Across Virginia
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has dropped an effort to prosecute two U.S. Park Police officers who fatally shot an unarmed motorist back in 2017.
The Attorney General’s Office filed a motion Friday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond withdrawing the appeal in the shooting of Bijan Ghaisar, 25, of McLean.
Miyares’ decision ends a nearly five-year legal saga in which Ghaisar’s family, police reform advocates and some members of Congress sought to see officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya face criminal charges for shooting Ghaisar after a stop-and-go chase on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in November 2017.
The FBI investigated the shooting for two years, but federal prosecutors ultimately opted against filing charges.
At that point, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who had recently been elected on a police accountability platform, filed manslaughter charges against the officers in state court. Descano was supported by then-Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat.
Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Claude Hilton in Alexandria dismissed the prosecution, ruling that the officers’ actions were “necessary and proper” in the context of the chase.
Herring and Descano appealed Hilton’s ruling in October, but Herring in November lost his re-election bid to Miyares, a Republican.
Miyares and Descano have feuded openly for months, with Miyares accusing Descano of being soft on crime and refusing to support police. Descano has accused Miyares of trying to meddle in local affairs and undermine him and other reform-minded prosecutors in northern Virginia.
In a statement, Miyares said and others in his office reviewed the evidence and ultimately concluded that Hilton’s ruling was correct and should not be appealed.
“I will not perpetuate the continued prosecution of two officers who were doing what they were trained to do under tremendously difficult circumstances,” he said.
At a press conference Saturday, Ghaisar’s mother, Kelly Ghaisar, said she is outraged and disgusted by the decision and holding out hope the appeals court will refuse to allow Miyares to drop the appeal.
“I am here to plead with anyone who can hear me — please do not dismiss this case,” she said.
State Sen. Scott Surovell, a Democrat who lives a few blocks from where Ghaisar has shot and who has supported the family’s effort to have the officers prosecuted, spoke at the press conference and said Miyares filed his notice late on a Friday to avoid calling attention to what he had done.
“As news of this gets out, people will be highly disturbed,” he said.
Descano said he’s “heartbroken” by the decision but holds out hope that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will reconsider the decision made during the Trump administration not to bring its own charges.
“For Attorney General Miyares to not even allow this case to be heard in the Fourth Circuit for purely political reasons is shameful – especially considering all of his rhetoric about supporting victims,” Descano said.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., whose district encompasses the location of the chase and shootin, called Miyares’ decision “misguided” Saturday.
““Giving officers a get-out-of-jail-free card for a fatal shooting after a grand jury indictment for involuntary manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm cannot help but undermine trust in law enforcement in the community,” Beyer said in a statement. “This is not how you support the police.”
Ghaisar was fatally shot after authorities say he left the scene of an accident on the parkway, outside the nation’s capital, and led officers on a stop-and-go chase.
Dashcam video released by Fairfax County Police, which played a supporting role in the chase, shows the pursuit starting on the parkway, then continuing into a residential neighborhood. It shows the car driven by Ghaisar stopping twice during the chase, and officers approaching the car with guns drawn. In both cases, Ghaisar drives off.
At the third and final stop, the officers again approach with guns drawn, and Amaya stands in front of the driver’s door. When the car starts to move, Amaya opens fire. Seconds later, when the car begins moving again, both Amaya and Vinyard fire multiple shots.
Miyares’ decision ends the criminal prosecution, but Ghaisar’s family has filed a civil suit that has been on hold while a criminal case was being pursued.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A decade ago, University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely V was convicted of second-degree murder after a sensational criminal trial in the killing of his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Yeardley Love, a member of the UVA women’s lacrosse team.
With Huguely now about halfway through his 23-year prison sentence, Love’s mother is seeking to hold him responsible in civil court. Sharon Love’s lawsuit, which seeks $29.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages, is set to go to trial Monday in Charlottesville Circuit Court, almost 12 years after her daughter was found dead in her off-campus apartment.
At the University of Virginia, an elite state school consistently ranked as one of the best in the country, Love and Huguely, both seniors who were weeks away from graduating, were known for their play on UVA’s nationally ranked men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. But they were also known for their volatile relationship. During Huguely’s criminal trial, a witness testified that he saw Huguely put Love in a chokehold months before she was killed.
Prosecutors said Huguely kicked a hole in Love’s bedroom door, then beat her after a day of golf and binge drinking, enraged that she had had a relationship with a lacrosse player from North Carolina. Love’s right eye was bashed in and she had a head injury that caused bleeding at the base of her brain stem.
Huguely’s attorneys said he only went to Love’s apartment to talk to her, but their argument quickly became physical. Huguely told police she banged her head against the wall of her bedroom, and she only had a bloody nose when he left.
During a videotaped police interrogation shown to the jury, Huguely was told by a detective that Love was dead and “you killed her.” Huguely is then heard asking repeatedly, “She’s dead?” and saying, over and over again, “I didn’t hurt her.” He also sobbed and said: “I did not do anything that could kill her.”
In the end, the jury rejected a first-degree murder charge against Huguely and convicted him of second-degree murder instead. The jury recommended a 25-year prison sentence, but the judge imposed a slightly lower sentence of 23 years.
The civil trial is expected to include many of the same witnesses and testimony — friends, roommates, other lacrosse players and medical experts — although many of them are expected to testify in videotaped depositions instead of in person.
Sharon Love initially filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2012, but it was voluntarily dismissed years later after court rulings determined that Huguely was not entitled to coverage under a $6 million homeowners insurance policy held by his family.
A new lawsuit filed in 2018 dropped negligence claims, but added a claim alleging that an assault and battery by Huguely was the proximate cause of Love’s death. The lawsuit argues that punitive damages are warranted because the physical force used by Huguely and his failure to act by leaving her bleeding, injured and without any medical attention mean that he acted “with actual malice and in such a way as to evince a conscious disregard for the safety and life of Love, thereby willfully causing Love’s injuries.”
Kevin Biniazan, an attorney for the Love family, declined to comment on the lawsuit or upcoming trial.
Huguely’s attorney, Matthew Green, said the defense will acknowledge that Huguely’s assault and battery caused Love’s death and that her family is entitled to compensatory damages in an amount to be decided by the jury. But he said the defense does not believe punitive damages are appropriate.
“First, for the same reasons that the jury in the criminal trial did not believe that George’s conduct rose to the heightened level necessary for a first-degree murder conviction, we don’t believe the conduct rises to the heightened level of willful and wanton conduct necessary for an award of punitive damages. Second, an award of punitive damages is never required and is left to the discretion of a jury,” Green said.
Green said Huguely is expected to testify and will be brought from prison to court only on that day, not throughout the trial.
“On a personal level, George remains, extremely sorry, deeply remorseful, and unbelievably saddened about Yeardley’s death,” Green said. “He would do anything in the world to take that night back. Her death leaves a void he can never fill. ”
Roanoke sweep the Huntsville Havoc with a 2-0 Game Two win in the President’s Cup Semifinals. Austyn Roudebush had a 36-save shutout, while Brady Heppner and Nick Ford tallied the goals for the Dawgs. Roanoke will face off against the Peoria Rivermen in the President’s Cup Final.
HUNTSVILLE, AL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs advanced to the President’s Cup Final for the first time in franchise history, sweeping the Huntsville Havoc with a 2-0 Game Two win in the President’s Cup semifinals on Saturday night. Austyn Roudebush had a 36-save shutout, while Brady Heppner and Nick Ford scored for the Dawgs..
The Dawgs and Havoc somewhat switched roles in the opening period, with Huntsville being the more physical side while Roanoke was the more finesse offense. Huntsville outshot Roanoke 14-12 in the frame, but the period ended scoreless.
Roanoke opened the scoring at 4:20 in the second period, as Heppner muscled a shot from the far-side goal line through Huntsville’s Hunter Vorva, giving the Dawgs the 1-0 lead. Matt O’Dea was credited with the assist. The Dawgs held off a slew of shots by the Havoc, who outshot Roanoke 14-3 in the period, and the Dawgs entered the second intermission with a slim lead.
The third period was tightly-contested, with both teams needing huge saves by Roudebush and Vorva to keep the score at 1-0. Finally, Gehrett Sargis took a pass from Bryce Martin right towards Vorva’s net, and Ford finished off the rebound after the initial save. The Dawgs killed off a late penalty and maintained the shutout in the closing moments, sealing the franchise’s first-ever appearance in the President’s Cup Final.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will travel for Game One and Two against the Peoria Riverman, and will play on Thursday and Friday night at 8:15 p.m. EST. Roanoke will then host Peoria for Game Three at 7:05 p.m. on Monday, May 2, and will host Game Four if necessary at the same time on the following Tuesday. If necessary, Game Five will be back in Peoria on Thursday, May 5, at 8:15 p.m. EST. Tickets for Game Three will be available online at 10:00 a.m. EST tomorrow morning, and at Berglund Center box office on Monday. You can watch the games on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network on HockeyTV, or listen via Mixlr. The 2022 President’s Cup Playoff run for the Dawgs is sponsored by Haley Toyota.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were shot when a gunman unleashed a flurry of bullets in the nation’s capital, leading to lockdowns at several schools on Friday. The injured were expected to recover and the suspect was found dead hours later.
Police did not release the suspect’s name, pending notification to his family, after finding the suspect dead inside an apartment at the scene as Metropolitan Police Department officers conducted door-to-door searches of buildings in the area.
Authorities had said earlier that they were seeking a 23-year-old Virginia man as a person of interest. The man had been “linked to social media postings” that emerged as part of the investigation, said Assistant Metropolitan Police Chief Stuart Emerman.
Police believe the man erected a “sniper-type setup” with a tripod and rifle in his apartment and began firing indiscriminately at people walking below, Chief Robert Contee said. The shooting was recorded and posted online on 4chan, an online message board.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said Saturday they had identified a residence tied to the suspected shooter and assisted District of Columbia officers in executing a search warrant. A Fairfax spokesman, 2nd Lt. Ian Yost, said his information indicated authorities did not find any family members there.
Separately on Friday, emergency medical crews were called to the Supreme Court around 6:30 p.m. after a man set himself on fire outside the building. Police said Saturday that the man, Wynn Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado, had died.
The four shooting victims — a 54-year-old man who is a retired police officer, a woman in her 30s, a woman in her mid-60s who was grazed by a bullet, and a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the arm — were all expected to recover, police said. For hours, authorities had warned residents to stay inside their homes while they searched for the shooter.
The gunfire broke out shortly before 3:30 p.m. near the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness St. in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington, just as parents were picking up their children from the Edmund Burke School, a private college preparatory school.
The University of the District of Columbia went into lockdown, telling students and staff to shelter and stay in place.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — A local school board in Virginia has decided against buying some new social studies text books because of concerns from some citizens that one of the books encourages “divisive teachings,” including critical race theory.
The Williamsburg-James City County school board voted 4-3 on Tuesday not to buy the books, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Board Chairman Greg Dowell said he found nothing wrong with the book’s overall content. But he said he couldn’t vote “yes” because of the controversy around it and the possibility that it could cause further “community division.”
“We are transitioning out of a period of discord in our community and our country, and that takes all of us,” Dowell said.
The textbook of concern is “Government in America: People, Politics and Policy,” which is often taught in advanced placement government and politics classes. It examines current events and public policy, while offering examples of political unrest.
One citizen at Tuesday’s board meeting claimed the book was biased and left-leaning. Another said the cover photograph was a form of indoctrination. The photo is of a protest outside the U.S. Capitol with signs reading, “Silence is violence,” “No justice no peace,” and “Stop killing Black people.”
Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism. There is little evidence that it’s being taught to K-12 public school students, though some ideas central to it, such as lingering consequences of slavery, have been.
The proposed textbooks aligned with state education standards and were vetted by the state education department. The vote means that students will have to use textbooks that are at least 12 years old.
Board member Kyra Cook had voted in favor of buying the text books.
“I think we deprived our children new textbooks and deprived our teachers of the opportunity to use new materials,” she said. “Our staff went through a rigorous process and they identified opportunities to improve.”
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Authorities in Virginia say they’re trying to figure out how two patients escaped the state’s oldest mental hospital and how to prevent it from happening again.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that police said the men fled Eastern State Hospital outside Williamsburg on Easter Sunday. Virginia State Police said the men were able to escape by damaging an interior wall.
Authorities said that one man was caught in Chesapeake that day, while the second man was caught in Norfolk on Thursday.
Lauren Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, said that Eastern State is conducting an internal investigation.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had already ordered a security and safety review of Virginia’s nine public mental hospitals. And last week, Youngkin had called for more staffing and treatment at state facilities and local community services boards for people with psychiatric disorders.
Christopher Ross Kimberling
Investigators with the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office along with Virginia State Police, Roanoke City Police Department and Roanoke County Police Department have been working a Narcotic related case involving Christopher Ross Kimberling of the Hardy/Roanoke/Salem area for the last several months. Kimberling is facing several drug and weapon related charges in Roanoke City, Roanoke County, and Bedford County. Several search warrants were executed where a large amount of narcotics, to include approximately 2 lbs of Methamphetamine, Heroin, Cocaine & Fentanyl, Firearms (both legal and stolen), and over $50,000 in cash were seized.
Charges against Kimberling are as follows:
-1 count Possession with the intent to Distribute Methamphetamine
-1 count Possession of Heroin
-1 count Possession of a Firearm by Convicted Felon
-1 count Possession of stolen firearm
This case is still under investigation and several more narcotic related charges are forthcoming.
Anyone with drug information can always contact the Sheriff’s Office at 540-586-7827 or you can also use Central Virginia Crime Stoppers at 1-888-798-5900 or enter your tip online at http://p3tips.com or use the P3TIPS app on your mobile device. Crime Stopper callers remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward up to $1,000.00.
We would like to thank everyone for their assistance and information leading to this arrest.
( From Bedford County Sheriff’s Office)
On Thursday, April 14, at 4:08 a.m., Roanoke Fire-EMS was dispatched to the 2000 block of Greenbrier Ave SE for a report of a fire on the roof of a commercial structure. Units arrived to find smoke and flames on the roof of a maintenance building. The fire was contained to the roof, and was quickly extinguished by Fire-EMS crews. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental, electrical. No injuries were reported. Damages to the roof of the structure are estimated at $8,000.
For the first time in a month, average Virginia gas prices have fallen below $4.00 a gallon — but experts say there is no way to know for sure how far or for how long that downward trend might continue, especially with normally-busy summer travel season ahead. The statewide average is $3.98 a gallon for regular, and in Roanoke, it’s $3.89. That’s down nine cents in a week and 29 cents from one month ago. Experts say there is one reason most in play for that decrease, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports: