Fairfax County Police Watch: This Week’s Capt. Denise Hopson Screw it, it’s the public s money and not mine Award

Business owners challenge Altoona, police officials

An Altoona couple filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Altoona and city officials, including the former chief of police and two members of the Altoona Police Department.

Heather and Aaron Bucklin with Bucklin Properties allege they and their two children were victims of police misconduct — involving false accusations of criminal activity, failure to enforce Iowa law, and fabrication or alteration of surveillance video and audio evidence — during Police Chief John Gray’s management in November 2010, according to a court document.

The document states unlawful actions taken by Altoona police officers Louis Miner and Alyssa Wilson Green caused “physical and mental pain and suffering and loss of ability to enjoy life” for Heather and Aaron Bucklin and both of their children, ages 12 and 7 at the time of the incident.

The couple’s attorney, who helped prepare the court document, said he believes he holds sufficient evidence to support the claims.

“Everything you allege needs to be proven, and clearly we think we have the evidence to sustain the claims in the petition,” said Ted Sporer, attorney with Sporer and Flanagan.

This evidence includes video and audio surveillance taken from a police vehicle on Nov. 13, 2010, when Altoona police officers took Aaron and Heather Bucklin into custody on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and interference with official acts. Sporer said the video and audio support the claims in the court document.

The charges resulted from a confrontation with police officers and tenants Tracy Dennis Root and Charlene Ray Root, who were delinquent on rent and other payments due to Bucklin Properties at 209 Eighth St. S.W., Altoona, according to a police report.

Altoona police officers Miner and Wilson Green were called to the Bucklin’s property when an altercation began between Aaron Bucklin and the Roots over intentions to remove property from the Maid-Rite restaurant, managed by the Roots, according to the police report. Bucklin and Sporer said Bucklin Properties possessed a statutory landlord’s lien preventing the Roots from removing any personal property.

The alleged assault occurred after Miner allowed the tenants to remove a filing cabinet from the property while Miner was taking photos of the scene before securing the business until both parties could provide proof of personal property ownership, the report stated. The Roots said the Bucklins attempted to hit them with their SUV, the police report stated.

After the alleged assault, officers physically restrained Aaron Bucklin and pointed a Taser at him before arresting him and Heather Bucklin, according to the police report filed by Miner, who allowed the Roots to load up the filing cabinet after the incident.

Three months later, all assault charges were dropped. The Bucklins’ defense attorney, Matt Lindholm, said this was because a private investigation revealed a witness who was not included in the police report and denied the assault allegations.

“After reviewing those statements, the county attorney decided they could not prove a crime occurred or could not prove their case, and the case was dismissed,” Lindholm said.

But the Bucklins and Sporer say significant damages remain, which prompted the March 14 lawsuit.

The court document includes a list of more than 100 items that were allegedly taken from the property, including freezers, ice machines, a microwave, light fixtures, countertops and “thousands of dollars in food.”

Sporer said the total value of the items is yet to be determined, but exceeds $5,000. He said the ultimate value and restitution will be decided by the court. The Bucklins declined to comment on the case until it develops further.

Jason Palmer, who is representing the city of Altoona, also declined to comment on the allegations against the city.

Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America. Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent DOJ office on Police Misconduct.

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.