The Blotter

Twenty-five people were picked up on drug and firearms trafficking charges following a two-year investigation in Manassas, law enforcement officials announced.

In eight indictments and five criminal complaints unsealed Thursday, the 25 individuals allegedly include a ring of suppliers, midlevel dealers and street-level dealers accused of selling cocaine, heroin and guns.

Undercover cops made 215 controlled buys, and seized 85 guns, 500 grams of crack cocaine and two kilograms of powder cocaine, all with a street value of about $1.1 million, authorities said.

Arrest in sculpture thefts from museum

Montgomery County police say a 27-year-old District man has been arrested in connection with the theft of bronze sculptures from the Ratner Museum in Bethesda.

Daniel Conticchio was arrested Thursday afternoon, when detectives found him sleeping in his car in a Bethesda parking lot, police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said.

Conticchio was identified as a suspect when an employee at Montgomery Scrap and Recycling in Rockville realized that the store had purchased the stolen sculptures and contacted police.

Conticchio sold the sculptures for about $150, police said.

The sculptures were taken from the museum over the weekend and were valued at about $90,000. Five sculptures were taken from an outside garden area, and two others were left behind but damaged.

Slain firefighter worked for Secret Service

The volunteer firefighter who died while fighting an apartment fire was an employee of the U.S. Secret Service.

According to the Secret Service, 43-year-old Mark Falkenhan was an emergency services specialist for the agency. He joined the agency in 2006.

Authorities said Falkenhan was fighting a four-alarm fire in suburban Baltimore on Wednesday night when he became trapped on the third floor.

Scott McCabe and Emily Babay