Warren County Report

Division II Virginia State Police Public Information Officer, Sgt. F.L. Tyler said Trooper D.E. Forrester observed a Front Royal Police traffic stop “and something he saw alerted him to what he thought was not routine about that traffic stop.”

However, Front Royal Police Chief Ronnie Williamson said to his knowledge the traffic stop in question was considered “routine.” Williamson said FRPD Patrol Officer Xavier McCombs issued no ticket as a result of the stop. While Williamson acknowledged McCombs likely cut the traffic stop short when the accident occurred within his sight, departmental procedure would not have been to cut the driver loose with only a warning if a more serious offense such as drunk driving was suspected.

Tyler confirmed the 22-year-old Forrester was responding as backup to the FRPD traffic stop when his marked 2007 Ford Crown Victoria State Police Cruiser slammed into a 1987 Crown Victoria driven by 36-year-old Lee Barrett of Front Royal. Barrett, who lives with his wife Cynthia on Strasburg Road, is believed to have pulled into the trooper’s path attempting to turn left out of the East Coast Gas Station/Convenience Store on the west side of Shenandoah Avenue.

Tyler’s initial information was that Forrester was southbound into town when the accident occurred. The impact of the collision, which occurred at 10:12 p.m., left the trooper’s car facing north.

That the state police vehicle was traveling over the speed limit of 35 mph was evident by the condition of the vehicles, both described as total losses in the wake of the collision. By state code, emergency vehicles, including law enforcement are not bound by speed limits during calls.

Cynthia Barrett said her husband remained hospitalized at the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville with serious injuries to his chest and stomach. By Dec. 17, Barrett’s condition had been upgraded from critical to guarded, she said.

“He’s been so drugged I’ll talk to him and he’ll open his eyes for a second and then go right back to sleep, so I really haven’t been able to communicate with him,” she said.

Forrester, a one-year veteran of the state police, was treated for an injured hand at Warren Memorial Hospital and released the evening of the accident.

Information forthcoming?

Tyler said Forrester’s speed at the time of the accident may never be released due to Freedom of Information exemptions related to internal personnel issues.

Tyler also said the same restrictions apply to accidents involving law enforcement that apply to the general public on the release of accident information. Tyler pointed out police only releases names, types of vehicles and charges stemming from accidents.

So in addition to Barrett’s name and vehicle description, it is also known he was soon charged with multiple offenses, including DUI, 2nd offense, driving on a suspended license and refusal to take a breath or blood test. Trooper J.C. Schiavone filed those charges against Barrett.

Based on a phone conversation with her husband earlier the evening of the accident, Barrett’s wife said she believes her husband was intoxicated at the time of the accident. She said she called his cell phone earlier that evening and offered to pick him up so he would not have to drive. It was an offer he unfortunately declined.

“We’ve got to wake up – drunk driving is nothing to play with. I love my husband but what if he hit a car with children in it? He could have killed people. He could have been killed,” Cynthia Barrett said.

Tyler said the result of the state police investigation of the accident being headed by Sgt. J.D. Stump of the Kernstown office would “presumably” be turned over to the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for review.

“I would hope that at the end of the day all the pertinent information will be made available – and I assume it will be in a court of law,” Front Royal Town Councilman Stan Brooks said.

U.S. 340/522 on Front Royal’s northside was closed for two-and-a-half hours following the accident as the police investigation into what happened began. The state police accident scene reconstruction team will assist in the investigation. All departmental crash investigations proceed through the state police chain of command for review, Tyler said, adding that Forrester was not placed on administrative leave in the wake of the accident.

Common sense & safety

Questioned about departmental policies on officer responses to calls, Warren County Sheriff Daniel McEathron said all deputies goes through extensive training before being put into a law enforcement vehicle and that each deputy is responsible for the operation of that vehicle. McEathron said the speed at which deputies drive depends on the circumstances of the calls they are responding to.

“You don’t need every deputy from every corner of the county racing at the same time to get to an accident on exit 13 of I-66,” McEathron said. “Each department should have a set of procedures on responses to different types of situations. Speeds reach pretty high miles per hour during a pursuit and a lot of things go into how the deputy evaluates whether to pursue or to continue to pursue. A deputy should take into consideration braking distance, the time of day, road conditions, conditions of the surrounding area, whether it is rural or residential and whether that deputy is the first responder or a subsequent one.”

McEathron also said that in most cases a deputy would not go more than 20 miles per hour over the speed limit on an average call. “But if an officer has been shot or something you are going to go faster.”

FRPD Chief Williamson added, “An officer has to use judgment to determine the proper speed to get to a scene. We will call an officer down from a pursuit if we feel it is unsafe to continue the pursuit.”

Front Royal Town Councilman Tom Sayre, who knows the families of both Forrester and Forrester’s wife, said of the trooper, “He’s a fine individual, I’ve personally observed him and he appears to me to have sound judgment. I’ve never seen Dale Forrester not use sound judgment.”

State codes

While state law does not limit the speed at which law enforcement can respond to calls, the code language does require that basic safety standards be observed. Virginia State Code § 46.2-920, Section A states, “The driver of any emergency vehicle, when such vehicle is being used in the performance of public services, and when such vehicle is operated under emergency conditions, may, without subjecting himself to criminal prosecution: 1. Disregard speed limits, while having due regard for safety of persons and property.”

Sections A and B of § 46.2-920 seem to give conflicting messages about the use of emergency equipment. Section A-7 states, “Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, vehicles exempted in this instance will not be required to sound a siren or any device to give automatically intermittent signals.”

However, subsection B adds, “The exemptions granted to emergency vehicles by subsection A of this section shall apply only when the operator of such vehicle displays a flashing, blinking, or alternating emergency light or lights as provided in §§ 46.2-1022 and 46.2-1023 and sounds a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn designed to give automatically intermittent signals, as may be reasonably necessary.”

Tyler said initial witness reports indicate Forrester had his cruiser lights on, though he may not have had his siren activated at the time of the crash.