Fairfax County Police Watch: Fairfax County Police Department disputes claims

Fairfax County Police Department disputes claims that woman was "body slammed"

(below is our version of what actually happened)

TYSONS, Va. - The Fairfax County Police Department is disputing social media claims that a woman was body slammed during an arrest last week.

Police released this surveillance video of the moment a 19-year-old woman was arrested for disorderly conduct after her friend was caught shoplifting at Spencer's in Tysons Corner Center. On Thursday, a Facebook post went viral claiming that the woman was slammed face first into the ground. Fairfax County's police chief says the video on social media only shows part of what actually happened.

"The officer used a guided escort with her own weight to take her gently down to the floor so the struggle would stop and it would prevent harm to herself and other and police officers. That was not body slamming at all and that allegation is absolutely false and that's why I released the video," Chief Edwin C. Roessler with the Fairfax County Police Department said.

Chief Roessler has directed the internal affairs bureau to review this matter and has requested an independent investigation by the police auditor.

Fairfax Co. police dispute social media claims woman was slammed to ground during arrest

After three people were arrested at Tysons Corner Center last Thursday, Fairfax County police released surveillance footage from inside the Virginia store to dispute a social media post that claims one of the arrested people was slammed to the ground.

Police said it all happened on Thursday, April 25 when 22-year-old Molly Helmer of Annandale was caught shoplifting at the Spencer’s store. An officer responded and issued her a summons for a future court date.

Police say Helmer was leaving with a group of friends when 19-year-old Lia Chen of Annadale threw her water bottle and dumped her drink all over the floor as police stood by in plain clothes.

Steve Bun, 27, of Fairfax, Virginia, was one of the three people arrested for disorderly conduct that day. According to his Facebook post, he witnessed Chen’s arrest and began to record from outside the store.

Chen was approached by an officer and she began screaming and acting disorderly before being taken back to the store, police said in a Tuesday news release. Chen attempted to break free.

Police said they tried to gain control of her and keep her from hurting herself or others and “she was taken to the ground by the arresting officer and finally handcuffed.”

Bun’s Facebook post claims police were “manhandling” Chen before “slamming her face first into the ground.”

Chen was issued a summons for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice and was banned from Tysons Corner Center for a year.

Police said Bun approached officers aggressively, cursing at them and interfering with the police investigation, resulting in his arrest for disorderly conduct.

Bun’s Facebook post claims he was rammed into a brick wall outside of the store, breaking his Apple Watch and injuring his hand.

Bun was taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and was released on a $2,000 bond.

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.