Fairfax County Police Watch: This weeks list of drunk and drugged up cops

Beaumont police officer charged with felony DWI

Richard Rovera, a Beaumont police officer is charged with driving while intoxicated, and 12News has learned that he has been suspended with pay pending an investigation. DPS Sergeant Chuck Havard says Rovera is charged with felony DWI because he had three children with him at the time, all under the age of 15. Sergeant Havard says Rovera, 38, failed a field sobriety test.

Police officer arrested on DUI charge with two children, 7 and 10, in the car

Off-duty Baltimore cop Shawn Bryon Johnson, 40, of West York, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence along the 1400 block of Detwiler Drive in Manchester Township on May 24. Johnson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.276 percent, court documents indicate. The legal limit is 0.08 percent. Johnson explained to police at the scene that he had just come from his ex-wife’s house and had his two children, ages 7 and 10, with him when he crashed. The children were in the back seat of the vehicle and were not injured, police said.

Police officer charged with drugs, child endangerment is 5th Macon officer arrested this year

MACON, Georgia — Kontrina Lanette Toomer, a Macon police officer has been placed on administrative leave following her arrest on drug and child endangerment charges.Kontrina Lanette Toomer is the fifth Macon police officer to be arrested in 2013. Police Chief Mike Carswell issued a statement Friday saying his department has "no tolerance for even a single arrest." Police say Toomer was arrested Thursday after a raid at her home turned up more than 11 ounces of marijuana packaged for sale. Police say children were found in the house at the time of the raid.Toomer is charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and child endangerment. Internal affairs officers took her gun and badge. It was not known Saturday if Toomer had an attorney.

Glo. Twp. Cop Sentenced to Year on Probation

Thomas Eden Jr., arrested last spring while illegally purchasing prescription pills, must also complete drug counseling and forfeit A Gloucester Township police officer accused last April of illegally buying prescription drugs while on duty was sentenced on Thursday to one year on probation and forfeiture of his ability to hold public office in New Jersey. Thomas E. Eden Jr., 31, must also complete drug counseling as part of the sentence, according to Camden County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Jason Laughlin.

Washington Park police officer charged with bringing narcotics to female jail inmate

WASHINGTON PARK, Illinois — A Washington Park cop named Douglas Young has been accused of smuggling narcotics to a female jail inmate. Young was arrested Thursday morning in his police uniform at the Washington Park Police Department. He has been charged with official misconduct for bringing narcotics and prescription drugs to an inmate of the St. Clair County Jail.

Beaumont police officer charged with felony DWI

Mayor Renner: Public needs to know about police misconduct

BLOOMINGTON — The public can expect to know more about incidents of alleged misconduct by Bloomington police in the future, Mayor Tari Renner said Tuesday after the release of documents related to the Oct. 3 traffic accident involving Assistant Chief Bob Wall.

Renner supported disclosure of documents initially withheld from the public after an opinion by City Attorney Todd Greenburg that the materials were exempt from the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Citizens should know about the details of discipline imposed on officers — even if a formal investigation is not launched, said the mayor.

Previously, former Police Chief Randy McKinley said his review of Wall’s conduct that led to a five-day suspension was informal.

The probe into the crash included an interview with a bartender who served drinks to Wall at Reality Bites and five interviews conducted by Normal police Lt. Paul Smith.

All the witnesses put Wall at the downtown bar about 6 p.m. — two hours before Wall struck a utility pole on the city’s east side. One of the patrons, State Rep. Dan Brady, told Smith he saw Wall talking with several local bar owners, but he did not go there with the police official.

Brady said Tuesday the conflicting accounts represent “some minor confusion” by police. The matter was “thoroughly reviewed — they left no stone unturned — and adjudicated by the courts,” said Brady.

Brady suggested to Smith “the city should probably reimburse Bob for the drinks he bought” guests while listening to bar owners’ concerns about downtown because he was on his own time.

The sanction imposed by McKinley on Wall was significantly lighter than past punishment handed to some lower-ranking officers.

For example, a drunk driving citation that was later dismissed against patrol officer William McGonigle in 2009 netted an immediate paid leave and a 30-day suspension. Detailed disciplinary reports indicate the officer was read portions of the BPD code of ethics and admitted his conduct violated those standards.

Wall remained on the job during the review of his conduct.

The more than 50 pages of documents on Wall’s case contain no reference to him being asked similar questions about ethics. McKinley’s disciplinary report notes Wall should be held to a higher standard than other drivers and his actions created a traffic hazard.

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.