Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

[email protected]

FOLLOW ON

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Instagram

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

Chantilly, VA
Breaking News
Herndon Teen's Fentanyl-For-Gun Deal Ends With Much Bigger Bust In Chantilly: Fairfax Police Herndon Teen's Fentanyl-For-Gun Deal Ends With Much Bigger Bust In Chantilly: Fairfax Police Herndon Teen's Fentanyl-For-Gun Deal Ends With Much Bigger Bust In Chantilly: Fairfax Police
Herndon Teen's Fentanyl-For-Gun Deal Ends With Much Bigger Bust In Chantilly: Fairfax Police What started as a deal for a teen to trade 50 fentanyl pills for a handgun led to a massive bust by undercover officers in Northern Virginia. Herndon resident Alhaji Sorie Kamara, 19, is behind bars following an investigation launched last week in Chantilly, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The probe began on Monday, Oct. 5, when the agency's Violent Crimes Suppression Unit started looking into narcotics dealing and firearms distribution in the region. Police say that during the investigation, detectives determined that Kamara agreed to exchange 50 suspected fentanyl pill…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
Six Weeks Of Freedom: DC Man's Parking Blunder Exposes Another Loaded Glock, Feds Say Six Weeks Of Freedom: DC Man's Parking Blunder Exposes Another Loaded Glock, Feds Say Six Weeks Of Freedom: DC Man's Parking Blunder Exposes Another Loaded Glock, Feds Say
Six Weeks Of Freedom: DC Man's Parking Blunder Exposes Another Loaded Glock, Feds Say Six weeks after getting out of prison for illegally carrying a loaded Glock, Sequan Collier was back behind bars. A poor parking job doomed the 29-year-old District man, who had previously been convicted on weapons charges and served nearly two years in prison before being busted again just weeks after being let out. This time, he was sentenced to 29 months in federal prison after he was caught by members of the Metropolitan Police Department while illegally parked with two other armed men in March 2025, according to federal authorities. Court documents say that at around 1:45 a.m. on Marc…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Baltimore Cops Found Guilty After Assault, False Claims: 'I Maced Him Like Four Times' Baltimore Cops Found Guilty After Assault, False Claims: 'I Maced Him Like Four Times' Baltimore Cops Found Guilty After Assault, False Claims: 'I Maced Him Like Four Times'
Baltimore Cops Found Guilty After Assault, False Claims: 'I Maced Him Like Four Times' A Maryland police officer who tripped over his own feet blamed a fleeing man for the fall, setting off a chain of events that would ultimately land him and a fellow cop in court. Baltimore Police Officers Mordechai Mandelbaum and Menachem Rosenbloom were found guilty on multiple charges on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following an encounter that ended with a surrendering man being pepper-sprayed four times and officers making false claims about what happened. The incident began on June 26, 2025, when the officers responded to a call in the 700 block of East Chase Street and discovered that a man had…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Two Men Shot Behind Maryland Tavern In Dead Of Night, Waldorf Man Charged Two Men Shot Behind Maryland Tavern In Dead Of Night, Waldorf Man Charged Two Men Shot Behind Maryland Tavern In Dead Of Night, Waldorf Man Charged
Two Men Shot Behind Maryland Tavern In Dead Of Night, Waldorf Man Charged Two men standing behind a Maryland tavern in the middle of the night suddenly found themselves in the line of fire when a gunman allegedly approached and began shooting, leaving one fighting for his life. The shooting happened around 2:5 a.m. on June 20 behind a tavern and liquor store in Waldorf, where Charles County Sheriff's Office investigators say Terrell Anthony Burgess, 36, walked up to the men and fired multiple shots without warning. One of the men was struck several times, while the other was grazed by a bullet. Officers arriving at the business found the more seriously wounded v…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Lottery Ticket Robbery Left Two Dead, But Virginia Suspect Wasn't Finished, Feds Say Lottery Ticket Robbery Left Two Dead, But Virginia Suspect Wasn't Finished, Feds Say Lottery Ticket Robbery Left Two Dead, But Virginia Suspect Wasn't Finished, Feds Say
Lottery Ticket Robbery Left Two Dead, But Virginia Suspect Wasn't Finished, Feds Say Two convenience store employees were allegedly gunned down during a robbery for lottery tickets in Virginia, and more than four years later, federal prosecutors have charged a man with their murders. Newport News resident Jordan Isaiah Pierce, 24, was charged in a superseding federal indictment returned on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in connection with the deadly June 2022 robbery that investigators say was followed by another armed holdup less than a month later. According to federal prosecutors, Pierce and an accomplice targeted a convenience store on Kiln Creek Parkway in Newport News on June 15…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Fredericksburg Serial Rape Suspect Was Already Out Of US When DNA Results Came Back: Police Fredericksburg Serial Rape Suspect Was Already Out Of US When DNA Results Came Back: Police Fredericksburg Serial Rape Suspect Was Already Out Of US When DNA Results Came Back: Police
Fredericksburg Serial Rape Suspect Was Already Out Of US When DNA Results Came Back: Police A suspected serial rapist was already out of the country when Virginia investigators got the DNA evidence they needed to link him to two violent attacks on women along popular walking trails. Now, he's back in custody. Fredericksburg police announced on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that Cesar Paau-Pan, 22, of Spotsylvania, was arrested in Guatemala following a months-long investigation that included two reported rapes, an unrelated indecent exposure arrest, and a critical DNA breakthrough that came weeks after he voluntarily left the United States. The investigation began on Oct. 19, 2025, when a w…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Annapolis, MD
Breaking News
Romanian 'Bonnie And Clyde' Used Hugs To Steal Jewelry In Maryland, Beyond: DHS Romanian 'Bonnie And Clyde' Used Hugs To Steal Jewelry In Maryland, Beyond: DHS Romanian 'Bonnie And Clyde' Used Hugs To Steal Jewelry In Maryland, Beyond: DHS
Romanian 'Bonnie And Clyde' Used Hugs To Steal Jewelry In Maryland, Beyond: DHS A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde traded bank robberies for stolen necklaces, using hugs and sleight of hand to make off with thousands of dollars in jewelry from unsuspecting victims in Maryland and beyond, according to DHS. The Romanian couple, Rudi Lacatusu and Mirabela Lacatusu, have been linked to at least 14 reported jewelry thefts across Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, prompting federal authorities to compare them to one of America's most notorious criminal duos. "This 'Bonnie and Clyde' illegal alien couple from Romania has been charged with grand larceny after allegedl…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Lusby, MD
Breaking News
Late-Night Crash Turns Deadly When Lusby Driver Slams Into Tree, Sheriff Says Late-Night Crash Turns Deadly When Lusby Driver Slams Into Tree, Sheriff Says Late-Night Crash Turns Deadly When Lusby Driver Slams Into Tree, Sheriff Says
Late-Night Crash Turns Deadly When Lusby Driver Slams Into Tree, Sheriff Says New details have been released in Southern Maryland after a 33-year-old driver was killed crashing into a tree along a quiet roadway. John Lawrence Connor, 33, has been identified by the Calvert County Sheriff's Office as the driver who was killed Tuesday night in Lusby. Shortly after 11:45 p.m. on Oct. 13, members of the sheriff's office were called to investigate a serious single-vehicle crash in the area of Rousby Hall Road and Maryland Avenue. The Lusby resident was the only person inside the vehicle. Investigators say Connor was driving a 2021 Nissan Sentra east on Rousby Hall Road, …

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Leonardtown-California, MD
Breaking News
Woman Was Nine Months Pregnant When Mechanicsville Man Attacked Her In Front Of Kids: Jury Woman Was Nine Months Pregnant When Mechanicsville Man Attacked Her In Front Of Kids: Jury Woman Was Nine Months Pregnant When Mechanicsville Man Attacked Her In Front Of Kids: Jury
Woman Was Nine Months Pregnant When Mechanicsville Man Attacked Her In Front Of Kids: Jury A man who assaulted a woman who was nine months pregnant, in an attack she did not report until after giving birth in Southern Maryland, will face decades in prison. Mechanicsville resident Jeffery Francis Pappaianni, 34, was convicted following an investigation into a series of domestic violence offenses earlier this year in front of children, according to the St. Mary's County State's Attorney's Office. The assault happened on Feb. 22, when Pappaianni repeatedly punched the woman in the face, fracturing her nose, before kicking and punching her in the stomach while she was nine month…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Baltimore Woman's Words Before Grandmother Was Gunned Down Land Her In Prison: 'There They Go' Baltimore Woman's Words Before Grandmother Was Gunned Down Land Her In Prison: 'There They Go' Baltimore Woman's Words Before Grandmother Was Gunned Down Land Her In Prison: 'There They Go'
Baltimore Woman's Words Before Grandmother Was Gunned Down Land Her In Prison: 'There They Go' A dispute at a children's basketball game ended with a Maryland grandmother dead and a lifetime sentence for the woman convicted in her killing. Cassandra McRae was sentenced to 140 years in prison for her role in a shooting that killed Anntoinette Jennings and wounded two others, including an 11-year-old child, according to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office. On Jan. 22, 2025, Baltimore Police were notified of a shooting in the 5400 block of York Road involving multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds inside a Honda CRV. Upon arrival, they found Jennings dead and two other…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Prev Page 1 of 3947 1 2 3 4 5 Next
1 - 10 of 39,465 articles