Police cruiser in pursuit raced
through residential area at high speeds to cut off suspect before he got to
I-495, eyewitness says.
By Mary Ann Barton (Patch
Staff)Updated November 18, 2014 at 2:12
UPDATE 3:40 p.m. Editor’s note:
The Fairfax County Police Department sent an email to Patch clarifying
Saturday’s actions by Fairfax County Police in Kingstowne:
“In the interest of presenting
a bit more additional information, I stress that anytime an officer is involved
in an incident there is a full internal review and I am unable to comment as to
particular elements such as “at-fault” in this situation (or other ongoing
situations that our agency reviews), “ said Lucy Caldwell, FCPD spokeswoman.
“But, I can clarify for you and
your reader that this incident was a ROBBERY, not a shoplifting case,” she
said.
“Also, our officers did NOT
“tbone” this suspect; that is NOT how this accident took place.”
“Finally, police officers- ours
and all agencies in general- have an obligation to make apprehensions in these
cases for the greater good of society and to keep people from harming others in
future crimes, that could take place….”
When Fairfax County Police
responded Saturday afternoon to a call about a shoplifter at Walmart in
Kingstowne, did they ever respond.
One resident said Tuesday she
thought the police response was overkill for the crime, with an unmarked police
cruiser racing through a residential neighborhood at high speeds to cut the
suspect off before he could reach I-495.
The shoplifting incident — a
Maryland man reportedly took electronics from the store and displayed a knife —
took place on a Saturday afternoon, with many residents out and about in the
area.
Read: Alleged Shoplifter With
Knife at Kingstowne Walmart Leads Police on Chase
Once the call went out for help
from police a little before 3 p.m., police responded in force with about eight
cruisers eventually on the scene, according to the witness.
The resident says a police
cruiser going at high speeds, cut through a residential neighborhood on Crown
Royal Drive and Oakwood Road in Kingstowne to try to stop the suspect before he
reached the Beltway.
“I don’t think it was smart or
safe, to give chase in a residential area,” the resident said.
The unmarked police car raced through
the residential neighborhood and “T-boned” the SUV the suspect was driving,
smashing his car into the SUV at the intersection of S. Van Dorn Street and
Oakwood, near the entrance to I-495, according to the local resident who
watched the scene unfold in front of her eyes while she was stopped in traffic.
After slamming into the SUV to
stop the alleged shoplifter, the police car’s bumper went flying into the
intersection and the SUV spun and rolled over several times and landed upside
down, she said. “The police all had their guns drawn, standing out in the
road,” she said.
The resident said she estimated
that traffic was tied up for the next five hours.
Debris in the intersection,
which included possibly stolen merchandise including a flat-screen TV and boxes
from the SUV, was also not all cleared from the roadways, the resident said.
The eyewitness said that some of the trash was left on the scene.
