Fairfax County Police Watch: Probe into alleged police brutality video continues

By Kyle Stucker

SEABROOK — The criminal investigation is progressing against three Seabrook police officers accused of excessive force and brutality, although prosecutors say its too soon to tell if there will be formal charges or when additional court proceedings will be scheduled.

New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young said the case "does continue to be worked on actively" and that investigators have conducted interviews "weekly, if not a couple times a week" since alleged police brutality victim Michael Bergeron Jr. appeared in court in January in connection to a separate criminal matter.

"We certainly have been investigating this case for a number of weeks, but to predict when it will be done at this point, that's not something I can do," said Young, whose office is jointly investigating the incident with the FBI and the United States Attorney General's Office.

Bergeron, 23, of Seabrook, accused three Seabrook Police Department officers of brutality after he posted surveillance video of a 2009 driving while intoxicated arrest on YouTube. Bergeron has claimed that he has lasting injuries due to the alleged brutality.

The video — which is dated Nov. 11, 2009, but wasn't posted online until Jan. 6 of this year — shows an officer slamming a handcuffed Bergeron into the wall of the police station's cell block before another officer laughs while pepper spraying the then-19 year old while he's on the ground.

Officers Keith Dietenhofer, Adam Laurent and Mark Richardson were placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation into their conduct. Scott Gleason, Bergeron's attorney, has stated that his client is seeking "justice" for actions that were "barbaric" and "beyond despicable."

Gleason couldn't be reached for additional comment this week.

Young said no public motions or other court documents have been filed since Bergeron's arrest report was made public in early January. She said she couldn't confirm whether any filings have been made under seal.

Bergeron has been arrested more than 10 times on the Seacoast since 2007, according to court documents. The charges range over the years from tobacco possession to receiving stolen property, disorderly conduct, second-degree assault and burglary.

He appeared in Seabrook District Court on Jan. 15 in connection to a Class A misdemeanor count of simple assault, and he is scheduled for trial in that matter on April 23. Bergeron is also scheduled for a final pretrial hearing in Rockingham Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. on April 3 in connection to burglary charges.

Bergeron was also indicted in February on a Class B felony count of burglary for allegedly breaking into a Hampton home with an accomplice in August. No court appearances or trials have yet been scheduled in connection to that indictment, according to court staff.

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.