Incidents

A civil rights complaint was filed against Joshua (Joe) Shoemaker, Brandon Vinson, and five other unnamed Fairfax County Police officers. It claimed police officers were driving at excessive speeds and crashed into Edwin C. Roessler, Jr.'s vehicle, severely injuring his daughter.

Newport News police officers swarmed Corey Moody's car, tried to pull him out through the window, and shot him a number of times, paralyzing him permanently.

Chesterfield Police shot and killed Brian McDaniel, 38, in his home after arriving to arrest him on domestic assault charges.

"I'm waiting in parking lot area of the town homes, and an officer arrives," a court complaint (Parker v. Loren et al. Case No. 1:13-cv-00927-AJT-MSN, Document 1, filed 7/31/2013) filed by Antonio D. Parker naming Aimee Scott Loren #333, C. C. Dobson #348, Dana Nielsen, Ryan Merrell, and the Fredericksburg Police Department, and others, reads.

"Officer [John] Doe #338 [Caucasian] male age 25-30 [height] 5"10 weight 185. He didn't ask me any questions or give any commands he deployed his [TASER]. In this area the police are very [aggressive]. He was on edge[, and] he deliberately shot me with his department-issued weapon and panic[k]ed, I had my hands up.

'I asked him why he would draw a weapon on me[,] I didn't do anything[,] he quoted [sic], 'Shut up or I'll f*g tazer [sic] you again.' He cuffed me [and] threw me in the back seat of his cruiser and [abruptly] left the scene... I was not allowed to leave the patrol car [and] I never talked to [the] magistrate. The plaintiff received 16 years for this," Antonio Parker, who is Black, wrote in his complaint filed with Virginia Eastern District Court.

On the evening of May 19, Fairfax County Police officers claimed they were responding to a call received regarding a "wanted person. The officers (who came from both Patrol and K-9 Units) were soon inside the apartment of the individual they claimed had called. Inside, they found a 22-year-old man named Gray Alan Combs, Jr. in a bedroom. Officers were familiar with Combs from interactions the previous Friday.

The police officers claim that in response to them Combs then "threatened them with a sword;" they also complained that he "refused to obey [their] commands."

The group of officers began to fire a barrage of bean bag rounds and lethal bullets at Combs.... (Bean bag rounds were also fired at his head during the attack, for which one officer was reportedly placed on "routine administrative leave" after the incident).

Combs sustained severe injuries from the officers' attack and he was taken to the hospital, where he died three days later.

Gray Alan Combs, Jr. was 22 years old.

Michelle Holden filed an Internal Affairs complaint against Kenneth Bridgeman alleging false arrest. He was exonerated by the Police Department.

Chesterfield Police shot and killed attorney Richard C. Ferris II at his home after police said he fired at officers.

A civil rights complaint filed by Christopher Scott Jones named Benjamin Johnson, Badge #331 of the Fredericksburg Police Department, alleging wrongful arrest. The case file is numbered 3:2011-cv-00001 in PACER.

After harassing Mark Hammond at a traffic stop in March, Kelly Morley and Anthony Catoggio harassed him again in September 2010, this time driving to his house. Catoggio assaulted Hammond on his front lawn and punched him repeatedly before arresting him; when Hammond moved, Catoggio whispered in his ear, "If you touch me, I'll kill you." Catoggio asphyxiated Hammond, a Black man, until he passed out. Catoggio and Morley were not assigned to patrol together that evening, according to 2011 court documents from Hammond v Morley. The case settled out of court.

This incident is flagged as suspicious.

Officer Anthony Catoggio was harassing Rhonda Jones at booking in the city jail, watched her get a severe injury, forcibly grabbed her and "roughed her up", then denied her medical attention. ("Jones v. Catoggia et al"). Catoggio used a forceful maneuver of her arm to injure her similar to one he used against Mark Hammond in another questionable incident.

Officer James Babor and Officer Tyron Langston shot and killed Tedlee Hargrove, 49

While employed with the Richmond Police Department as a School Resource Officer at Fairfield Court Elementary School, Harold L. Ford was reportedly called in to a classroom to deal with a misbehaving child. He then reportedly took a Black eight-year-old girl into the hall and assaulted her, forced the child into handcuffs, then slammed her face-down in a police car, a civil rights complaint stated.

The case, Brown et al v Ford, was filed by Sakia Hall on behalf of the child on January 25, 2011 in Richmond Circuit Court, then later transferred to Virginia Eastern District Court as a federal case.

Judge James R. Spencer, presiding, dismissed the case with prejudice after Harold L. Ford's attorneys cited qualified immunity. Ford continued serving as an officer with the City. In 2019 and 2023, he ran for Sheriff in Henrico County.

Newport News police officers Justin E. Briggs, Darryl J. Johnson, and Sergeant J. F. Gayle were named in a Feb. 2, 2011 lawsuit pertaining to the arrest of Peggy A. Hales made on September 27, 2009. The lawsuit alleged unreasonable arrest and the use of unnecessary force regarding handcuffs tight enough to cause injury.

A 2012 lawsuit alleged Officer Sepehri assaulted and spoke disrespectfully to him (Saad Usman Lodhi) during an arrest that he claimed was unlawful.

Aeschlimann followed Brian Portis and violently invaded his home, according to a lawsuit.

A lawsuit claimed that Prince William County officers Dombrowski, Grayson, Livingston, and D. A. Hoffman racially profiled Derrick L. Lowe unprovoked, then assaulted and tased him while laughing.

Decertification Cause §15.2-170:

Refusal to submit to drug screening

On October 28, 2005, Thomas Frazier filed a court complaint against Norfolk Police officers F.L. Glaser, Rodney J. Fentress, Randy A. Crandall,

Peele, and Guertler alleging unreasonable force causing physical injury and violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The complaint referred to events that took place on November 6, 2003.

(Content Warning: Racial Slur/Hate Speech)

On July 1, 2008, Robert Harrison filed a complaint under the Civil Rights Act alleging Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) officers had used excessive force against him, a Black man, on October 4, 2005. In the complaint he named PWCPD, the Chief of Police, Officer John Mora, Officer Michael Sullivan, and approximately ten officers whose identities he could not confirm.

According to the complaint:

"...Officer Mora moved toward the vehicle... He then opened the passenger door, grabbed Plaintiff’s arm, pulled him out of the car, and threw him

against it. Officer Mora refused to answer Plaintiff’s repeated questions about why he was being arrested.

Two other officers – John Doe One and John Doe Two – arrived. They picked Plaintiff up bodily while Officer Mora put him into a headlock.

"Officer Mora then dropped to the ground, causing Plaintiff’s head to hit

the pavement.

"Officer Mora ground Plaintiff’s head into the pavement and told him that he 'would learn to shut his mouth, warned [Plaintiff] that if [he] ever saw the female officer again he should not ever say anything to her,' and then punctuated the

warning by calling Plaintiff a 'f---ing n----r.'”

The story continues in the complaint.

Alone on "patrol," Officer Chris Snyder shot and killed Yobani Sosa.