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LORTON, Va. - A car break-in investigation in Fairfax County led police to a suspect wanted for several crimes in 2023, including a hit-and-run that caused a house fire.
Dwayne Anderson is in jail after police caught him hiding in a Lorton community after a neighbor called about someone breaking into cars.
The recent stolen cars and break-ins are a concern for Jamie Smith, who lives in the neighborhood officers found Anderson.
"It’s scary – it is def scary," Smith said. "We are supposed to be in a safe neighborhood. The last year or so, there’s definitely been cars getting broken into. They even had a sign outside our neighborhood that said ‘lock your car up!’
Early Monday morning, around 4 o'clock, officers from the Fairfax County Police Department were called to Shepherd Hills Drive about someone breaking into cars.
When they arrived in the neighborhood, they found a shattered window, and several other cars that had been broken into.
Dwayne Anderson Photo via Fairfax County Police Department
Officers say they found Anderson hiding inside one of the cars with stolen items.
He was taken into custody where detectives connected him to a number of other break-ins and a car crash into a home in another Lorton neighborhood on Whitehaven Court back in September.
FOX 5 was at the scene where Fairfax County police said Anderson was driving a stolen BMW before he crashed into an electrical box, setting a house on fire.
Anderson got out of the car, and ran away from officers into a wooded area where a police K9 found him.
The department said Anderson was released on recognizance, promising a judge he would show up in court, but failed to appear.
"It’s kind of scary that they are being released," Smith said. "I'm hoping that the police of the legal will take care of it and stop releasing them and get them charged and everything."
Anderson is currently in police custody again with no bond, and there are additional charges pending, including ones from the September incident, Mondays, and some other break-ins in the area.