Fairfax County Police Watch: Tulare's top cop busted on domestic violence allegations

Juan Villa and Luis Hernandez

Tulare Police Chief Jerry Breckinridge was arrested Sunday at his home on suspicion of domestic violence, the City of Tulare reported Monday.

The arrest, which was made by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, is a result of a report filed by his girlfriend after a dispute Saturday night. According to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the department was contacted by the California Highway Patrol, the agency that initially received the complaint.

Breckinridge was released on $50,000 bail. The woman’s name was not released.

On Monday, Tulare City Manager Don Dorman, asked the sheriff’s department to conduct the investigation into the allegations against Breckinridge.

“An arrest is nothing more than an accusation. We’re waiting to see what follows the accusation,” said Dorman, who is also Breckinridge’s supervisor. “… because it’s an accusation there’s really no meaning at this point to the City of Tulare other than it’s something we need to watch and see where it goes. If the case is filed by the sheriff’s department, the district attorney will review it and at that point decisions will be made.”

The Tulare County Supervising District Attorney Anthony Fultz said his office received the case on Monday afternoon, but no charges have been filed. The DA’s office will review the report and make a decision on whether to file charges.

The police chief will continue his regular assigned duties for the City of Tulare, though he did not go to work Monday.

“[Breckinridge] had a late night and took [Monday] off,” Dorman said.

In 2009, Breckinridge took the reins of the police department from Roger Hill, who led the department for 28 years. Breckingridge is a veteran law enforcement officer. He started with the department in 1989, getting hired as a patrol officer.

The City of Tulare didn’t consider putting Breckinridge on leave, Dorman said.

“No, because at this point he’s presumed innocent. Anyone can make any kind of accusation against any of us, so until something more than an accusation comes, there’s nothing for the city to do,” he said. “We have not heard from the sheriff’s department that it was anything that we needed to take action on.” On Monday, Tulare Police Sgt. Darron Altermatt referred questions about the arrest to city administrators. He provided no additional information.

The sheriff’s department also deferred additional question to the Tulare city officials.

City council member Skip Barwick said he has complete confidence in Dorman’s decision.

It was Breckinridge who informed Dorman of the arrest.

“He kept me informed to what was going on,” Dorman said. “It was very professional. He wanted to make sure the department was taken care of. As his supervisor, he was letting his supervisor know that things were going on that we might hear about in the press.”

The city hasn’t spoken to the sheriff’s department and doesn’t have the facts to know exactly what happened, Dorman said.

Barwick is also supporting Brekinridge until the full story is released and added that the city isn’t taking the accusations lightly, but there’s always two sides to a story.

“I’ve known Jerry for a long time and he’s a good individual and has been an exceptional police chief. I’m kind of waiting to see what happens during the investigation period,” Barwick said. “I have complete confidence in Sheriff (Mike) Boudreaux and I know his department will leave no stone unturned. Hopefully shortly we’ll get answers on the case. It’s serious.”

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.