallegos, 29, of Riverdale, was arrested outside an Enid Drive home in Potomac after Montgomery County Police investigators say they caught him using the same routine tied to a string of break-ins dating back to July. Knock first. Wait. If nobody answered, police say Santacruz Gallegos would head around back, force his way inside and hunt primarily for jewelry and c…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Frantic Waving From Duck Blind Ends 30-Hour Search For Missing Potomac Kayakers Frantic Waving From Duck Blind Ends 30-Hour Search For Missing Potomac Kayakers Frantic Waving From Duck Blind Ends 30-Hour Search For Missing Potomac Kayakers
Frantic Waving From Duck Blind Ends 30-Hour Search For Missing Potomac Kayakers For 30 hours, there was no sign of two kayakers who disappeared on the Potomac River in Maryland. Then, finally, someone started waving. The two missing kayakers were spotted late Thursday night, Sept. 24, frantically trying to get the attention of a rescue crew from a duck blind on Craney Island, just north of Potomac Heights in Charles County, according to the Charles County Volunteer Fire/EMS Association. It was the break rescuers had been waiting for. The search had stretched for more than a day by the time a five-member crew from the Tenth District Volunteer Fire Department was calle…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Car Plows Into Parked Pickup, Sends Truck Crashing Through Wall Of Vacant DC Building (PHOTOS) Car Plows Into Parked Pickup, Sends Truck Crashing Through Wall Of Vacant DC Building (PHOTOS) Car Plows Into Parked Pickup, Sends Truck Crashing Through Wall Of Vacant DC Building (PHOTOS)
Car Plows Into Parked Pickup, Sends Truck Crashing Through Wall Of Vacant DC Building (Photos) One parked pickup wound up where it definitely wasn't supposed to be after a chain-reaction crash in DC. A car plowed into the parked pickup near Davenport and 42nd streets NW on Wednesday morning, sending the truck crashing through the wall of a vacant building, according to DC Fire and EMS. The impact punched a large hole through the building and sent chunks of masonry tumbling onto vehicles parked outside. The crash in DC. Twitter/@dcfireems Firefighters were initially called to the scene for a rescue and possible collapse, prompting a response from the department's special oper…

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by Zak Failla
Manassas, VA
Breaking News
Manassas Residents Told To Stay Inside As Police Search For Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING) Manassas Residents Told To Stay Inside As Police Search For Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING) Manassas Residents Told To Stay Inside As Police Search For Shooting Suspect (DEVELOPING)
Manassas Residents Told To Stay Inside As Police Search For Shooting Suspect (Developing) Police are hunting for a gunman in Virginia, and people living nearby are being told to lock their doors and stay inside. Officers were called to a shooting in the 9400 block of Wellington Road in Manassas at around 8:36 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, prompting a large law enforcement response and warnings to avoid the area. The suspected shooter has been identified as Marvin Grant, according to the Manassas City Police Department. Grant was described as a light-skinned Black man who is approximately 5-foot-9 with brown hair and brown eyes. Police said he may be behind the wheel of a gray T…

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by Zak Failla
McLean, VA
Breaking News
Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING) Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING) Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (DEVELOPING)
Two-Alarm Fire Rips Through Fairfax County Home, Spreads From Garage To Attic (Developing) A Virginia home went up in flames Tuesday night, with the fire quickly working its way from the garage to the attic. Firefighters were called to Stirrup Cup Lane near Old Stable Road in McLean at around 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 29, where they were met by heavy flames tearing through the garage of the two-story home. They didn't stay there long. The fire had already spread upstairs and into the attic, forcing Fairfax County firefighters to call for a second alarm as more crews were brought to the scene. View this post on Instagram Everyone inside m…

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by Zak Failla
Alexandria, VA
Breaking News
Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase
Alexandria Girl, 16, Sole Survivor Of Stolen Car Crash That Killed 3 Teens After Police Chase The deadly crash of a stolen Maryland car is coming into clearer focus. Two 16-year-old boys from Silver Spring were among three teens killed early Monday, Sept. 28, after their driver crashed during a brief police pursuit on I-395 in Virginia, State Police announced in an update Tuesday night. A 17-year-old boy whose hometown remains unknown died at the scene, while the two Silver Spring teens were rushed to area hospitals, where they later died. A fourth passenger, a 16-year-old Alexandria girl, survived and remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition Tuesday. The new details …

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by Zak Failla
College Park, MD
Breaking News
Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery
Masked Driver Waved 'Rifle' From Van On UMD Campus Before Police Made Surprising Discovery It looked like the kind of morning that could get much worse in a hurry. A masked driver was spotted cruising through the University of Maryland campus on Tuesday, Sept. 29, allegedly driving aggressively and waving what appeared to be a rifle out the window of a white Dodge van. The first call came in around 9:24 a.m., when Prince George's County dispatchers alerted University of Maryland Police about the van. Then more calls started coming in. Campus cameras later showed the van entering through North Gate at Baltimore Avenue and Campus Drive before heading west on Campus Drive and pass…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him
Park View HS Fentanyl Suspect Waded Across Rio Grande Into US, Now ICE Is Waiting For Him Isaac Melendez-Carranza's path to a Virginia jail cell apparently began in the Rio Grande a decade ago. The 31-year-old Sterling man accused of dealing fentanyl connected to overdoses involving Park View High School students crossed the river from Mexico into the US in 2016, according to ICE, which has now lodged a detainer against him. Melendez-Carranza has been behind bars in Loudoun County since Aug. 20, when deputies arrested him following an investigation into suspected fentanyl dealing tied to student overdoses in May. Investigators seized suspected narcotics and cash during the bust.…

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by Zak Failla
Rockville, MD
Breaking News
Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ
Rockville Man Signed Graphic Threats To 20+ Victims With Names Of Mass Murderers: DOJ Justin Dynlacht vacillated between threats to kill, sexually abuse, and torture employees at a Delaware business, even throwing in a racist message The 57-year-old Rockville resident was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison following what has been described by prosecutors as "a campaign of violent, graphic threats against at least 25 people and their families."  According to court documents, Dynlacht sent more than 20 emails, faxes, and letters between November 2022 and April 2024 to employees of the Delaware company that steadily grew more violent. Prosecutors say Dynla…

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by Zak Failla
Stafford, VA
Breaking News
Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says
Massage Spa Burglar Pepper-Sprayed Employees When They Caught Him In Stafford, Sheriff Says Elijah Thomas Deane's burglary spree came to a fiery end. He did not want to go down quietly. The 22-year-old Spotsylvania resident is facing a host of charges following a string of similar burglaries that came to an end last week, according to the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. Deane's gambit came to an end on Monday, Sept. 21, when deputies were alerted to a robbery in progress at a massage spa on Chatham Heights Road. Investigators say Deane entered the business and was directed to one of the rooms. He then left the room and began entering other rooms and the employee area. Then th…

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by Zak Failla
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