Earlier this evening, Vox received a report that two arrests had been made for an alleged theft at Vital Vittles. According to Corp CEO Elizabeth MacGill (COL ’14) and a witness on the scene, a cashier and a manager identified a suspect matching the description of a man suspected of a Mar. 17 crime and pursued him immediately.

Two employees chased the alleged thief, while another stayed behind to call COO Rashaad Eshack (SFS ’14) and the Department of Public Safety. According to a bystander, the employee tried calling DPS multiple times before they received an answer. When the employee was able to report the incident, she said that it was possible that the suspects were still in the Leavey building.

At 6:48 p.m., Vox saw two individuals being handcuffed in the lobby of the Leavey Center by DPS. One of the individuals arrested may match the descriptions posted in earlier thefts of both cash and goods, a 5’8″ light-skinned black man with a goatee, in a baseball cap, jeans, and a black jacket. He was accompanied by a white woman, 5’2″, petite with brown hair, wearing china blue-patterned pants and a large black jacket. They were taken in handcuffs by two officers to the bus stop outside Darnall, where they were put into a Georgetown University Police car and driven away.

MacGill confirmed that the man who was arrested matched footage from an earlier theft a week and a half ago when he stole an iPad from an employee in the back room, but it is still “hard to confirm” whether the suspects are the same from the earlier incidents. While the woman did not participate in the earlier theft, he entered the store with her during the first incident, and they were found and arrested together this time around. According to MacGill, nothing was stolen during the incident.

“We are happy to report this victory for the company,” MacGill said.

As of this posting, DPS was unavailable for comment. Vox will keep you posted with updates as the story develops.

Additional reporting by Ryan Greene

At approximately 3:37 p.m. today, an unknown individual broke into a storage locker of Vital Vittles and stole 50 cartons of cigarettes. A Corp employee reported the theft to the Department of Public Safety. Both DPS and MPD authorities responded to the scene and are investigating the incident, according to the public safety alert.

The suspect is described as a roughly 5’7″ Hispanic male with short black hair and a goatee. He was wearing a red shirt, black jacket, black jeans, and black shoes. While the report does not indicate whether this description is based on security camera footage, the Corp establishment’s security cameras identified the thief of hundreds of dollars from Vittles in December.

DPS requests that anyone who has information regarding this incident, or who noticed any suspects before or after the incident, to contact them immediately at (202) 687-4343.

Update, 11:40 a.m.: While the DPS public safety alert about the incident issued last night said the amount stolen was approximately $600, it appears that number is incorrect. In a statement to the Hoya, Corp CEO Alex Pon said that number is wrong. He did not specify how much money was actually stolen.

Yesterday afternoon, Corp COO Brooke Heinichen wrote in an e-mail to Vox that the amont stolen was between 300 and 400 dollars. After the public safety alert was issued, Vox changed the headline of this article to reflect what seemed to be the official number at the time.

Update, 8:00 p.m.: The Department of Public Safety has issued a public safety alert concerning this afternoon’s theft at Vital Vittles.

The suspect is described as a 5’8″ light-skinned black male, wearing blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt. His getaway car was a black SUV parked in front of the Leavey Center.

According to the alert, approximately 600 dollars was stolen from the Corp location’s back office (contradicting earlier reports that the amount was below 400 dollars).

The alert also notes, “It is important that students and employees take care not to pursue a criminal suspect, but rather make note of physical descriptors and call police immediately.”

DPS and MPD investigations are ongoing.

Original story, 6:11 p.m.: At approximately 1:10 p.m. today, over $300 approximately $600 over $300 was stolen from the Vital Vittles office.

The suspect, whose image was captured by surveillance cameras installed in the office, “was caught emptying a drawer waiting to be counted by the manager on shift,” The Corp CEO Alex Pon (COL ’12) wrote in an e-mail to Corp employees this afternoon.

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Best. Sampling. Ever.

This Thursday, the Corp will be sampling those F’Real milkshakes and smoothies that are now available at Vital Vittles. (The chocolate milkshake is delicious. We’ve had, like, 15 of them already.)

Stop by Red Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m to sample the available flavors, which include strawberry banana, Reese’s, and cookies and cream.

Poetry, school pride, and splendid provisions

Although you might not get the chance to paint your face, the Lannan Center still offers you the chance to show your school spirit listen to some poetry, and chow down for free.

Today, Georgetown’s own David Gewanter will have a formal reading of his work in the Copley Formal Lounge from 8 p.m. Don’t forget to stick around for the reception that follows.

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Yesterday, we cataloged the health violations of four Georgetown-area food establishments that had been pegged as “high-risk” by the Health and Regulations Licensing Administration within the last year or so—Leo’s, Epicurean & Co., The Tombs, and Bangkok Bistro.

Today, we’re running an accounting of the nine remaining restaurants whose two most recent food establishment inspection reports we acquired through a February Freedom of Information Act request. 

We found that Wisey’s, the Starbucks and the Cosi in the Leavey Center, Booey’s, Tuscany Cafe, the former Philly Pizza, and Midnight Mug were listed on at least one report as “medium-risk” establishments, mostly due to non-critical violations. Only two establishments, Vital Vittles and Hoya Snaxa, were never listed as risky establishments.

In total, they garnered 9 critical and 16 non-critical violations. Again, six critical violations that cannot be corrected on site result in the closure of the restaurant. Owners are usually given five days to rectify critical violations and 45  for non-critical violations or they risk closure.

COSI

An August inspection of the Cosi in the Leavey Center found three critical violations. The establishment was cited for needing to clean food contact surfaces and its “warewashing, sanitizing, frequency methods.”

“Resurface, clean, and sanitize cutting boards” for sandwich preparation areas and other cutting boards, the report said. “Adjust hot water on hand sinks in rear and prep area so [temperatures] reach 110 degrees; repair hot water gauge on dish machine.”

An inspection five days later confirmed that Cosi had corrected all of the violations, and a notice it had been given after the previous report was abated.

TUSCANY CAFE

An August inspection found that Tuscany Cafe had one critical and two non-critical violation. Several food storage units were missing thermometers, many food items were not labeled and dated, and employees were cited for personal cleanliness, although the only written note about employees was that they were seen not wearing either hats or hair restraints when handling food. The establishment was given five and 45 days’ notice to make corrections.

A subsequent inspection 20 days later found no violations and abated the five and 45 days’ notices, but still listed Tuscany as a medium-risk establishment, which is not uncommon for an inspection following up on a notice to correct violations.

The Corp, Wisey’s, and how gross Philly Pizza was, after the jump!

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Want a shot at your own 15 seconds of internet micro-micro-fame? Start following us on Twitter (GtownVoxPop) and, if you’re connected to Georgetown, we’ll return the favor and you’ll automatically be in the running!

Kristin Janiszewski had a strange encounter while working at Vittles.

Did Fitz Lufkin notice odd behavior from the cleaning staff, or just a little overzealousness?

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Want a shot at your own 15 seconds of internet micro-micro-fame? Start following us on Twitter (GtownVoxPop) and, if you’re connected to Georgetown, we’ll return the favor and you’ll automatically be in the running!

Former Voicer Phil Perry was impressed by JT Jr.’s patriotic lunch choice.

Mara Hollander was unimpressed by the little store’s meat options.

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Now that Georgetown’s learning the importance of food sanitation the hard way, let’s look at the restaurant health inspections of area restaurants. I filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Department of Health to get the reports on area restaurants, as well as Leo’s, Vittles, and Hoya Snaxa. The full reports are after the jump, but here are the highlights:

• Leo’s: no soap at employee sinks. I’m sure more would be in this report if the inspection didn’t happen in June.
• Wisey’s and Uncommon Grounds: soiled floors.
• Bangkok Bistro: dust and grease accumulation.
• Quick Pita: employees without hair covering.
• 1789: Dirty floor and cutting board.

But there’s more! After the jump, reports on the Tombs, Vittles, Hoya Snaxa, and Sizzling Express, another property owned by the Epicurean people. Sizzling Express stored its food practically on the ground!

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Update: Erin from the Central Kitchen corrected us–the sandwich makers aren’t homeless anymore. Others were in jail, and Erin describes them as “the biggest bunch of goofy, fun, hardworking felons I know.”

Vital Vittles, Georgetown’s finest/only grocery store and sundries shop has provided students with necessities like Dunkaroos and Solo cups for decades. They also sell expensive sandwiches to high-strung doctors with stress-induced hair loss. Word on the street is that doctors and students both will have a new option this fall: wraps made by men and women who used to be homeless or imprisoned.

The wraps are made by Fresh Start Catering and Contract Food Service, an offshoot of the D.C. Central Kitchen, an non-profit corporation that provides culinary education to homeless and unemployed citizens of the District.

Bravo to the bleeding hearts over at the Corp. Sure, Panebella’s pita is to die for, but an overpriced snack does some good is even better. Guilt free = calorie free.

“Yoo hoo, I’m over here”

If you only read Public Safety emails, you’re missing out on 3/4s of the fun. The real joy is following the links in the email for the full crime report. For example, you might have seen yesterday’s email about a burglary in campus convenience store Vital Vittles and gone on your way. But if you did that, you would’ve missed this gem:

A complainant reported that at approximately 8:10 p.m. while unlocking the door to Vital Vittles, he observed an unknown male hiding inside the store. The suspect stated to the complainant that he was looking for ‘Charles’ and then walked out the door. No property was reported missing.

Thinking up an absurd excuse for being inside a closed store so as to baffle your discoverer? That can only be one man.

Flickr photo from user @ly$ in wonderland used under a Creative Commons license