Fairfax County Police Watch: Trial beginning for second former Bay City police officer charged with misdemeanors in 2013 bar incident

Danielle McGrew

BAY CITY, MI — The second former Bay City police officer accused of committing criminal acts in his interaction with a civilian is going before a jury this week.

Jury selection began around 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, in the trial of Donald T. Aldrich, 42. He is charged with single counts of larceny between $200 and $1,000, a one-year misdemeanor, and drunk or disorderly conduct, a 90-day misdemeanor.

Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer is presiding.

The charges stem from conduct Aldrich allegedly committed while off-duty at Steamer's Pub, 108 N. Linn St., the night of May 1, 2013, and into the next morning.

Aldrich was at the bar celebrating his birthday, which is May 2.

The incident involved civilian Joshua Elzinga using his smartphone to take a photo of an improperly parked police Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by Officer Brian K. Ritchey. Elzinga, a patron at Steamer's, uploaded the photo to Facebook with a mocking caption, which Aldrich's wife, Carrie Aldrich, informed Ritchey about.

Elzinga testified in the August trial of fellow former officer Keath B. Bartynski that Ritchey confronted him about the photo at Steamer's for a few minutes then left. Right after, a drunken Aldrich approached Elzinga and began threatening him and challenging him to a brawl, Elzinga testified.

Elzinga began recording Aldrich's lambasting on his smart phone, he testified. A short time later, Ritchey and Bartynski arrived at the bar. The latter forcibly removed Elzinga from the bar, took his phone, set it aside, handcuffed him, and placed him in the back of a patrol vehicle, he testified.

Aldrich also stepped outside of the bar, witnesses — including Bartynski — testified.

After officers released Elzinga, they did not return his phone to him, he said. Bay City later reimbursed Elzinga for the cost of his phone.

Prosecutors maintain Aldrich stole Elzinga's phone.

Bartynski, Ritchey, and Aldrich all resigned from the force in June 2013 after being made aware that an internal investigation sustained 13 allegations of misconduct against them. They were told they'd be fired if they didn't resign, Bay City Human Resources Director Greg Taliscka previously said.

Ritchey was not charged with a criminal offense.

The six-person jury in Bartynski's trial found him guilty of assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Janer is to sentence Bartynski, who is free on bond, at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Aldrich is represented by Bay City attorney Kevin J. Rieman. A special prosecutor from the Midland County Prosecutor's Office is trying the case on behalf of the people.

Follow along in the comments section below for live coverage.

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.