Fairfax Police Admit Mistake in Diplomatic Flap

The Washington Post


January 29, 1994, Saturday, Final Edition


Fairfax Police Admit Mistake in Diplomatic Flap


ByLINE: Tamara Jones, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A6


LENGTH: 442 words


Fairfax County police have admitted making a mistake in the arrest of a South African diplomat and his wife, but blame the pair's "hostility" in part for the events that landed them in jail on charges of public drunkenness. Documents released by the Fairfax Police Department yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information Act petition filed by The Washington Post said "appropriate measures" have been taken in the case.The South African Embassy had filed a protest with the State Department demanding to know why the diplomatic immunity of First Secretary Eckard Piprek, 34, and his wife, Gerda, 31, was disregarded when they were arrested Oct. 16 outside their Oakton home. Charges against the couple have since been dropped and the criminal complaint expunged from police files.


The South African Embassy indicated yesterday that it is not satisfied with the police conclusions, and it continued to deny that the Pipreks were drunk at the time of their arrest. "We have to pursue this with the State Department," said embassy spokesman Wesley Johanneson. Police spokeswoman April Kranda said yesterday that the two arresting officers had made a "technical violation" by reporting the detention of the Pipreks to the South African Embassy instead of to the State Department.The violation "is not one which we would consider serious," she said. The department does not discuss disciplinary measures against its officers, and Kranda would not confirm or deny whether any were taken.Police were summoned to the Pipreks' home by neighbors complaining of a loud, drunken party outside. Officers Michael Kulikowsky and Onzy Elam took the Pipreks into custody only after they refused to quiet down and go back inside, according to an internal police investigation of the incident.In a letter to the State Department's protocol office, Police Chief Michael W. Young concluded that it "is evident that Mr. and Mrs. Piprek contributed in large part to the circumstances resulting in their arrest.""Their behavior in the cul-de-sac in front of their home, as well as at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, was not what one would expect from diplomats representing a foreign country," he wrote.The South African Embassy gave a different account, insisting that the Pipreks tried several times before and after their arrests to establish their diplomatic immunity, but were ignored. They were released after spending three hours in jail when an embassy official arrived to identify them.Kranda said the department "would not provide an apology" to the Pipreks or their embassy because it "would not be appropriate" in this case.