Man Who Shot Himself In Arlington Hotel Garage Tried To Make It Look Like Robbery: Police

ARLINGTON, VA — The Arlington County Police Department charged a Connecticut man in connection with an incident at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Courthouse area on Feb. 15, where the man reported that he was shot by a suspect wearing a ski mask.

In their investigation, though, Arlington County police determined the man shot himself and tried to make it appear as though an attempted robbery had occurred, police said Tuesday.

Chester Dunican, 69, of Waterford, Connecticut, was taken into custody Monday, after his release from the hospital for injuries from the incident, according to police.

Dunican initially reported to police that he was placing items into his vehicle when an unknown male wearing a ski mask approached, demanded his wallet and shot him.

In their investigation, Arlington police said detectives uncovered numerous inconsistencies between Dunican’s account of the incident and evidence recovered.

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According to ARLnow, Dunican was set to be sentenced on Feb. 14 in a federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a day before he allegedly shot himself in Arlington.

Dunican informed the court he had car problems and was unable to make it to the hearing, The Courier-Gazette in Rockland, Maine, reported Feb. 16. Dunican had pleaded guilty in Michigan to defrauding a Native American tribe of more than $1 million, according to the news report. He faced up to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Dunican is also known in Maine for several business ventures that became entangled in financial and legal problems, according to the Portland Press Herald.

A pre-sentencing report by the U.S. Probation Office said Dunican’s offenses in Michigan called for a prison sentence of five to more than six years. Dunican’s defense attorney, who noted that his client is nearly 70 years old with chronic health conditions, was seeking a sentence of no more than four years, the newspaper reported.

Shortly before 2 a.m. on Feb. 15, Arlington police were dispatched to the report of a shooting inside a parking garage in the 1300 block of N. Courthouse Road, where the Hilton Garden Inn is located.

Responding officers found an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately began to provide aid. The man was taken to an area hospital with injuries considered serious but non-life-threatening, police said at the time.

Arlington police said Tuesday that Dunican has been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, discharge of a firearm in public, and filing a false police report. He is being held without bond in the Arlington County Detention Facility, according to police.