Police brutality charges brought by the father of a 16-year-old Fairfax County youth who witnesses said was beaten while being arrested

The Washington Post


March 30, 1978, Thursday, Final Edition


Va. Policeman Is Cleared of Beating Youth;


Brutality Charges Dropped Against Policeman in Fairfax


BYLINE: By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: Metro; C1


LENGTH: 676 words


Police brutality charges brought by the father of a 16-year-old Fairfax County youth who witnesses said was beaten while being arrested at a Franconia roller rink in January were dismissed yesterday by Fairfax County Police Chief Col. Richard A. King.


King said he accepted the decision of a police trial board, which found that Officer Keith M. Florence did not use "excessive physical force" in the Jan. 6 arrest of Howard L. Cadle of 6707 Wakefield Dr. at the Franconia Roller Rink.


Florence is one of three county policemen from the Franconia district station who arrested Cadle on a Juvenile Court warrant for violating probation. Witnesses to the arrest, which took place in the back room of the rink, said they saw policeman hit Cadle, who was wearing roller skates, repeatedly on the head and shoulders with their billy clubs.


King said yesterday that "in the process of arresting Cadle, the officers resorted to force, which required that Cadle be given medical treatment." The youth was treated at Mount Vernon Hospital after the arrest for scalp cuts and multiple bruises on the shoulders and back.


Brutality charges against the other two arresting officers, Robert T. Hubbard and James F. Kelly Jr., were dismissed without a trial board hearing because of insufficient evidence, King said.


King did not release a police version of why Calde was injured during the arrest, and he refused comment on how the decision was made to drop charges against the officers. King said all findings of the police department's internal affairs section are not public information. He asked that the public "have a little faith" in the integrity of his police force.


Lacy Cadle, the father who filed the brutality charges, said yesterday he was "totally surprised" at the police findings. He said he was planning further action in the matter that will be "independent of what the police do." Cadle's attorney, Thomas H. Dameron, called yesterday's decision "extremely unfortunate."


In his announcement yesterday, King said he was breaking a precedent for the county police by publicizing internal affairs action. He said the announcement was made to "assure the public that we do an in-depth investigation."


Three of the five other major police departments in the Washington area make public the findings of police trial boards, which usually are three or four persons panels made up of police officers or citizens. Arlington, Prince George's County and the District of Columbia release trial board findings, police spokesmen said yesterday.


In Alexandria, trial board information is not released, and in Montgomery County releas is up to the chief of police.


King said yesterday he opposes the release of all trial board findings because of his feeling that internal affairs information "in general" should be kept secret.


King was asked about other recent allegations of police brutality stemming from a melee at a Rte. 1 night club on March 18. Several patrons of the One South Restaurant Night Club have filed brutality complaints, claiming that police went on a rampage in the club, striking and arresting patrons who were doing nothing illegal. King said he could not comment on the matter because it was under investigation.


"It is a sign of the times," King said, that complaints about brutality are made "that may or may not have foundation." He said also the police department screens its employes carefully, "We don't have any sadist on the department," he said.


The trial board that found Florence did not use excessive force arresting Cadle was made up of a police captain, two lieutenants and two officers of Florence's own rank.


Because of a new law passed this year by the Virginia legislature, the so-called "policeman's bill of rights," the make up of trial boards after July 1 will be changed. The police department will choose one member, the defendant will choose another and the third member will be chosen by the first two.


The law applies to all police departments in the state with 10 or more members.

Case Dropped Against Family Involved in Clash With Police

The Washington Post



October 14, 1979, Sunday, Final Edition


Case Dropped Against Family Involved in Clash With Police


BYLINE: By Ronald D. White, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: Metro; B3


LENGTH: 292 words


A Fairfax County judge has dismissed all charges against members of a Groveton family involved in an August scuffle with police and criticized two police officers in the process. General District Court Judge Martin E. Morris threw out all the charges because he said he could not find "one scintilla of evidence" to support the initial drunk driving charge that prompted the incident.


With that, Morris dropped a series of charges against Timothy Rickman, 20, of 3408 Memorial Dr. and members of Rickman's family. The family has contended that the two officers who arrested Rickman attacked them without provocation in their own front yard.


"I feel great," Rickman's father, Donald Rickman, 52, said in an interview yesterday. Everything worked out for the best. It [the court decision] took a helluva load off all of us. Our family sticks together."


Judge Morris action, taken in a Friday court session, will not end the case. Fairfax County police spokesman Warren R. Carmichael said yesterday that the department's internal affairs section is continuing an investigation into the incident and that its report will take at least another week to complete.


"It was [Police Chief Richard A.] King's feeling that our investigation can't be considered complete until the court case was completed," Caramichael said.


In addition to the drunken driving court, the judge also ordered assault and obstructing justice charges dropped against Donald Rickman, his wife, Arline, a stepson, Daniel Manchini and Timothy Rickman.


The arresting officers, patrolmen James Cavender and Jerry L. Bowers, contended that the family had attacked that the family had attacked them after they had attempted to arrest Timothy Rickman.

A jury found yesterday that a Fairfax County police lieutenant retaliated against a female civilian employee

The Washington Post



February 25, 1995, Saturday, Final Edition


Jury Declines Award For Officer Who Wins Suit


SECTION: Metro; B02, AROUND THE REGION, ME


LENGTH: 252 words


A jury found yesterday that a Fairfax County police lieutenant retaliated against a female civilian employee who had complained about sexual harassment at work, but declined to award the woman any money.


Andrea Moss, 34, a communication aide assigned to the department's Franconia station, said she felt vindicated by the ruling in her lawsuit against the county and Lt. Larry Jackson.


The verdict came after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.


Moss claimed that Jackson had harassed her because she would not strike up a personal relationship with him. Among other things, she testified that he made up a list of phony disciplinary charges against her in February 1993 after learning she had filed an internal complaint against him.


Jackson denied the allegations. Before the case went to the jury, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema dismissed a claim of sexual harassment, saying evidence was lacking. The judge also dismissed the county and Police Chief Michael W. Young as defendants, leaving only Jackson's fate to the jury.


The lawsuit initially sought $ 1 million in damages on behalf of Moss and three female police officers who also alleged that Jackson harassed them. The charges made by the other women, who alleged abuses dating to 1982, were dropped from the case after Brinkema ruled their complaints were not timely filed.


Jurors found that Jackson retaliated after Moss filed her internal complaint and said that by doing so, he violated her right to free speech.

A federal grand jury has begun an investigation into allegations that three Fairfax County policemen needlessly beat a 16-year-old youth

The Washington Post



June 3, 1978, Saturday, Final Edition


Police Brutality Charge Probed by Grand Jury;


Grand Jury Probes Charge of Fairfax Police Brutality;


Fairfax Officers to Testify


BYLINE: By Jane Seaberry, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: Metro; C1


LENGTH: 718 words


A federal grand jury has begun an investigation into allegations that three Fairfax County policemen needlessly beat a 16-year-old youth they were arresting and that a county police trial board may have attempted to cover up the incident.


The officers - one of whom was earlier exonerated by a county police trial board composed entirely of police officer - have agreed to appear voluntarily before the grand jury, county officials yesterday told a federal judge in Alexandria.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank W. Dunham said the grand jury "will not only focus on the conduct of these three officers, but the conduct of the officers who reviewed" the incident. The jury is attempting to determine "if the police trial board acted properly or swept it (the incident) under the rug," Dunham said.


Disclosure of the grand jury investigation came yesterday morning as lawyers for the county attempted to quash a subpeona for a transcript of a statement that one of the officers made to the trial board. The officer, Keith M. Florence, made the statement under a grant of immunity from state prosecution and under a threat of losing his job, Jack Gould, assistant Fairfax County attorney, told U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr.


Dunham said he did not know what Florence said in the statement and that was why the government was attempting to obtain it by a subpoena. The trial board's proceedings are closed and Fairfax police have refused to release details of their internal investigation into the incident.


Bryan refused the county's request, but set limits on the use of the statement in the investigation. Dunham had said that the statement would be used only to check on the officers' testimony before the grand jury and would not be used at any trial, if the officers are indicted.


The incident, which Gould said marks the first time federal authorities have investigated the county police for their conduct, grows out of the Jan. 6 arrest of Howard L. Cadle at roller skating rink in the Franconia section of the county.


Witnesses to the arrest have said they saw policemen hit Cadle repeatedly on the head and shoulders with their billy clubs. Lacy Cadle. The youth's father, filed brutality charges against the three officers, but on March. 29, Fairfax County Chief Col. Richard A. King dismissed the charges.


King said he accepted the decision of the trial board that found that Florence did not use "excessive physical force" in arresting Cadle. Brutality charges against the other two officers. Robert T. Hubbard and James F. Kelly Jr., were dismissed without a trial board hearing because of what King said was insufficient evidence.


All three officers are currently on duty on the Fairfax County force.


The grand jury probe is itself an outgrowth of an FBI investigation of the arrest, a Justice Department source said. It could not be learned yesterday who initially requested the investigation.


A Justice Department official said that the department receives between 12,000 and 15,000 complaints a year against police officers, but that only about 80 of the complaints are taken before a grand jury. About 60 of the cases result in indictments, the official said.


The official said the federal investigation is being conducted under the 1968 Civil Rights Act which makes officers who violated the civil rights of an individual subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and a year in jail.


"We're no different from any other police department in the country," said Fairfax Chief King yesterday. The grand jury investigation "of itself is not a conviction or a trial," he said.


Since King dismissed the brutality charges, Cadle's father has filed a $20,000 damage suit against the officers in federal District Court.


In their answer to the suit, the officers denied Cadle's version of the incident. They said in court papers, however, that "any injury or damage suffered by" Cadle was caused by his "wrongful acts and conduct and the willful resistance to a peace officer" in the discharge of his duties.


The force used by the officers "if any . . . was reasonable and necessary under the circumstances" and was caused by Cadle's assault and battery on the officers, according to the court papers. Their actions were lawful and in self-defense, the officers said.

Fatal Shooting Was Accidental,Police Say;

The Washington Post

November 18, 1987, Wednesday, Final Edition

Fatal Shooting Was Accidental,Police Say;

Fairfax Officer Reportedly Startled

BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION: METRO; PAGE C2

LENGTH: 479 words

The fatal shooting of a drug suspect by an undercover police officer on Monday was an accident that occurred after the suspect startled the officer, Fairfax County police said yesterday. The police department's findings that "an unintentional reflex" caused the officer's gun to discharge will be forwarded to the county's chief prosecutor, who will decide whether the shooting was a criminal violation.Police said the officer, Investigator Irene M. Boyle, will remain on administrative leave pending the prosecutor's review.

"This was strictly an accident," Col. John E. Granfield, chief of police, said yesterday. "She fired it but without any intention of having it fired." Police, who could not identify the man on Monday, said yesterday that the victim was 27-year-old Jose Carlos Rodriguez of no fixed address. They said the difficulty in identifying Rodriguez stemmed from his prior use of seven aliases and six birthdates.Police said investigators had negotiated to purchase two ounces of cocaine from Rodriguez for $ 2,700 and planned to meet him late Sunday in the parking lot behind a dry cleaners in Baileys Crossroads.Rodriguez drove to a dark section of the parking lot in his rented pickup truck, and an investigator agreed to purchase one ounce of cocaine, all that Rodriguez had with him, police said.The investigator then alerted other officers in marked and unmarked cruisers, police said. They said Boyle, an 11 1/2-year veteran of the department, walked to the truck with her weapon drawn to provide coverage for another officer.At first, Boyle did not see Rodriguez, but as she came within a foot of the truck his face suddenly appeared at the window of the cab. "He kind of came up like a jack in the box," said Granfield. "It startled her, and she shot the gun."Police said one bullet struck Rodriguez in the head, and he was taken to Alexandria Hospital, where he died a short time later. No weapon was recovered from Rodriguez's vehicle, they said.Had the transaction not gone awry, police said they would have charged Rodriguez with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a felony.Granfield said yesterday that the actions by Boyle, 33, were in accordance with police procedures.That Boyle had her service revolver "out and drawn" was proper procedure, Granfield said. He noted that in virtually every undercover drug arrest made by county police, the suspects are heavily armed.Generally police department policy states that deadly force shall not be employed except as a last resort, but Granfield said Boyle had no intention of shooting the weapon.Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said yesterday that he will review the autopsy results and the findings of the police department's investigation, which was conducted jointly by the homicide department and the internal affairs section.

The case was the second involving the police tactical unit to draw a judicial rebuke in the spring of 2000

The Washington Post


March 25, 2003 Tuesday


Final Edition


Man Guilty in Confrontation With Police;


Fairfax Judge Called Officers' Entry Illegal in 2000 Incident, Then Reversed Himself


BYLINE: Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B07


LENGTH: 797 words


A man whose shooting by Fairfax County police three years ago sparked sharp criticism from a judge was convicted yesterday of assaulting a police officer. The jury recommended a three-year sentence for Keith B. Davis, now 63.


The case was the second involving the police tactical unit to draw a judicial rebuke in the spring of 2000. The Virginia Court of Appeals earlier strongly scolded tactical officers who illegally entered an apartment during a 1997 drug investigation; prosecutors then dropped the case.


Davis's case began one night in January 2000 when he shot at black-clad tactical officers as they piled into his townhouse, and was shot in the face in return. Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Stanley P. Klein promised in a pretrial ruling in 2000 that he would instruct the jury that the police entry had been illegal, but he reversed himself last week after hearing all the evidence, including Davis's testimony.


Klein did instruct jurors that they could acquit Davis if they found that he had acted in self-defense. After deliberating for two days last week and two hours yesterday, they voted to convict.


In January 2000, Davis was in the 12th month of a hunger strike to protest the 1978 suspension of his law license in Minnesota. He moved to the Washington area in 1985.


Davis posted regular updates on his protest and hunger strike on the Internet and began e-mailing and faxing Fairfax police and the FBI, warning them not to intervene. On Jan. 24, 2000, he e-mailed his last will and testament to his son, who alerted authorities.


Fairfax police consulted with mental health officials, who had visited Davis before. Authorities decided to obtain a temporary detention order allowing police to take Davis to a treatment facility. That night, Lt. Tom Trapp of the tactical unit, wearing civilian clothes, knocked on Davis's door in the 3000 block of Southern Elm Court, near Fairfax Circle.


Trial testimony indicated that Trapp tried to lure Davis outside by telling him his parked car had been hit. Three tactical officers in black jumpsuits with "POLICE" written on their chests crouched nearby.


When one of the officers leaned forward, he crunched some frozen snow. Trapp and Davis looked his way, and Trapp testified that he tried to grab Davis and pull him outside. Instead, Davis spun away and ran inside.


Three officers charged in after him. Davis testified he pulled a 9mm pistol out of his waistband. Officer Don Cooke said that Davis fired one shot, which missed him, and that he responded with two shots, one of which hit Davis in the face. A second officer then fired five "beanbag" rounds at Davis, and he was taken into custody.


In May 2000, Davis's attorney filed a motion to suppress the evidence of Davis's shot, arguing that it was in response to an illegal entry. Klein declined but did issue a blistering criticism of police.


"Some of the judges of this court have reluctantly concluded that some members of the [tactical] unit see the Fourth Amendment as a distraction they need to work around rather than a requirement of the United States Constitution," he said.


Klein noted that Virginia law allows a person to use reasonable force to repel an illegal arrest, and that he would instruct the jury that "the issue for them . . . is whether the force that was utilized by Mr. Davis was, in fact, reasonable."


The trial was delayed for more than two years after Davis was found mentally incompetent. That finding was reversed in September.


When Davis gave his version of events on the witness stand last week, he undercut the judge's intentions. Davis said he didn't know it was the police at his door, or that Trapp's fender-bender story was a ruse. He said he didn't see the crouching tactical officers or hear them crunch the snow.


Davis said Trapp hit him hard in the chest, then dove out of the way. He then saw "this mass of black," he said, describing the three tactical officers. But even after they entered his home, Davis said, he still didn't identify them as police.


Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John Murphy argued that Klein shouldn't tell the jury the police entry was illegal if Davis didn't know it was the police. Public Defender Martin W. Lester responded that Davis "believed that no one had a legal right to interfere" with his hunger strike.


Davis faced a maximum five-year prison sentence. He has served more than two years in Central State Hospital, where he was treated for mental illness. He told the jurors they had "convicted an innocent man."


A police spokeswoman, Lt. Amy Lubas, said in a statement yesterday that the tactical officers twice identified themselves as police before Davis shot at them.


"Far from reckless, this operation was meticulously planned to minimize risk to everyone involved," she said.

Fairfax Police on Stakeout Slay Custodian at Va. School

The Washington Post



December 30, 1978, Saturday, Final Edition


Caretaker at Fairfax School Slain by Police;


Police on Stakeout Slay Custodian at Va. School


BYLINE: By Athelia Knight, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: First Section; A1


LENGTH: 589 words


There had been a series of burglaries at the secluded, red-brick Talent House Private School off Arlington Boulevard, troublesome enough for owner Eldon Merritt to offer a $500 reward to his employes for help in stopping the crimes.


In the early hours of yesterday morning, part-time school custodian John Jackson, 33, of Manassas, armed with a 22 caliber revolver, returned to the darkened school building, drove up its long, tree-lined driveway and let himself through the kitchen door.


According to accounts pieced together yesterday, Jackson, a trusted worker at the school where he had been employed for six or seven years, believed the single-story structure was empty. It was a fatal mistake.


Waiting quietly inside, unknown to Jackson -- and to do the school's owner -- were two Fairfax County police officers staking out the premises.


Police said yesterday that the two, Offices David Lubas and Nancy Lutz, both in plain clothes, confronted Jackson and ordered him to put down his weapon. Jackson raised his hand, police said, Lubas fired three times, striking Jackson twice in the torso and once in the hand.


Jackson, who did not return the fire, was taken to Fairfax Hospital where he died at 3:37 a.m.


Lubas, a three-year veteran of the county police force, was placed on administrative leave yesterday pending the completion of an internal police investigation of the incident.


Merritt said yesterday he was shocked by Jackson's death. "I thought he was a terrific man. I thought the world of John. He would never take anything. I trusted him."


David Feldman, an attorney and friend of the Jackson family who said he had been asked to look into the death, said. "I just can't understand how the man got killed. I don't know whether it was somebody got trigger happy or what. It's one damn terrible mistake."


According to police and Merritt, the school, located at 9211 Arlington Blvd., had been burglarized five times between Oct. 20 and Nov. 5. Television sets, money and food were taken in the burglaries.


Officers from the Mason District station had staked out the school on 20 nights since Nov. 5, police said.


"I don't know why it happened,"


Merritt said, however, that he was unaware of the stakeouts. He said police apparently were given a key to the school by an assistant director on the staff. Merritt said Jackson was unaware of the stakeout.


said Merritt, who closed the school yesterday because of the shoting, "A good man's life was lost."


According to the police accourt, Lubas and Lutz arrived at Talent House after midnight. Officers on the stakeout generally went to the school after the cleaning crew had left, police said, and stayed until about 5 a.m.


Jackson, who also held a fulltime job as a laborer for Vepco, had cleaned the school, with this wife's help, on Thursday night. Then he drove his wife to Manassas and left her with the couple's 2-year-old daughter before returning to Fairfax.


Jackson arrived at the school about 1:30 a.m. He let himself in the back door with his key and walked in the back the ktchen. Lubas and Lutz stood silently in the main office where they could watch both the front and back entrances.


Police said Lubas then appeared at the kitchen doorway, indentified himself as a police officer and ordered Jackson to drop his gun. When Lubas fired. Police did not say whether the rooms' lights were switched on.


Deputy Police Chief Kenneth R. Wilson yesterday declined to comment on the case.

District resident is demanding $ 60 million from Fairfax County officials, alleging that he suffered permanent brain damage early last year when police clubbed him

The Washington Post



September 14, 1990, Friday, Final Edition


D.C. Man Sues Fairfax Over Police Clubbing;


Officer Was Fired After 1989 Incident


BYLINE: Robert F. Howe, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; PAGE B4


LENGTH: 559 words


A District resident is demanding $ 60 million from Fairfax County officials, alleging that he suffered permanent brain damage early last year when police clubbed him after he was handcuffed and subdued for traffic violations.


Victor M. Cruz, 33, alleged in a civil suit filed yesterday in federal court in Alexandria that Sgt. R.L. Smith and unnamed officers used excessive force when they arrested him after what police described as an eight-mile, high-speed chase.


Cruz, a Salvadoran native who came to the United States seven years ago, also claimed that Chief of Police John E. Granfield and the Board of Supervisors have failed to properly train and discipline county police officers.


Joel A. Skirble, Cruz's attorney, described the incident as a mugging and said the suit notifies police "that this kind of criminal behavior against defenseless minorities will no longer be tolerated."


At a news conference yesterday in his office, Skirble said he found it "ironic that the same kind of police brutality that Mr. Cruz sought to escape in El Salvador ends up victimizing him just a few miles from our nation's capital."


Fairfax police spokesman Warren Carmichael said the department had not received a copy of the suit and would not comment on the incident or the allegations. Carmichael also declined to comment on past or ongoing brutality claims against Fairfax police.


Assistant County Attorney Robert M. Ross would not discuss specific cases but said that in the last two years there have been cases in which officers were disciplined and sometimes removed from the force for using excessive force.


Smith was fired shortly after Cruz was arrested the night of April 27, 1989, according to law enforcement sources. An FBI investigation into Smith's conduct determined there were no grounds for filing criminal charges against the officer and the investigation was dropped, sources said.


The incident began when a Loudoun County sheriff's deputy observed a car traveling south in the northbound lane of Route 28 near Dulles International Airport, according to the Loudoun Sheriff's Department.


Fairfax police picked up the car after it ran stoplights at the Dulles Toll Road and Route 50 intersections, law enforcement officials said at the time. The pursuit ended when police, following procedure, rammed Cruz's car, police said.


Cruz was charged with several misdemeanors, including driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license, reckless driving and failing to stop for police. Skirble said his client pleaded guilty to some of the charges and served 32 days in jail.


Skirble said that the police department's quick action against Smith in no way exonerates Fairfax officials. "Should they get credit for firing him? No. They should never have hired him," Skirble said.


Smith could not be reached for comment.


Skirble added that Cruz, who was treated for two cuts above his left eye, did not resist arrest after police stopped his car and that the officer had no reason to use force. "I don't believe a police chase and intoxication gives a police officer the right" to club a suspect, Skirble said.


Cruz and his wife, Maria Claibel Cruz, are seeking $ 30 million in punitive damages and $ 30 million in compensatory damages against all nine county supervisors, Chief Granfield and former sergeant Smith.

In clearing the officer of possible criminal charges, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr.

The Washington Post


December 6, 2000, Wednesday, Final Edition


Police Sued by Victim's Family




The family of a Hyattsville man shot to death by an undercover Prince George's County police officer in Virginia filed a federal lawsuit against the county and the police yesterday.


The lawsuit--filed on behalf of the mother and estate of Prince C. Jones Jr. in U.S. District Court in Washington--states that rogue officers planned an act of vengeance that miscarried against an innocent man.


Jones, 25, was killed Sept. 1 after a detective trailed his Jeep Cherokee to Fairfax County. Cpl. Carlton B. Jones fired 16 shots after Jones rammed the officer's car. The men are not related.


In clearing the officer of possible criminal charges, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said the detective fired in self-defense. He said the officer believed that the Jeep belonged to another man who had tried to run down police officers in two previous encounters.


But attorneys Ted J. Williams and Gregory L. Lattimer, who represent Prince Jones's family, said at a news conference yesterday that police plotted a violent confrontation with the ramming suspect from the outset.


Cpl. Jones and his supervisor, Sgt. Alexandre Bailey, set the confrontation in motion after spotting Jones and an unidentified friend leaving a District nightclub on Georgia Avenue near Jefferson Street NW about 1 a.m., the lawsuit alleges.


The lawsuit says police followed Jones until he was alone in a quiet, suburban neighborhood that would presumably have no witnesses. "We believe that they were going to teach the occupant of that vehicle a lesson," Williams said.


The attorneys also renewed their assertion yesterday that Cpl. Jones fired as Prince Jones scrambled to leave. Two witnesses contradict police accounts that Prince Jones had initiated the confrontation after the officer made a U-turn, the lawyers said.


The FBI is still conducting witness interviews and expects to forward the results to federal prosecutors by the first of the year, said Special Agent Susan Lloyd, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office.


The lawsuit filed yesterday seeks $ 145 million in punitive and compensatory damages.


Lt. Peter White, a Prince George's police spokesman, declined to comment, saying the department has not seen the lawsuit.


"I think they've always planned to sue. So I'm not surprised," said Michael T. Leibig, Carlton Jones's lawyer.

The fatal shooting of a drug suspect by an undercover police officer "an unintentional reflex"

The Washington Post



November 18, 1987, Wednesday, Final Edition


Fatal Shooting Was Accidental,Police Say;


Fairfax Officer Reportedly Startled


BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; PAGE C2


LENGTH: 479 words


The fatal shooting of a drug suspect by an undercover police officer on Monday was an accident that occurred after the suspect startled the officer, Fairfax County police said yesterday.


The police department's findings that "an unintentional reflex" caused the officer's gun to discharge will be forwarded to the county's chief prosecutor, who will decide whether the shooting was a criminal violation.


Police said the officer, Investigator Irene M. Boyle, will remain on administrative leave pending the prosecutor's review.


"This was strictly an accident," Col. John E. Granfield, chief of police, said yesterday. "She fired it but without any intention of having it fired."


Police, who could not identify the man on Monday, said yesterday that the victim was 27-year-old Jose Carlos Rodriguez of no fixed address. They said the difficulty in identifying Rodriguez stemmed from his prior use of seven aliases and six birthdates.


Police said investigators had negotiated to purchase two ounces of cocaine from Rodriguez for $ 2,700 and planned to meet him late Sunday in the parking lot behind a dry cleaners in Baileys Crossroads.


Rodriguez drove to a dark section of the parking lot in his rented pickup truck, and an investigator agreed to purchase one ounce of cocaine, all that Rodriguez had with him, police said.


The investigator then alerted other officers in marked and unmarked cruisers, police said. They said Boyle, an 11 1/2-year veteran of the department, walked to the truck with her weapon drawn to provide coverage for another officer.


At first, Boyle did not see Rodriguez, but as she came within a foot of the truck his face suddenly appeared at the window of the cab. "He kind of came up like a jack in the box," said Granfield. "It startled her, and she shot the gun."


Police said one bullet struck Rodriguez in the head, and he was taken to Alexandria Hospital, where he died a short time later. No weapon was recovered from Rodriguez's vehicle, they said.


Had the transaction not gone awry, police said they would have charged Rodriguez with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a felony.


Granfield said yesterday that the actions by Boyle, 33, were in accordance with police procedures.


That Boyle had her service revolver "out and drawn" was proper procedure, Granfield said. He noted that in virtually every undercover drug arrest made by county police, the suspects are heavily armed.


Generally police department policy states that deadly force shall not be employed except as a last resort, but Granfield said Boyle had no intention of shooting the weapon.


Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. said yesterday that he will review the autopsy results and the findings of the police department's investigation, which was conducted jointly by the homicide department and the internal affairs section.

The Maryland chief medical examiner's office still has not issued a ruling on the cause and manner of the death of an Alexandria man killed in a police chase (By Fairfax County Police)

The Washington Post


August 6, 1999, Friday, Final Edition

Cause of Death Still Uncertain in Beltway Chase; Autopsy Results Awaited to Determine Among Suicide, Crash or Police Shooting

BYLINE: Craig Whitlock, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION: METRO; Pg. B02

LENGTH: 705 words

The Maryland chief medical examiner's office still has not issued a ruling on the cause and manner of the death of an Alexandria man killed in a police chase and shootout on the Capital Beltway last week, leaving open the question of whether the man killed himself, died of injuries sustained in a fiery car crash or was fatally shot by a police officer.

Prince George's County police, who are investigating the death of Merachew Lucas Fitigu, 24, said yesterday that they believe he may have committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after leading Fairfax police on a 10-mile chase on the Beltway on July 27. But they cautioned that they have not ruled out other explanations for his death.

"Preliminarily, we are looking into the possibility that the suspect committed suicide," said Prince George's police spokesman Royce D. Holloway. He said police expect to complete the investigation soon after they receive a final autopsy report from the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore, perhaps within a week.

But authorities have not released any specific information about the final minutes of Fitigu's life, such as whether they believe he shot himself before or after the crash, or what prompted a Fairfax County police officer to shoot at Fitigu as he sat in his burning car.

Prince George's police are investigating the case because Fitigu died in the county after leading Fairfax police on a chase from Virginia across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Police said they found a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, 1.75 pounds of marijuana and $ 1,000 cash in Fitigu's black Pontiac Trans Am after he crashed into a guardrail just north of the Temple Hill Road overpass.

Authorities have refused to say whether the gun found in the car had been fired or whether any shell casings were recovered from the scene of the crash. Police have said they found shell casings on the Virginia side of the Wilson Bridge.

Relatives of Fitigu, the son of an Ethiopian diplomat, said they are upset at the lack of clear answers. "We stand around, but we have no idea what to say or what to think," Fitigu's sister, Yodit Fitigu, 27, said in an interview.

Dressed in traditional black Ethiopian mourning clothes outside her mother's apartment in Fairfax, Yodit Fitigu said the family has not heard from Prince George's investigators since last week, when police indicated that they believed Fitigu had committed suicide.

Fairfax police officials have said their pursuit of Fitigu began when he passed through a radar monitor in the Kingstowne area of the county. He eluded police there, but the pursuit picked up again on the Beltway after officers said they saw Fitigu driving erratically. As Fitigu and three patrol cars following him approached the Wilson Bridge, Fitigu fired shots at the police, piercing the fiberglass shell above the grill of a patrol car driven by Fairfax patrol officer Jeffrey K. Rockenbaugh, police said.

Fairfax police said they did not return fire but continued to chase Fitigu into Maryland, where he apparently lost control and struck a guardrail. Rockenbaugh and two other officers quickly arrived on the crash scene and approached Fitigu's car, which was in flames.

What happened next is still unclear. Police sources said investigators believe Fitigu shot himself once in the head as the officers got close to his car. But they believe Rockenbaugh thought that Fitigu was aiming at his pursuers, prompting the officer to fire once at Fitigu, striking him in the right shoulder.

Sources said this scenario is supported by the account of a witness--a Prince George's Fire Department battalion chief who came upon Fitigu's burning car while on the way to another incident--who reported hearing two shots.

Fitigu was pronounced dead at the scene. Yodit Fitigu said that she can't accept the idea that her brother may have killed himself.

"Suicide? No. I really bet my life that he wouldn't do that," she said. "It just doesn't fit him. He's so shy, he's so timid that he blushes when people ask him a question."Yodit Fitigu said her brother had been taking computer programming classes and was working at a convenience store and a computer retail shop in Northern Virginia.

A former Fairfax County police officer who was fired for selling his privately owned gun

The Washington Post



November 6, 1999, Saturday, Final Edition


Fairfax Police Sued Over Termination; Department Erred by Taking Action on Legal Gun Sale, Former Officer Says


BYLINE: Brooke A. Masters, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B04


LENGTH: 361 words


A former Fairfax County police officer who was fired for selling his privately owned gun to a friend sued the department yesterday, alleging the termination violated his constitutional right to choose his acquaintances.


Paulo Freyesleben, with the force for 10 years, said he was told by his commander, Audrey Slyman, that he was dismissed because he sold the gun and some ammunition to "a young man who looked like a gang member," according to a four-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.


Freyesleben's conduct violated police policy and was "unbecoming" for an officer, Police Chief J. Thomas Manger ruled in April 1998, the complaint said.


The gun sale was legal and the gun buyer was not a gang member and did not have a criminal record, said Richard Gardiner, Freyesleben's attorney. He said Freyesleben befriended the young man while providing security at a McDonald's.


Lt. Amy Lubas, a Fairfax police spokeswoman, said, "We have not been notified of this lawsuit and therefore we cannot respond to it."


According to the records of the Fairfax Civil Service Commission, Freyesleben sold the 9mm Smith & Wesson to a man he had met only three or four times and knew only as "Mario." The commission also found that Freyesleben also sold him a box of ammunition issued by the Fairfax County Police Department firing range that was labeled "for law enforcement purposes only." According to the commission, Freyesleben delivered the ammunition to the buyer while on duty, in uniform and driving a police car.


In its four-page report upholding the firing, the commission ruled that "Freyesleben's handling of this entire matter fell well below the standards of responsible behavior and exercise of discretion that must be expected of a Fairfax County police officer."


Gardiner said that the ammunition was not county property and that Freyesleben had gotten to know the gun buyer before the sale. Fairfax learned about the sale when the young man talked about the transaction to another police officer.


"They're punishing him because he chose to associate with someone who looked like a gang member," Gardiner said.

An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit asserting that a Fairfax County police officer assaulted him

The Washington Post



June 28, 1989, Wednesday, Final Edition


Suit Says Fairfax Policeman Assaulted Handcuffed Man;


4 Other Officers Also Named as Defendants


BYLINE: Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; PAGE B4


LENGTH: 378 words






An Ohio man has filed a lawsuit asserting that a Fairfax County police officer assaulted him while he was handcuffed, causing him to lose consciousness and require 15 stitches.


The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, alleged that Officer James M. Blakeney used excessive force against Troy M. Davis after a May 1988 traffic arrest. After the incident, the lawsuit alleged, Davis filed a citizen complaint against the police department, and Blakeney was disciplined after a police department internal affairs investigation.


Police spokesman Warren Carmichael said the department would have no comment while the suit is pending.


The suit follows two recent unrelated incidents in which Fairfax officers were disciplined or fired after striking handcuffed citizens. It also coincides with a Justice Department investigation into possible civil rights violations by Fairfax police.


In addition to Blakeney, the suit named the Fairfax Board of Supervisors and four other officers as defendants. The suit, which alleges the county condoned the use of excessive force by its police officers, seeks a total of $ 250,000 in damages.


The suit said Davis, a day laborer who lives in Ohio, was arrested May 21, 1988, for disregarding a red light. After measuring .14 on a blood-alcohol test -- .10 is the legal amount to be considered intoxicated in Virginia -- Davis used profane language as several officers accompanied him to a cell at the Mount Vernon Police Substation, the lawsuit stated.


Davis alleged that one officer grabbed him by the throat and started choking him while another handcuffed him. The officer slammed Davis' head into a windowsill, causing him to lose consciousness, the suit alleged. Davis was taken to Mount Vernon Hospital, where he received 15 stitches.


According to the suit, the other four officers were present throughout the incident. The suit named officers David A. Russel and Dennis L. Park and said the other two officers remain unidentified.


The suit did not say what role each officer played in the alleged incident. One of the lawsuit's counts singled out Blakeney, asserting he assaulted Davis.


Asked for comment yesterday, John E. Harrison, an attorney for Davis, said "the lawsuit speaks for itself."

The mother of a Nothern Virginia man mistakenly killed by police

The Washington Post

November 14, 1979, Wednesday, Final Edition

Mother Asks $10 Million In Killing by Va. Police

BYLINE: By Robert Meyers, Washington Post Staff Writer

SECTION: Metro; C12

LENGTH: 250 words

The mother of a Nothern Virginia man mistakenly killed by police filed a $10 million suit in federal court in Alexandria yesterday against top Fairfax County and Arlington County police and other officials of both counties.

Naomi N. Hughes contended in her suit that police from Fairfax and Arlington "fired indiscriminately" at her son, Stanley Wayne Hughes, last Feb. 12 as she and Hughes attempted to escape from an apartment where a man wanted by police was hiding.

Stanley Hughes was killed in the hallway of his apartment of 3332 Lockheed Blvd. in the Mount Vernon section of the county, according to the suit.

In the early morning darkness of Feb. 12, 1979, two police officers, their weapons drawn, crouched outside an apartment in southern Fairfax County

The Washington Post


June 10, 1980, Tuesday, Final Edition


Suit Begins In Killing of Wrong Man;


Va. Suit Begins in Slaying of Wrong Man


BYLINE: By Joe Pichirallo, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: Metro; C1


LENGTH: 701 words


In the early morning darkness of Feb. 12, 1979, two police officers, their weapons drawn, crouched outside an apartment in southern Fairfax County, waiting for a man they believed to be an armed murder suspect.


Suddenly a shot rang out from inside the apartment, and moments later a man and woman dashed outside. The fleeing man died in a burst of police gunfire, falling into the arms of the woman.


The officers, it turned out, had shot the wrong man, Stanley Hughes, 21, who, with his mother, was racing to escape the apartment and the murder suspect, Kenneth Eugene King, 33, who had just committed suicide inside.


"I felt like I had died along with him," said Hughes' mother, Naomi, on the witness stand yesterday in the opening day of testimony in her $10 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.


Hughes cried as she recounted the events that led to her only child's death and the civil damage suit against Arlington and Fairfax counties, their chiefs of police and four individual police officers.


Police officials disagree with Naomi Hughes on what occurred that winter morning.


"I thought that she had been shot and that the subject behind her was shooting at her," testified Fairfax Sgt. Walter Blankenship, who fired the first shot at the unarmed man.


Naomi Hughes' lawyer, William B. Moffitt, charged yesterday that Stanley Hughes' death was caused by "reckless . . . [and] arbitrary" action actions on the part of the police. The officers did not intentionally kill Hughes, but "things needed to be done to protect life . . . on that scene that were not done," Moffitt said in his opening statement.


Moffitt said he intends to prove that Fairfax and Arlington police officers receive inadequate training in the use of firearms in tense situations.


Defending the actions of the officers, defense lawyer Jack L. Gould said police receive "very adequate" training -- "in excess of that required by state law."


The defense is arguing that under the circumstances, especially upon hearing a shot fired from inside the apartment, the police acted "reasonably" when they discharged their weapons.


"It was a life or death decision," Gould told the jury in his opening remarks. "The officers made that decision to save Mrs. Hughes' life and to save their own lives."


Hughes and the officers differ about what she yelled when she ran from the apartment. Hughes testified she shouted over and over, "He [King] shot himself!" as she ran outside.


Blankenship testified: "I have no idea what she was screaming."


Acting on a tip from an anonymous source, a total of six police officers had gone to Hughes' Fairfax apartment at 3332 Lockheed Blvc. to arrest King for alegedly shooting and wounding a relative in Arlington. The officers also knew that King was a suspect in the killing of another relative.


Hughes testified yesterday she became frightened when she learned that police were hunting King. Hughes, who is divorced, said she had dated King on and off for several years, and he was living with her at the time of his death.


When police telephoned her, she said she lied and told them King was not in the apartment. King stood next to her and told her what to tell the police, she said.


The defense contends that Hughes lied because she was harboring King from the police.


Hughes testified she told police the only person with her was her son and said police never asked how old her son was. Defense lawyers said the officers assumed her son was a child.


Blankenship said he remained calm throughout. "I don't feel I ever lost my judgment," he testified. A total of four shots were fired by the two officers. Blankenship fired three times and Arlington Cpl. Kenneth Madden once.


Stanley Hughes died from two gunshot wounds. Hughes' lawyer, Moffitt, said ballistic tests failed to determine who fired the fatal shots. Two other Arlington officers, Lt. David Reiten and St. Arthur Christiansen, are named as defendants. They were at the scene but did not fire their weapons.


Fairfax police conducted their own investigation into the shooting and cleared the officers of violating police procedures.

A Stafford woman wanted for allegedly writing bad checks was shot yesterday by a Fairfax County officer

The Washington Post



July 07, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition


Police Shoot Woman After Two-County Chase


BYLINE: Wendy Melillo, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; Pg. D05


LENGTH: 522 words


A Stafford woman wanted for allegedly writing bad checks was shot yesterday by a Fairfax County officer after she led police on a high-speed chase that ended in the parking lot of a Woodlawn area shopping center.


Diana Elizabeth Tyler, 38, was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she was treated for a neck wound and released. She was being held without bond at the Fairfax jail.


Police said Tyler, who was not carrying a weapon, was shot about 12:30 a.m. as officers struggled to remove her from her 1995 Oldsmobile Achieva in the 8600 block of Richmond Highway. Authorities would not release the name of the officer who shot Tyler or elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting. The officer was placed on administrative leave with pay.


Tyler was charged in Fairfax and Prince William counties with driving on a suspended driver's license and attempting to elude police. Tyler was already wanted in Fairfax County for failing to appear in court after being charged with writing a bad check. She also faces bad check and larceny charges in Stafford and Fredericksburg.


Warren R. Carmichael, a Fairfax police spokesman, said the investigation of the shooting could take several weeks to complete. He said the results will be forwarded to the commonwealth's attorney's office for review.


"Given the circumstances of the chase, the fact that weapons may have been drawn is appropriate," Carmichael said.


The chase began in Prince William County, where authorities said Tyler was spotted driving 25 mph in a 45-mph zone and crossed a double-yellow line three times as she headed north on Jefferson Davis Highway. "Our officers thought she was drunk," said Sgt. Kim Chinn, a Prince William County police spokeswoman.


Chinn said an officer signaled Tyler to pull over, and she appeared to stop by entering the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. But Tyler then allegedly drove around the officer's cruiser and headed south on Jefferson Davis Highway. Two more police cruisers entered the chase and followed Tyler into a used-car lot where she turned around again and headed north, police said.


The officers chased Tyler at speeds up to 75 mph for 27 miles before she entered Fairfax County, police said. At the border, about four Fairfax cruisers joined the chase and followed Tyler for 10 miles before she turned into the the Engleside Plaza parking lot at Richmond Highway and Lukens Lane, police said. As she tried to leave the parking lot, the officers blocked her path with their cruisers and ordered her to get out of her car, police said.


Fairfax County police said Tyler refused to leave her vehicle, and one of their officers shot her as they tried to remove her from the car.


Suzanne V. Suher, Tyler's attorney, declined to comment on the shooting.


Tyler, who was born in Madrid, Spain, has been unemployed for the last year, and she separated from her husband two months ago, according to court records. She was charged in Fairfax County with writing a bad check for $ 261.25 to a Lorton antiques store last Nov. 17. The check was returned because the bank account had been closed.

Two police officers who shot and killed a 21-year-old Mount Vernon man by mistake

The Washington Post



March 21, 1979, Wednesday, Final Edition


No Violation of Police Procedure Ruled in Officers' Slaying of Man


BYLINE: By Liza Bercovici, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: Metro; C3


LENGTH: 319 words


Two police officers who shot and killed a 21-year-old Mount Vernon man by mistake last month have been cleared of violating police procedures in the incident, although an investigation by the Fairfax County prosecutor is continuing.


Fairfax County police Sgt. Walter Blankenship, 38, and Officer Kenneth Madden, 33, of the Arlington police force were cleared by an internal review by the Fairfax police department, Fairfax Chief Richard A. King said yesterday.


Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. is still investigating to determine if there were criminal violations in the death of Stanley Hughes, who was shot to death Feb. 12 as he ran unarmed from his apartment where a murder suspect was staying. Horan refused comment yesterday on the status of his investigation.


Blankenship, who had been suspended from the force, returned to his job Monday at the Groveton police substation. Arlington police said Madden, assigned desk duty pending the Fairfax police department review, would be back on street patrol by today.


The officers who shot Hughes had been staking out Hughes' apartment at 3332 Lockheed Blvd. in the Mount Vernon area in hope of capturing Kenneth Eugene King 34, who was sought in connection with the death of his father-in-law and the wounding of his mother.


Hughes was shot as he ran from his apartment after gunifire was heard from outside. Afterward, police said, they found King inside the apartment dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.


At first, the police effort to investigate the matter was frustrated, first by the officers' refusal, on advice of their attorneys, to discuss the matter, and then by Hughes' mother, Naomi Hughes, the only other eyewitness to the incident, who announced she would have "nothing to say to police."


Blankenship and Madden decided about two weeks ago to talk with police investigators about the incident.

To much money, too much time on their hands, not enough to do

150,000,000.00


You want how much for the police?


$150,000,000.00


"More than $1 million worth of brand new Fairfax County police cars are sitting unused


$150,000,000.00


County Police Department Replaces Crashed Helicopter


$150,000,000.00

Too much money, to many people on the frce and not enough to do

Sobriety checkpoints conducted in 2009: 34 (About one every two weeks)



Citizens "Screened" at checkpoints: 16,000


DWI arrests as a result of sobriety checkpoints: 45 (out of 16,000 citizens "screened")