Suspected Fairfax Serial Burglar Should be Charged Within a Month

Fairfax County police chief Col. David Rohrer said he hoped that the county would file charges within the month, against a Maryland man alleged to be the serial burglar who robbed more than 100 Fairfax homes last fall.

Brad, K. Edmonds, 34, of Oxon Hill, Md, was arrested  Nov. 18, in Montgomery County. He  was charged with first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree burglary, two counts of malicious destruction of property under $500, two counts of theft between $1,000 and $10,000, two counts of rogue and vagabond, theft under $1,000, fourth-degree burglary tools, possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, possession of a stolen firearm, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held on a $425,000 bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

At the time of his arrest, Fairfax police said he was the Fairfax serial burglar suspect.  From late August to November,  a night-time burglar entered unlocked occupied homes in wealthy neighborhoods in the northern part of Fairfax stealing cash and personal items.

Rohrer said that county police had spent the months after the arrest making sure of the forensics, "dotting all the i's." He said the department was now in the "final forensics."

"We're confident," that Edmonds is the  suspected eserial burglar, Rohrer said because they received a tip for a neighbor who reported seeing a "suspicious" vehicle in his neighborhood in the pre-dawn hours as he walked his dog.

"We watched the vehicle and interacted with the driver of the vehicle and that passed the case forward," the chief said. He gave no further details.

Master Police Officer Patrick Lucas of the Fairfax County Police Crime Prevention Unit told a citizens group in January that the dog, Bandit, was key to solving the case because he n00dged his owner to walk him. 

That resident lived in a community where some of the burglaries had occurred. Police had told residents to report any suspicious activity.  In the early morning hours of Nov. 8, Bandit awakened his owner for their usual pre-dawn walk. During the walk, the owner saw a "suspicious" looking car parked in their neighborhood. What was suspicious about the car? it had out-of-state, license tags, Officer Lucas said.

Bandit and his owner returned home and called Fairfax County Police, Lucas said. The police ran the tag. "The license tag was a great lead," Lucas said.

Fairfax  sent officers to wait for the driver to return. At some point they contacted Montgomery County Police. Montgomery police started following the car's owner, Lucas said.

About a week later, "on November 16 at approximately 12:15 a.m., Fairfax County Police detectives and 1st District investigators were conducting a joint surveillance on Edmonds in the area of Evening Ride Drive in Potomac. After several hours, this surveillance was concluded when Edmonds departed from the area," said the press release the Montgomery police issued the date Edmonds was arrested.

They followed Edmonds most of the day "and, at approximately 4:30 a.m. on November 17, stopped him at the intersection of River Road and Falls Road and placed him under arrest," the Montgomery police statement said.

Correction: The first name of the Fairfax County police chief was incorrect in earlier additions of this story. The name is now correct. We apologize to our readers.