Fairfax County Police Watch: Cops claim right of way after cruiser and cyclist collide

IS there ANYONE who actually believed this cop would take the blame? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Video footage showing a police officer from the Mount Vernon District Station and a cyclist colliding at an intersection on Sunday, April 21, 2019, has divided opinion about who was at fault.

The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) claims the officer had right of way when turning right at the intersection of Fordson Road and Richmond Highway in the Hybla Valley area.

FCPD reported on Wednesday, April 24, that 55-year-old cyclist Thomas Crawley, of Alexandria, has been charged in connection with the incident for failing to pay full time and attention. FCPD also released dashcam footage from the police car.

Police said the officer was turning onto the Richmond Highway from the Fordson Road exit of Mount Vernon Plaza when the incident occurred. Crawley was travelling northbound along the pedestrian pathway and entered the intersection just as the police cruiser began turning onto the highway.

“[The cyclist] entered Fordson Road from the sidewalk without stopping and disregarded the pedestrian signal,” police said.

“Our investigation shows the officer had the right of way and determined it was safe to enter the intersection when the cyclist came off the sidewalk and hit the cruiser.”

A separate video from another car’s dashcam showed the officer immediately existing his vehicle after the incident and rendering aid, and the cyclist managed to get to his feet. An ambulance transported Crawley to a local hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Despite claiming right of way, FCPD has launched an administrative investigation into the incident in accordance with policy.

The question over who is at fault, or who struck whom, has been actively debated online since the video footage surfaced.

Fairfax County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) claimed on Twitter that the officer wasn’t paying attention.

“Today, an FCPD officer who wasn’t paying attention struck a cyclist in a crosswalk and they charged the cyclist with a crime,” stated @FairfaxNAACP in a series of tweets.

“To say the ‘cyclist came off the sidewalk and hit the cruiser’ requires a suspension of reality. When the front of your vehicle hits the side of another vehicle, that means you caused the crash.”

Some have pointed to the incident to highlight the need for more cyclist-friendly roadways.

“This is why we need improved bike infrastructure on U.S. 1 like YESTERDAY,” State Sen. Scott Surovell said on Twitter.

The incident over the weekend muddied the start of FCPD’s “Street Smart” campaign, which was launched only two days later on Tuesday, April 23. The campaign runs through May 13.

Fairfax County Chief of Police Colonel Edwin Roessler has said that “pedestrian fatalities are outpacing our murder rate.” Pedestrian and cyclist deaths account for over 33 percent of the County’s traffic fatalities.

According to statistics released by police, there were 16 pedestrian fatalities, 174 pedestrian crashes and 196 pedestrian injuries in Fairfax County in 2018. So far this year, there have been eight pedestrian fatalities, 43 pedestrian crashes and over 40 pedestrian injuries.

Below is our version of what happened

FABB takes issue with police description of crash involving cruiser

The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) has written a letter to Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler taking exception to both the chief’s and the department’s descriptions of a crash between a bicycle and police cruiser on April 21.

Bruce Wright, an FABB Board Member and head of their Law Enforcement Working Group, says in the letter that the FABB has “major concerns about the department’s response to the crash,” which happened around 10:20 a.m. on Easter Sunday in the 7700 block of Richmond Highway.

The collision was captured on a dashboard camera in a car driving south on Route 1, as well as the police cruiser’s in-car camera. The video shows the police cruiser stopped while waiting to make a right turn on red out of the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center the intersection of Fordson Road. The cruiser begins pulling forward to make the turn and then strikes the 55-year-old cyclist after he had entered the intersection riding north.

Wright says Roessler was incorrect to say the cyclist was going the wrong way, noting that the cyclist was on a mixed-use path intended for pedestrians and bicyclists, rather than the roadway. The letter also takes issue with the FCPD’s official statement on the crash, which says the bicyclist hit the cruiser, and not vice versa.

Alexandria resident Thomas Crawley suffered minor injuries in the collision. He was later cited for failure to pay full time and attention.

“It is simply impossible for the cyclist to have hit the cruiser if [dashcam] video footage is to be believed,” the letter says. “We also have concerns about the Chief’s quote, which is contradicted by the Department’s official version and creates the perception that the cyclist was riding extremely recklessly.”

The collision was not reported by the police until three days after the incident, following the publication of the video on social media and Covering The Corridor.

Wright says the FABB wants further clarification for why the cyclist was cited, and requested a meeting the the FCPD to discuss the issue further.

“We would like you to clarify your comments and correct the police statement,” Wright says in the letter. “If other officers read your comments and act accordingly, cyclists will continue to be blamed for legal behavior such as riding against traffic on a trail or sidewalk and riding in a crosswalk.”

The full letter, which was shared with Covering The Corridor and other media outlets, can be read below:

Dear Chief Roessler,

I am writing on behalf of Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) regarding FCPD’s response to the crash that occurred on Richmond Highway at Fordson Road on Sunday April 21. In an April 24 article in the Washington Post you are quoted about the cyclist injured by one of your officers in the crash: “… He’s going the wrong way. He’s going against traffic. He’s going against the red pedestrian signal. Once that bicycle enters the roadway, they’re subject to all the vehicular laws.”

The Fairfax County Police’s official statement about the incident states that the cyclist was riding on the sidewalk, a mixed use path along that section of Route 1 and not in the roadway. Further, that statement says “Our investigation shows the officer had the right of way and determined it was safe to enter the intersection when the cyclist came off the sidewalk and hit the cruiser.”

We have major concerns about the department’s response to the crash with the cyclist — which both the police dashcam footage, and bystander video footage show to be untrue. It is simply impossible for the cyclist to have hit the cruiser if either video footage is to be believed. We also have concerns about the Chief’s quote, which is contradicted by the Department’s official version and creates the perception that the cyclist was riding extremely recklessly.

1. The cyclist was riding on a paved trail parallel to the road where it is perfectly legal to ride in the opposite direction of traffic.

2. A cyclist entering the roadway, in a crosswalk, is considered a pedestrian and vehicular laws do not apply. According to VA code 46.2-904, “A person riding a bicycle, … on a sidewalk or shared-use path or across a roadway on a crosswalk shall have all the rights and duties of a pedestrian under the same circumstances.”

3. The cyclist did not hit the cruiser, the officer driving the cruiser hit the cyclist.

The cyclist should not have entered the crosswalk if there was a working pedestrian signal and the DON’T WALK signal was indicated. However, FABB is concerned that your statements and the official police statement implied wrongdoing on the part of the cyclist when that was not the case (riding against traffic on a trail, riding in a crosswalk, and hitting the cruiser).

We have heard similar comments from police in the past about riding on the sidewalk or in a crosswalk. In fact, such comments prompted FABB to seek a meeting with Chairman Sharon Bulova and Deputy County Executive Roher to discuss Department understanding of the law as it applies to bicyclists. A result of the meeting was the production of a police training video by Officer Allie Eggers entitled “Bicycle Focused Laws.”

We would like you to clarify your comments and correct the police statement. If other officers read your comments and act accordingly, cyclists will continue to be blamed for legal behavior such as riding against traffic on a trail or sidewalk and riding in a crosswalk. In addition, the comments feed into the community viewpoint that all bicyclists are scofflaws and will flaunt the law.

We are also concerned the cyclist was cited using Fairfax County code “82-4-24. Operator to give full time and attention to driving.” According to that law, “No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of this County without giving his full time and attention to the operation of the vehicle.” The code specifically states “…motor vehicle upon the highways…” According to VA code 46.2-100, “a bicycle shall be a vehicle while operated on the highway,” not a “motor vehicle,” and the cyclist was not on the highway, he was in a crosswalk. We would like further clarification regarding this citation.

There was no mention of the responsibilities of the motorist, the officer who struck the cyclist. Had the officer looked right he would have seen the cyclist approaching. It was the officer’s responsibility to cautiously enter the intersection and to look right before turning, advice given as part of the Street Smart campaign event held two days after the crash.

We would like to meet with you to discuss these issues and to see if we can collaborate on improving communication between FCPD and the bicycle and pedestrian community. Please contact bruce@fabb-bikes.org to schedule the meeting.

Sincerely,

Bruce Wright on behalf of the Law Enforcement Working Group, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB)

CC: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
Covering The Corridor
The Washington Post

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.