Fairfax County Police Watch: Former Cherryville Police Chief Charged

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 24, 2013 • Western District of North Carolina(704) 344-6222

CHARLOTTE, NC—The former police chief for the city of Cherryville has been charged with one count of program embezzlement, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Woodrow “Woody” Paul Burgess, 60, of Cherryville, North Carolina, has agreed to plead guilty to the charge.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Greg McLeod, Director of the State Bureau of Investigation (North Carolina-SBI) join U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement.

According to the criminal bill of information and plea agreement filed today in U.S. District Court, Burgess was the chief of police for the city of Cherryville until his retirement in October 2012. During the relevant time period, Bonny Alexander was Cherryville’s finance director and had authority to process payroll payments to Cherryville employees, direct payments for city expenses, and issue checks on behalf of the city. According to court records and the filed plea agreement, Burgess embezzled and caused Alexander to embezzle approximately $11,048 of the city’s funds. Court records show that beginning in January 2007 through November 2008, Burgess instructed Alexander to issue approximately nine Cherryville city checks payable to The Great Outdoors Inc. for the purchase of firearms for Burgess’ personal use. According to the charging document, Burgess told Alexander that the checks and the expenditure of the city’s funds for personal use had been authorized as a “cash-out” for “compensatory time.” Court records indicate that Alexander issued the checks as requested by Burgess and placed entries in the city’s accounting records that the expenditures were for a certain amount of “sick time” or “comp time” due to “Woody.” According to court documents, Burgess was aware that he was not entitled to cash payments for sick or vacation leave or compensatory time. In addition, Burgess knew that no hours were deducted from his sick or vacation leave balances for the city’s purchase of guns for his personal use.

The bill of information contains a notice of forfeiture, which gives notice that the defendant must forfeit to the United States all property and currency involved in the offense charged in the charging document and all property and currency that are proceeds of such offense, including approximately $8,490 in cash and three firearms seized during the course of the investigation.

“Woody Burgess was sworn to uphold the law but instead thought he was above the law. While prosecuting a law enforcement officer is always difficult, my office will not allow the likes of Woody Burgess to dishonor the uniform proudly worn by all other Cherryville police officers who are dedicated to serving and protecting their community,” said U.S. Attorney Tompkins.

“It is both disappointing and disheartening to learn a senior law enforcement officer took advantage of his trusted position for his own profit. Public corruption is the number one criminal priority of the FBI, and we will continue to work aggressively to hold public officials of all levels accountable, especially those who erode the public’s trust in those who have sworn to protect and serve others,” said Special Agent in Charge John A. Strong, of the FBI in Charlotte.

“Our agents are dedicated to finding the truth and bringing criminals to justice, and this case is an excellent example of the work that they do,” said SBI Director Greg McLeod. “We’ll continue our efforts to solve crime, root out public corruption, and protect the people of North Carolina.”

Burgess has agreed to plead guilty to one count of program embezzlement, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Burgess’ initial appearance and plea hearing have been set for Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. According to the filed plea agreement, Burgess has also agreed to pay full restitution, the amount of which will be determined by the court at sentencing.

In January 2013, Alexander pleaded guilty to five counts of program embezzlement for stealing over $435,000 from the city of Cherryville. She faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count. A sentencing date for Alexander has not been set yet.

The investigation is handled by the FBI and SBI. The prosecution is handled by Michael Savage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

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.