Community Corner

September's Top Stories: Shots Fired, Stun Gun and Inspections Top List

See which stories Oakton Patch readers clicked on the most in the month of September

Each month Oakton Patch will list the stories readers found the most fascinating, as measured by page views. 

Once you're done reviewing the list, let us know if you're surprised by this month's top stories. Which story had you talking to coworkers at the water cooler the next day?

10. Fuel Odor Prompts Bus Driver to Call for Assistance: Principal Linda Thetford sent an email through the Keep In Touch system Sept. 12 informing the Waples Mill Elementary School community a bus driver detected a strong fuel smell and called school staff for assistance in getting students off the bus.

Find out what's happening in Oaktonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

9. Skimming Device Found on Hospital ATM Machine: Fairfax County Police are looking for the people who placed a skimmer on an ATM machine at the Inova Fairfax Hospital Cardiac Care Center sometime in August.

8. Oak Marr Recreation Center Opens Turf Fields: Though a storm moved the ribbon-cutting indoors, Fairfax County officials unveiled the new turf fields at Oak Marr Recreation Center on Sept. 8. Each field, striped for multiple sports including cricket, measures 190'x370'. The yearlong project cost about $1.7 million, not including the $400,000 lighting system installed last year before construction of the fields began. 

Find out what's happening in Oaktonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

7. Land Development for New Neighborhood Nears Completion: Parents who dropped off their Waples Mill Elementary students at the start of the school year passed by a new $2.13 million house at the corner of Verna Drive and Waples Mill Road this week. The house is a model for the 28-home neighborhood being built on 45.6 acres behind the school. 

6. Photos: Strong Storms Leave Damage in Oakton: More than 100,000 customers across Northern Virginia lost power Sept. 8 after strong storms swept through the area.

5. Vienna Police Arrest Oakton Man for DWI: An Oakton man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after a traffic stop in Vienna, according to the Vienna Police Department's weekly police highlights.

4. Fair Oaks Police Logs: Each week, Oakton Patch publishes the latest information on incidents involving Oakton residents and within Oakton's district. The weekly logs continue to be among the most read posts on the site.

3. Oakton Restaurant Inspections: August 2012: Three Oakton restaurants were inspected in the month of August: Subway, Famous Dave's and Flint Hill School.

2. Police Use Stun Gun During Arrest of Oakton Man: Fairfax County Police used a stun gun during the arrest of an Oakton man for driving while intoxicated, officials said. Robert Horton Epperson, 50, of Geneva Hill Court in Oakton, was arrested for driving while intoxicated — his third DWI offense in less than 10 years — and concealing a weapon while intoxicated around 5:36 p.m. Sept. 17.

1. Oakton Man Arrested for Firing Gun in His Home: A week after Robert Epperson's DWI arrest (See No. 2), he was arrested after discharging a rifle in his home on Geneva Hill Court, police said. Epperson was charged with reckless handling of a firearm, unlawfully discharging a firearm and discharging a firearm in public. He was released on bond Thursday.

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