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

Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Same Face, Same Place: Virginia Man Busted With Drugs, Gun One Month After Conviction, Feds Say Same Face, Same Place: Virginia Man Busted With Drugs, Gun One Month After Conviction, Feds Say Same Face, Same Place: Virginia Man Busted With Drugs, Gun One Month After Conviction, Feds Say
Same Face, Same Place: Virginia Man Busted With Drugs, Gun One Month After Conviction, Feds Say Some people never learn. Virginia prosecutors say 23-year-old Atio Terrain Walton had barely begun serving supervised release for drug and gun crimes before Richmond police caught him with cocaine and another firearm, sending him back to federal prison. Walton was sentenced to one year and three months behind bars after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced. The case dates back to July 10, 2025, when Richmond police spotted Walton among a group gathered outside a vacant unit in Richmond's Sou…

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by Zak Failla
Arlington, VA
Breaking News
DC Man Arrested Hours After Crystal City Bank Robbery, Arlington Police Say DC Man Arrested Hours After Crystal City Bank Robbery, Arlington Police Say DC Man Arrested Hours After Crystal City Bank Robbery, Arlington Police Say
DC Man Arrested Hours After Crystal City Bank Robbery, Arlington Police Say He didn't make it a full day. Less than 24 hours after a bank robber handed a teller a demand note in Crystal City and walked out with cash, Arlington detectives say they had the suspect in custody. Police arrested 36-year-old DC resident Brian Frances on Wednesday, July 22, in connection with Tuesday afternoon's robbery at a bank in the 1400 block of South Eads Street, according to the Arlington County Police Department. The robbery happened around 12:24 p.m. on July 21. Investigators say Frances walked into the bank, handed a teller a note demanding money, then fled with an undisclosed …

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by Zak Failla
Fredericksburg, VA
Breaking News
Wanted Tow Truck Driver Arrested As Police Probe Alleged Scheme Across VA, MD, DC Wanted Tow Truck Driver Arrested As Police Probe Alleged Scheme Across VA, MD, DC Wanted Tow Truck Driver Arrested As Police Probe Alleged Scheme Across VA, MD, DC
Wanted Tow Truck Driver Arrested As Police Probe Alleged Scheme Across VA, MD, DC A swinging tow truck load was just the beginning. What started as a routine traffic stop in Virginia quickly unraveled into the arrest of a wanted man who police say has spent months under investigation for allegedly preying on drivers across three jurisdictions. The encounter happened July 16 near Plank Road and Huntington Hills, where an officer spotted a tow truck make a sudden lane change that caused the vehicle it was hauling to swing dangerously into traffic, according to the Fredericksburg Police Department. The officer also noticed something unusual about the truck's license plate.…

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by Zak Failla
Lexington Park, MD
Breaking News
Visited These Southern Maryland Spots? Health Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure Visited These Southern Maryland Spots? Health Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure Visited These Southern Maryland Spots? Health Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure
Visited These Southern Maryland Spots? Health Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure Two more measles cases have health officials racing to track down anyone who may have crossed paths with the infected patients. The Maryland Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday, July 22, that two Southern Maryland residents tested positive for measles after recently traveling to another state experiencing an active outbreak. Now, health officials are warning that anyone who visited three locations in St. Mary's County during specific timeframes may have been exposed to the highly contagious virus. The potential exposure sites are: J&R Feeds LLC, 28038 Thompsons Corner Road in…

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by Zak Failla
Sterling, VA
Breaking News
Woman's Trail Attacker Captured After She Fought Him Off In Loudoun County, Sheriff Says Woman's Trail Attacker Captured After She Fought Him Off In Loudoun County, Sheriff Says Woman's Trail Attacker Captured After She Fought Him Off In Loudoun County, Sheriff Says
Woman's Trail Attacker Captured After She Fought Him Off In Loudoun County, Sheriff Says She refused to let him take her. Now, deputies say he's the one who ended up in custody. A Virginia man has been arrested one week after investigators say he grabbed a woman on a walking trail in Loudoun County, only to watch her fight free and run to safety. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday, July 22, that 34-year-old Rolando Sanchez Velasquez, of Sterling, is accused of attacking the woman near Algonkian Parkway and Lowes Island Boulevard on the night of July 15. According to investigators, the woman was walking alone when Sanchez Velasquez approached and gr…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Fake Cop Pulled Gun, Asked Driver For Ride In Bizarre Woodbridge Roadside Encounter: Police Fake Cop Pulled Gun, Asked Driver For Ride In Bizarre Woodbridge Roadside Encounter: Police Fake Cop Pulled Gun, Asked Driver For Ride In Bizarre Woodbridge Roadside Encounter: Police
Fake Cop Pulled Gun, Asked Driver For Ride In Bizarre Woodbridge Roadside Encounter: Police A man claiming to be a police officer didn't ask for a driver's license. Investigators in Virginia say he pulled a gun and asked for a ride instead. Now Prince William County detectives are trying to identify the man after what they believe were two unsettling encounters within minutes of each other Sunday night in Woodbridge. The first happened around 9 p.m. on July 19 along Dale Boulevard near Forestdale Avenue. According to police, a 25-year-old driver was approached by an unknown man who displayed a handgun, claimed to be a police officer, and then asked for a ride. The driver re…

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by Zak Failla
Parkville-Carney, MD
Your Community
Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Parkville Storefront (UPDATED) Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Parkville Storefront (UPDATED) Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Parkville Storefront (UPDATED)
Police Reveal What Sent Blind Students' School Bus Crashing Into Parkville Storefront (Updated) No one inside the school bus caused it to end up buried inside a Parkville storefront. Police now say it never had a chance. Baltimore County crash investigators announced Wednesday that a Ford Focus crossed the center line on Harford Road Tuesday afternoon and slammed head-on into a Baltimore County Public Schools bus carrying students from the Maryland School for the Blind. The Parkville crash. Baltimore County Fire Department The impact triggered the violent chain reaction that ended with the bus plowing through the front of a commercial building. The crash happened around 2:25…

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by Zak Failla
Manassas, VA
Breaking News
7th Arrest Made In Teen's Killing As Manassas Mobile Home Murder Case Keeps Growing: Police 7th Arrest Made In Teen's Killing As Manassas Mobile Home Murder Case Keeps Growing: Police 7th Arrest Made In Teen's Killing As Manassas Mobile Home Murder Case Keeps Growing: Police
7th Arrest Made In Teen's Killing As Manassas Mobile Home Murder Case Keeps Growing: Police The list keeps getting longer. More than a month after an 18-year-old was gunned down near a Manassas mobile home community, Virginia detectives have announced a seventh arrest in the sprawling homicide investigation. Prince William County police said 19-year-old Jaiden Juel France, of Manassas, was arrested Tuesday, July 21, in connection with the June 15 killing of Luis Angel Chavez. France is the latest suspect charged in a case that has steadily expanded from two arrests to seven as detectives continued unraveling what happened the night Chavez was shot. Police said Chavez was in the …

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by Zak Failla
Landover, MD
Breaking News
Landover Murder Suspect Caught After Nearly 6 Years On Run In DC Following Manhunt: Police Landover Murder Suspect Caught After Nearly 6 Years On Run In DC Following Manhunt: Police Landover Murder Suspect Caught After Nearly 6 Years On Run In DC Following Manhunt: Police
Landover Murder Suspect Caught After Nearly 6 Years On Run In DC Following Manhunt: Police Nearly six years after he vanished, the man accused of gunning down a 22-year-old Maryland man is in custody. The arrest ends a years-long hunt that stretched across multiple jurisdictions, drew in the US Marshals Service, and prompted emotional public pleas from the victim's parents just weeks ago. Prince George's County police announced on Wednesday, July 22, that 34-year-old Dayvon Gordon was arrested Tuesday night in Washington, DC, in connection with the October 2020 killing of Andre Lamont Cox Jr. in Landover. For years, Gordon managed to evade investigators after an arrest warrant w…

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by Zak Failla
Waldorf, MD
Breaking News
Over 100 Cemetery Vases Stolen, Nearly Melted Down Before $100K Recovery In Waldorf: Sheriff Over 100 Cemetery Vases Stolen, Nearly Melted Down Before $100K Recovery In Waldorf: Sheriff Over 100 Cemetery Vases Stolen, Nearly Melted Down Before $100K Recovery In Waldorf: Sheriff
Over 100 Cemetery Vases Stolen, Nearly Melted Down Before $100K Recovery In Waldorf: Sheriff They were stolen from graves. Then they were nearly melted down for scrap. Instead, Maryland detectives say they got there just in time. More than 100 bronze memorial vases worth over $100,000 have been recovered after Charles County detectives unraveled what they say was a cemetery theft scheme that targeted Trinity Memorial Gardens in Waldorf. The thefts happened over two separate stretches between June 8 and June 21 and again between July 4 and July 6, leaving dozens of graves stripped of the bronze memorial vases families had left behind, officials said. The break in the case came lat…

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by Zak Failla
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