Police Question Man About Robbery, Find 2 Pounds of Pot

Arlington police stopped a man to question him about a robbery on Friday and ended up finding more than 2 pounds of marijuana packaged for individual sale, according to information released today.

Arif Hassan Ahmed, 24, of Arlington, was charged with possession with intent to distribute and has been released on a $2,500 bond, according to the Arlington County Sheriff's Office.

At about 3 p.m. Friday, a teenager was robbed of his iPhone and about $200 in cash immediately outside the Ballston Metro station, according to police. As he got to the top of the Metro escalator, two men grabbed his arms and demanded those items.

"He was intimidated and scared so he complied with their demands," police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said. "And then took off."

Later Friday, at about 4:20 p.m., an officer saw a man he thought matched the description of one of the teenager's assailants, Sternbeck said. This was in the 900 block of North Taylor Street, about a block away from the Metro station.

"The officer stopped, got out and approached him," Sternbeck said. "The subject began acting suspicious, backpedaling. The officer gave him a verbal command, 'Can I as you some questions real quick?' That's when the guy took off running."

The officer chased the man, later identified as Ahmed, about two blocks before subduing him, Sternbeck said.

His backpack contained more than 2 pounds of marijuana divided into small portions in separate baggies, ready to sell, Sternbeck said.

Ahmed, it turned out, was not involved in the earlier robbery outside of the Metro station, Sternbeck said.