PEGGY FOX
ANNADALE, Va. (WUSA9) -- Several
investigations are underway into the death of a disabled man who died after a
scuffle with a Fairfax County police officer on Wednesday.
The altercation happened in
Annandale near Round Tree Park.
"This kind of thing should
not happen," said Roger Deeshaies,
CEO of St. John's Community Services, which is the organization that was caring
for Paul Gianelos.
Family members of Paul Gianelos
say he was profoundly autistic. They
say he could read, but never spoke a word in his entire 45 year life. They are angry, and they want answers. On advice of legal counsel, they declined to
be interviewed on camera, but they did say that there was a plan in place that
should have prevented what happened and kept Paul safe.
Gianelos lived at a special needs
group home a few blocks away from his elderly mother in Annandale. On Wednesday, he was at Round Tree Park on Annandale Road,
eating lunch with his group from St. John's Community Services.
Deshaies says Gianelos wandered
away, and when group leaders realized he
was gone, they called police.
Fairfax police say a 20-year
veteran officer with crisis intervention training, spotted
Gianelos along Annandale Road,
about a mile from the park. Police say
the officer tried to talk him into coming back to the group home outing. Gianelos
apparently refused, and police say he became combative and began to
struggle with the officer. Gianelos was
handcuffed, and fell, hitting his head.
Rescue crews were called and police say when Gianelos was being
transported, he went into cardiac arrest and died.
One of Gianelos's family members
said Paul would have happily gone with anyone who offered something as simple
as a Coke. No force was needed, they
said.
"We are strongly committed
to finding out what occurred. We need to
learn from it and make sure corrective action is taken," said
Deshaies. He told WUSA9 that the staff
at St. John's is devastated and that grief counselors have been brought in to
help.
The family and police are waiting
for the results of an autopsy.
Fairfax County Police officials
say they will release the officer's name within the next few days. The department is conducting two
investigations, one criminal and one through Internal
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