Zak Failla

Assistant Managing Editor

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Equal parts Lois Lane, J. Jonah Jameson and Vicki Vale, Zak! has traveled from coast-to-coast covering small and big town community news in both in print and online for nearly a decade since his graduation from the award-winning Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in 2010.

Before settling into the Hudson Valley, Zak! previously spent time in the New York Daily News newsroom and worked for hyperlocal digital news outlets on Long Island. He wrote sports for The Ithacan and The Ithaca Journal before taking his talents to the Pacific Northwest, where he served as the sports editor at the Shoshone News-Press until heading back east to work with Daily Voice.

Zak Failla's Contributions

Gaithersburg, MD
Breaking News
Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (UPDATED) Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (UPDATED) Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (UPDATED)
Man Found Shot In Middle Of Silver Spring Road ID'd, Killer Remains At Large: Police (Updated) A Maryland gunman remains in the wind after leaving a 32-year-old man dying in the middle of the road. Rafael Jeremias Brewster, of Beltsville, has been identified as the man found shot at approximately 2:05 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the 1700 block of January Drive in White Oak, Montgomery County Police confirmed on Friday. Brewster was lying in the roadway with an apparent gunshot wound when officers and paramedics arrived. First responders attempted to save him, but Brewster was pronounced dead, police said. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later det…

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by Zak Failla
Hyattsville, MD
Breaking News
Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors
Rape Fugitive's 90 MPH Escape Killed Maryland Mom Waiting For Bus In Chillum: Prosecutors Leonard Warren was desperate to get away. That decision ended with a Maryland mother dead and, more than a year later, the District resident headed to prison. Warren, 25, was sentenced for the Feb. 28, 2025 crash in Prince George's County that killed 33-year-old Esmeralda Carolina Montoya-Perez as she waited for a bus. The deadly chain of events began when a Hyattsville Police officer spotted Warren, who was wanted on a second-degree rape warrant, behind the wheel and attempted a traffic stop. Warren initially pulled over. Then he took off. Despite not having a valid driver's licens…

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by Zak Failla
Bowie, MD
Breaking News
Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars
Former Bowie Cop Gets 30-Year Sentence, But Won't Spend It Behind Bars A former police officer convicted of attempted murder in Maryland won't spend a day of his sentence behind bars. Robert Warrington, 37, a former City of Bowie police officer, was sentenced on Friday, Sept. 11 in Prince George's County Circuit Court in connection with a September 2024 shooting along Collington Road in Bowie. The sentence: 30 years, with all but 18 months suspended. Those 18 months will be served on home detention. The punishment came nearly four months after the same judge found Warrington guilty following a two-day bench trial in May. Prosecutors had asked that Warringto…

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by Zak Failla
Hagerstown, MD
Breaking News
ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief
ICE Refused To Tell Maryland Cops If Agents Had Warrant Before Clash: Chief ICE agents had a blunt response when Maryland police asked whether they had a warrant during an operation that ended in a violent confrontation with protesters. “We’re not gonna discuss that with you.” That’s what Frederick Police Chief Kevin Meyer said federal agents told his officers during the Sept. 4 operation in the Taskers Chance neighborhood, according to Hagerstown Rapid Response, citing a Sept. 9 interview with WFMD. The exchange is the latest development following a nearly two-day ICE presence in Frederick that ended with agents using batons to remove protesters who had linked ar…

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by Zak Failla
Dundalk, MD
Breaking News
Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (DEVELOPING) Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (DEVELOPING) Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (DEVELOPING)
Six Kids Hurt After Vehicle Leaves Road, Strikes Group Near Dundalk High School (Developing) A group of kids wound up in the hospital after a vehicle veered off a Maryland roadway near a high school. At least six juveniles were struck near Dundalk High School in Baltimore County at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, according to Baltimore County Police. Investigators say the vehicle reportedly left the roadway in the area of Delvale and Holabird avenues before striking the pedestrians. All six were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The crash prompted a response from the department's Crash Team and caused delays in the area during t…

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by Zak Failla
Herndon, VA
Your Community
He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach
He Delivered 100 Instruments To Fairfax County Students. The Next Day, He Couldn't Teach Darwin De La Cruz spent one of his last days as a Virginia teacher making sure his students would have instruments after he was gone. On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Herndon orchestra teacher drove to a warehouse in Springfield, loaded up 100 instruments for young musicians at Dranesville and Herndon elementary schools, hauled them back and prepared them for students, according to colleague Allison Devereux. Then he went to Back to School Night. By the next day, De La Cruz could no longer work for Fairfax County Public Schools. "He could have said I’m done, but he went. He always goes abov…

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by Zak Failla
Towson, MD
Breaking News
Mom Who Dumped Bloody Jacket After Daughter Said She 'Caught A Body' In Baltimore Learns Fate Mom Who Dumped Bloody Jacket After Daughter Said She 'Caught A Body' In Baltimore Learns Fate Mom Who Dumped Bloody Jacket After Daughter Said She 'Caught A Body' In Baltimore Learns Fate
Mom Who Dumped Bloody Jacket After Daughter Said She 'Caught A Body' In Baltimore Learns Fate A mother's love knows no bounds. Yolanda Wilkes pleaded guilty to attempting to conceal an assault committed by her daughter and two others in Baltimore, though she avoided additional time behind bars, according to the State's Attorney's Office. The charges stem from an alleged aggravated assault involving three juveniles that unfolded in the 800 block of West Lombard Street on Feb. 15, an incident that escalated enough that a police officer ultimately fired his weapon. On February 15, 2026, at approximately 12:05 a.m., a Southwest District patrol officer was called to a home in th…

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by Zak Failla
Frederick, MD
Breaking News
Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow
Second Beaver Attack In 2 Weeks Shuts More Of Cunningham Falls State Park As Rabies Fears Grow High school got off to a rough start for a Maryland boy who was mauled by a massive beaver that left him hospitalized with critical injuries. “D” was swimming in the designated swimming area at Cunningham Falls State Park near Thurmont in July, when his family says a roughly 4-foot-long beaver came out of the deeper water and attacked him. His aunt, Leigh Cebula, said “D” had been swimming underwater looking for fish while his mother and 8-year-old brother watched from shore. It was a place the family knew well. Cebula said “D” had been swimming there since he was little, and that she had…

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by Zak Failla
Woodbridge, VA
Breaking News
Lyft Driver's Discount Deal With 2 Maryland Women Takes Terrifying Turn In Woodbridge: Police Lyft Driver's Discount Deal With 2 Maryland Women Takes Terrifying Turn In Woodbridge: Police Lyft Driver's Discount Deal With 2 Maryland Women Takes Terrifying Turn In Woodbridge: Police
Lyft Driver's Discount Deal With 2 Maryland Women Takes Terrifying Turn In Woodbridge: Police The Lyft driver who abducted two Maryland women in Virginia has been tracked down after a rideshare from hell. Falls Church resident Adar Bulut, 25, was arrested after two women returning from an event out of state found themselves trapped in his vehicle over a dispute about how much they owed him, according to the Prince William County Police Department on Friday, Sept. 11. The 32- and 25-year-old women had requested a ride through the Lyft app to take them home to Woodbridge early Sunday morning, Sept. 6, according to investigators. Police say their driver, later identified as Bulut, pic…

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by Zak Failla
Randallstown, MD
Breaking News
Baltimore Parents Charged After 2-Month-Old Daughter Dies With Signs Of Trauma: Police Baltimore Parents Charged After 2-Month-Old Daughter Dies With Signs Of Trauma: Police Baltimore Parents Charged After 2-Month-Old Daughter Dies With Signs Of Trauma: Police
Baltimore Parents Charged After 2-Month-Old Daughter Dies With Signs Of Trauma: Police Two parents are facing multiple charges for their alleged roles in an infant's death in Maryland. Officers from the Baltimore Police Department were called shortly after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, to Harbor Hospital to investigate a reported infant death. Upon arrival, officers learned that 2-month-old Aida Alvarado had recently been pronounced deceased by medical staff. Members of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded and recovered the infant’s remains. Investigators say the preliminary findings indicate that the infant suffered trauma to the body. During the investigati…

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by Zak Failla
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