Suspect arrested after carjacking, crash in Mount Vernon area

A driver was carjacked Sunday evening at this Exxon station at 8861 Richmond Highway. (Google Maps image)

A man is in custody after a carjacking, crash and second carjacking Sunday evening in the Mount Vernon area.

Police say Darryl Jermaine Watkins allegedly pulled a gun on a woman in a vehicle at the Exxon at the corner of Richmond Highway and Mount Vernon Memorial Highway around 5:45 p.m. After taking the vehicle, Watkins crashed a short distance away on Mount Vernon Memorial Highway near Forest Haven Drive, according to police.

The suspect then broke into a house in the 4600 block of Tarpon Lane, confronted the homeowner and took items including the keys to another vehicle, which he then stole. Police say Watkins then abandoned the vehicle in the 4500 block of Neptune Drive and took off on foot. A large police search that included K9 units and the Fairfax1 police helicopter was initiated, and Watkins was apprehended some time before 6:30 p.m., according to police.

Watkins, a 34-year-old Dumfries resident, faces two charges of carjacking and a charge of using of a firearm in a felony, according to Fairfax County General District Court information online.

The two carjacking victims, ages 53 and 56, were not injured in the incident. 

This story was updated on Aug. 15 to reflect new information released by police, including that there was not a passenger in the first vehicle that was carjacked.