This Week in Crime: From Sordid to Sad

Seven people have been arrested in connection with a series of six burglaries that took place in Reston from Dec. 23-Jan. 16.

Jerome Sheppard, 21, of Manassas was charged with three counts of burglary and two counts of grand larceny. Jesse Terry, 18, of Reston, was charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of grand larceny. Jivon Bryant, 22, of Herndon, was charged with one count of burglary. Michael Green, 22, Jose Veloso, 22, and Nechelle Wooten, 22, all of Reston, were each charged with one count of receiving stolen firearms. One juvenile was charged with two counts of burglary.

Personal property including electronics, computer equipment and guns were stolen from the homes. This was an apparent organized, coordinated effort on the part of all suspects involved.

Or maybe it just seems impressively organized because this time the perps didn't just waltz into a series of open, unlocked garages.

Another Reston man pleaded guilty to robbing a strip club in Baltimore.

Alexander Reiff, of Reston, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but eight years suspended. He pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery and using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

Police said Reiff and Gregory Eaton Jr., 29, of Hyattsville, walked into Fantasies Nightclub in the 5500 block of Pennington Ave. shortly before the 2 a.m. closing on April 5.

They were armed with a Ruger 9 mm handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun, announced a robbery and ordered about 20 patrons and employees to the floor, prosecutors said. Eaton then discharged the shotgun into the ceiling, police said.

Two off-duty city police officers then shot Reiff and Eaton, police said. Eaton died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center; Reiff, who prosecutors said was wearing body armor, survived.

And finally, a former Herndon Middle School teacher pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquincy of a minor.

Richard Chad Forsythe, a former Herndon Middle School teacher, pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor on Monday, Jan. 28. Forsythe, 38 of Sterling, was sentenced to 12 months in jail during a hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

After learning of Forsythe's relationship and "inappropriate contact" with a 16-year-old Reston girl, Fairfax County police arrested Forsythe for custodial indecent liberties in January 2007, according to police reports.

Forsythe, who remains free on bond, has been suspended without pay from the school system since his original arrest in January 2007.

We should hope so.