Fairfax County Police Department News

Detectives arrested a suspect they believe is connected to at least four high-end jewelry burglary thefts on Friday, May 8. Police believe there may be up to three accomplices that have not been arrested yet.

Jan Parchewski, 39 of the Chicago area, was charged with burglary and grand larceny following an extensive investigation, involving numerous leads across Fairfax County.

The cases appear to be targeted at wealthier homes and police believe victims were being watched by suspects. There may be more cases that have gone unnoticed and unreported. In one incident, a man walked to his mailbox, and was doing a bit of yard work while suspects entered his home and stole thousands of dollars of jewelry from his Great Falls home. In another, a woman and her husband left home for a funeral, and upon return, discovered the front door had been pried open of their Reston home. Jewelry was missing. A downtown McLean resident took her dog to the groomer on May 6, was gone for just a few minutes, when she returned to her home, two different people tried to distract her from going into her home. One man pulled up, asked her for the price of townhomes in the area. Afterwards, a woman approached her and said she’d lost her dog and asked her for help. Both had thick accents and the resident thought it seemed peculiar. Upon entering her home, she found her jewelry box had been rummaged through and jewels were missing.

In a forth case, a woman who lives in the Hunter Mill Road, Lawyers Road area of Vienna, had gone to play tennis for a couple of hours and discovered her extensive collection of jewels missing when she returned.

The thieves are described as sophisticated and sometimes use two-way radios to communicate. The cases take place in the morning or daytime and often there are people in the area. Some victims have encountered the suspects and spoken with them; describing them as having thick, European accents. Typically, police encounter these sorts of burglaries a few times each year; often when the weather warms up.

Police ask that residents check their unsecured jewelry collections; if they find items missing or suspicious, don’t hesitate to file a police report by calling police 703-691-2131 or filing a report online at the Citizens Reporting Service, http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/reportcrime/.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131 or contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637.