Fairfax County Officer Hit Car at 68 MPH; Charged With Reckless Driving

County police officer has been charged with reckless driving after he hit a car, seriously injuring a man, while speeding 68 mph without his cruiser's lights or sirens on.

Officer Pshko Siteki was responding to a disorderly conduct call about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 18 when he crashed into a minivan turning from Leesburg Pike to Patrick Henry Drive in Falls Church, police said.

Siteki, who has been with the department for two years, was speeding 68 mph in a 40-mph zone but did not have his emergency equipment on, according to police.

Both he and the 53-year-old man driving the minivan were taken to a hospital. The civilian received extensive injuries and, five months later, is still recovering.

Siteki was served a summons on Tuesday and placed on paid leave pending a court appearance, Police Chief Edwin Roessler announced Tuesday.

"We take the safety of our officers and members of this community very seriously," Roessler said in a statement. "That is why an Internal Affairs investigation was quickly launched to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident."

The officer's police cruiser had a video system, but the video was destroyed in the crash.

Siteki is due in court in September.

Fairfax Co. police citizen complaint panel now ready to act

By Max Smith

WASHINGTON — Fairfax County moved forward Tuesday with a new police civilian review panel that aims to ensure citizen complaints about officers are properly investigated.

The county’s board of supervisors approved bylaws for the nine-member panel that was appointed in February, and the panel can now begin full operations.

The bylaws limit the group to reviewing completed internal affairs investigations, and bar the group from hearing any testimony about an incident from additional witnesses beyond those interviewed by police, even during public meetings.

“The problem with that was that if witnesses could present their version of events, but then the officers involved could not, that that would be unfair to the officers,” Supervisor John Cook said.

A person filing a complaint could explain the basis of the complaint to the review panel, and any other witness would be able to tell the review panel why they believe they should be interviewed by police.

“Investigations would be conducted by the police department because they are the ones trained in doing the investigation, and those investigations would be reviewed by the panel,” Cook said.

The panel will have 90 days from the completion of an internal police investigation to hold a public meeting and issue its own final review of the investigation.

“The bottom line is that this panel does not do an investigation. This panel makes sure that an investigation has been accomplished fairly,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said.

The panel is responsible for reviewing public complaints about issues like abuse of authority or officer misconduct that either should be or have been investigated by the police department.

A separate, full-time independent auditor now handles investigations into police shootings and other use of force. Both were established based on recommendations from the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission that was created to identify ways to increase accountability following an outcry over the 2013 shooting death of John Geer in Springfield and the lengthy legal fight over the release of information about the case.

Eventually, the officer who shot Geer pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The bylaws for the panel are below. Note: supervisors made some additional minor editorial changes that are not reflected