Fairfax County Police Watch: Iteam: 3 deputies suspended & police officer faces charges after crash

NEW ROADS, LA (WAFB) –

Three deputies have been suspended without pay in connection with a crash involving an off-duty police captain: Capt. Adrian Slaughter, Lt. Pat Bizette & Sgt. Dylan Bergeron.

The 9News I-team has learned a state police trooper was also at the crash site involving New Roads Police Capt. Mark Munson, an 18-year veteran of the force.

Investigators say after Capt. Munson crashed his personal truck, a deputy wrote in his report, "I noticed a 200 ml bottle of Seagram's Gin in the center console. The bottle was about 3/4 the way empty. After talking to Capt. Munson, I could smell a slight odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath."

So why then was the captain not tested for possible drunk driving?

The crash happened on North Carolina Avenue in New Roads Friday night. Because it involved a New Roads police officer, an outside agency was called to investigate, the Pointe Coupee Sheriff's Office. Tuesday, the I-team learned, a state trooper also responded to the scene.

Even though the responding sheriff's deputy suspected alcohol could be a factor, Capt. Munson was never given a breathalyzer. The Pointe Coupee deputy said he did not perform a breathalyzer or field sobriety test because he is not certified to do so.

The deputy wrote "Because I am not DWI certified or field sobriety certified and no one on my shift is certified in either category I was unable to perform an alcohol test on Capt. Munson."

"Our job primarily is criminal. We do some traffic but in recent years, the Carter Academy, where our deputies go to school and go to, they do not certify them in intoxilyzers," responded Pointe Coupee Sheriff Bud Torres. "We usually have a couple of guys on the shift that are certified in this and we also have the state police right there so it's never been an issue in the past that if we needed a test run to have one done."

"So why was someone not called in this case?" asked WAFB's Kiran Chawla.

"I don't know," said Torres.

Tuesday, State Police confirmed to the I-team, a state trooper, who is certified in breathalyzers and field sobriety tests, did respond to the crash, but sources tell the I-team, a higher-up at the sheriff's office told the responding deputy to waive off the state trooper and that the sheriff's office would handle the scene. So the trooper left and went back to patrolling.

So why was the captain not given a test? A call into Sheriff Torres Tuesday was not returned, but he did respond Monday.

"We are not going to give people preferential treatment. We are going to do our job, and when someone crosses the line to the point where it's just out of control behavior, we have to do our job," said Torres.

"There are people out there saying it's the buddy system, that's why he walked away without any charges. Your response to that?" asked Chawla.

"No, we do not operate on a buddy system," said New Roads Police Chief Kevin McDonald.

Because of the questions raised in this case, the Louisiana State Police is investigating the matter. In the meantime, Capt. Munson remains on leave.

The Pointe Coupee Sheriff's Office is investigating why a high-ranking member of the New Roads Police Department was not given a breathalyzer exam following a vehicle crash he was allegedly involved inMore >>

An internal investigation is underway into a case involving a high-ranking member of the New Roads Police Department.More >>

Officials announced the three deputies with the Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff's Office are suspended for multiple days, but an exact number of days was not given.

Capt. Mark Munson of the New Roads Police Department has been charged with failure to maintain control and open container. He is suspended indefinitely without pay. It comes after an 9News investigation into Munson's wreck two weekends ago in New Roads on North Carolina Ave where witnesses said Munson had been drinking and driving, yet no breathalyzer was given and Munson faced no charges.

Even though the wreck was within New Roads city limits, the Pointe Coupee Sheriff's Office was called in to assist because it involved a New Roads officer. But the responding deputy, Sgt. Dylan Bergeron, said in a police report that he was not certified in giving breathalyzers or field sobriety tests. Sources told the Iteam a State Police trooper was also called in by the New Roads Police Dept but Capt. Adrian Slaughter with PCPSO told Sgt. Bergeron to waive off the state trooper and that PCPSO would handle the case.

Pointe Coupee Sheriff Bud Torres said the reason all three were suspended is because all were at one point or another involved in the decision-making process. "As police officers, we have a burden or an expectation of doing the right thing and when we're involved in something that we shouldn't be involved in, that we get treated the same as everybody else," said Torres.

Even though sources tell the Iteam Sgt. Bergeron was told by Capt. Slaughter what to do, Torres said he too was suspended because, "All police officers have an oath of office and they have to do their duty whenever a crime is committed to do the best they can to do their job and because this individual was a supervisor, he's held to a higher standard than a regular deputy."

Munson was not given a breathalyzer even though Sgt. Bergeron wrote in his report, "I noticed a 200 ml bottle of Seagram's Gin in the center console. The bottle was about 3/4 the way empty. After talking to Capt. Munson, I could smell a slight odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath."

New Roads Mayor Robert Myer held a news conference shortly after saying this would not be tolerated.

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.