Evidently they need more of the road to themselves for rocketing around without sirens on. A witness said he heard no siren, and the County police refuse to hand over tape of the officer's communications, citing "internal investigations" that never seem to keep corroborating police video or 911 calls out of the hands of the press.

from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050101378.html


Fairfax Police Did Not Disclose Crash Details

By Tom Jackman and Ron Shaffer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 2, 2006; B01

Jatinder Baboota was on his way to one of the five gas stations he owns Jan. 23, making a left turn off Columbia Pike, when a Fairfax County police cruiser slammed into the right side of his Honda Accord. After falling into a coma, the longtime Vienna resident died 13 days later.

Police said Baboota, 61, was at fault for turning in front of a police car with its lights and sirens on. But now, more than three months after the crash, Baboota's family is questioning the police version of the incident and wondering whether authorities are telling the truth.

Among other concerns, the family questions whether the officer, Michael D. Weinhaus, had his emergency equipment turned on and whether he was really going only 45 mph -- 10 miles over the speed limit -- as police have estimated.

Family members say police have given them conflicting versions of the crash, including early claims that Weinhaus was involved in a high-speed chase, and two witnesses said they believe the officer did not have his lights and sirens on. Police say four witnesses told them the lights and siren were on.

Fairfax police did not disclose the crash, or Baboota's death, to the public. It came to light when Baboota's family sent an e-mail in early February to the Dr. Gridlock column in The Washington Post. Police said they did not intentionally withhold the news of the first fatal crash involving an officer since 1993, only that an internal communication breakdown occurred.

"I've been very disappointed with the way they've acted in this case," Deepa Sinha, Baboota's daughter, said of Fairfax police. "I feel like they should have been a little bit more forthcoming, not changing their story three times. He's a member of the county, a member of the community. Tell us the truth. Tell us what happened."

The family notified police Feb. 6 that Baboota had died from his injuries the day before. Police said the nearly two weeks between the crash and Baboota's death led to a lack of communication between the department's traffic division and its public information office, so no news release was issued.

"In retrospect, we should have put out a release on this," said Lt. Richard Perez, a Fairfax police spokesman.

Fairfax police said it was the county's first fatal crash involving an officer in 13 years. That crash, in which a man also pulled out in front of an officer, was disclosed the next day by police.

Police said Baboota was at fault for failing to yield to the officer. Deputy Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh said he reviewed the case last month and agreed that the officer should not be cited. He said he would have ruled the same way if a private citizen instead of an officer had been driving and that police had investigated the crash thoroughly.

Although the criminal investigation has been completed, Perez said an internal police investigation is ongoing.

At the time of the crash, Baboota was on his way to the Baileys Crossroads BP on Leesburg Pike that he had owned for 24 years. He took the back way, turning left off Columbia Pike onto Courtland Drive, rather than navigate the busy intersection at Leesburg Pike.

The police car, a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, was heading south on Columbia Pike when the cruiser struck Baboota's Accord. Weinhaus veered into a signpost and was not seriously hurt.

Police believe Baboota's Accord spun 180 degrees and then shot over a concrete median, across three traffic lanes, over a curb and down an embankment into the front yard of Fares Alnajjar, who was standing nearby.

Based on crash calculations, police said the officer was driving no faster than 45 mph -- or 10 miles over the speed limit.

Officers in emergency situations are allowed to ignore speed limits and traffic signals. Perez said Weinhaus had been dispatched to a fight in which five or six people reportedly were beating one person, so the officer chose to activate his lights and siren and hurry to the incident.

Capt. Jesse Bowman, head of the police traffic unit, said no police official would have told the family that the officer was involved in a chase at the time of the crash because investigators knew from the start that Weinhaus was not pursuing anyone. Sinha and others were adamant that they were told the officer was in a chase.

Bowman could not say definitively how Baboota's Accord traveled over a median and a curb and perhaps 50 yards after the impact but said it wasn't unusual. "I've seen this," he said. "They just do." He theorized that Baboota, who was trying to drive through an intersection when he was hit, may have stepped on the accelerator on impact.

Police declined to make their witnesses available or allow a reporter to listen to a tape of Weinhaus's transmissions to confirm the siren was on, because of the internal investigation.

If Weinhaus did not have his lights and siren on, "that would be a problem," Bowman said.

"It's an absolute tragedy," Bowman said. In addition to Baboota's death, Weinhaus was deeply affected, Bowman said. "It's going to be with him for the rest of his life, not just for the rest of his career." Weinhaus declined to comment.

But Alnajjar said in an interview that Weinhaus did not have his siren on. Alnajjar said he was in his front yard with his back to the intersection, which is directly in front of his house. He did not see the crash.

"If I heard a siren, I have to look," Alnajjar said. "I would have seen the accident."

Enrique Osorio, who was driving on Columbia Pike, also said in an interview that he did not see the impact, but "suddenly I heard kind of an explosion on my left side." He saw the police cruiser strike the signpost and Baboota's car traveling slowly across Columbia Pike. Osorio said he was "90 percent sure" the officer did not have his lights or siren on, both because he didn't hear it and because he said "traffic was fluid" and not stopping on Columbia Pike.

Police said they were told Baboota's injuries were not life-threatening. Bowman said that when an officer went to Inova Fairfax Hospital several days later, Baboota was in stable condition.

Sinha said that her father was placed under forced sedation because of swelling in the brain and that doctors were hopeful it would recede. After 11 days, his condition began deteriorating, and he died two days after that, on Feb. 5.

Fairfax police are involved in about 350 crashes a year, Perez said, from fender-benders to serious collisions. But large police departments such as Fairfax, with roughly 1,300 officers, drive millions of miles in a year. Perez said the Fairfax police crash rate for every 100,000 miles was 2.18 last year and 2.58 the year before.

More than 400 of Baboota's friends and relatives packed a funeral two days after his death. "It's been more than two months since my dad died," his daughter Kavita Baboota said. "Not a day goes by that we don't get a condolence card from people that knew him for 30 years."

Baboota was born in the Punjab region of India and came to this country in 1967. He married his wife, Shashi, in 1970 and raised their two daughters in Vienna. In addition to the Baileys Crossroads BP where he spent most of his time, Baboota owned the Fair Oaks Amoco, Columbia Pike Amoco in Arlington, the Chesterbrook Amoco in McLean and the Lincolnia Gulf.

"He was a very kind man," said Robert Varma, his brother-in-law. "He helped a lot of people in his community. He helped people get their green cards. He helped people fix their cars" and often forgave debts of those who couldn't pay, Varma said.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2006 01:01PM by pgens.

Just looking for another reason to police bash I see. Luckily you have the first amendment right to be a moron. 4 witnesses say he did have his lights on, buut I guess you didn't read that part.

not surprised because this ALMOST happened to me on ffx county parkway one night when the cops noticed I was alerting other drivers to their speed trap....

that's fucking bullshit, it's called obstruction of justice to cite' internal investigation' regarding evidence that would prove or disprove a manslaughter case.

Travelling 10mph over the posted speed limit, even as a citizen with no emergency equipment, does not forfeit your right-of-way at an intersection. So with or without emergency equipment this would not be a "manslaughter case". Perhaps if Baboota had simply looked for another car before making a left turn he would still be with us.

S Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perhaps if Baboota had
> simply looked for another car before making a left
> turn he would still be with us.


Mr. Baboota? That pretty much just about sums it up right there!

S Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Travelling 10mph over the posted speed limit, even
> as a citizen with no emergency equipment, does not
> forfeit your right-of-way at an intersection. So
> with or without emergency equipment this would not
> be a "manslaughter case". Perhaps if Baboota had
> simply looked for another car before making a left
> turn he would still be with us.


In fact, the regulations of most departments (I don't know about Fairfax specifically) state that you are supposed to stop at an intersection even if running lights and siren when you try to cross an intersection without the right of way. Apparently that was not the case here! I'd be contacting an FOP lawyer, or trying pony up the cash for my own lawyer, if I were P/O Weinhaus.

i want to see the tape from the cop car. i mean, that would clear everything up, right? you dont need witnesses if it's on a videotape. just release the tape, even if it's after their "internal investigation".


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gonna have to agree with Gravis. The cops are always gung-ho to release tapes and use technology to prove themselves right, but when citizen x tries to do the same, they get fucked in the ass.

Deep Trouble...Maybe I missed something in the article. Where did it say the officer entered the intersection on a red light. Otherwise a vehicle going straight has the righ-of-way over a vehicle turning left and would not have to yield or stop regardless of whether it had emergency equipment on or had it at all.

S you are a cocksucker because we aren't trying to point fingers at anyone.....You clearly are.

The video would be clearcut evidence that would prove/disprove any allegations of wrong doing.

Like the police always say 'why hide something if you are innocent'?

Depending on what district they are in, they may not have video, not all FCPD cruisers are equipped with dash-board cameras as of yet.

Also if the unit's light's and sirens were not on, should the cruiser have a dashboard camera, it would not be activated, unless the officer manually turned it on.

so... i guess a lack of video (assuming it's equiped) would be rather telling of what happened. so, if it IS equiped for video, it should be evidentiary either way. so the only question now is, was the cruiser equiped for video, and if so, what is the last thing on the tape?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

That intersection is not controlled therefore he could not have a red light and would not have to slow down.

SWweeman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 4 witnesses say he did have his
> lights on, buut I guess you didn't read that part.

Police told the Post they heard from four witnesses but I doubt they supplied their names to the Post as there was no account of their interviews in the article. The Post found two that said the lights/siren weren't on. But with memories now three months old and given how sirens are kind of background noise nowdays whereas a booming crash sound isn't, I would not be at all surprised if he did have lights and sirens going.

But why not release the audio communications that apparently exist, where the Post reporter plays it and either hears sirens in the background or doesn't? And like others said, sirens or not if this guy pulled out in front of the officer then the officer did _nothing_ wrong unless he ran a red... my concern is with the department and the lack of information given to the public. Given the scrutiny the citizenry has been putting police departments under recently, if they were in the right on this one they should have bent over backwards to make that clear to the public. And reporting the incident to the press from the outset would have been helpful, as with any incident that involves a police officer and a death of a citizen.

"S is a cocksucker" Deep Trouble wrote: "In fact, the regulations of most departments (I don't know about Fairfax specifically) state that you are supposed to stop at an intersection even if running lights and siren when you try to cross an intersection without the right of way. Apparently that was not the case here! I'd be contacting an FOP lawyer, or trying pony up the cash for my own lawyer, if I were P/O Weinhaus." I was simply responding by citing Virginia State code dealing with right-of-way. If you infer that as pointing the finger at Baboota so be it. I thought we were trying to have a mature conversation. Apparently you would rather resort to juvenile name calling.

I'd love to hear the tapes as well, or see the video if there is one. The Post (Tom Jackman in particular) love to play this game where the police won't give them evidence, and then they scream cover-up in their paper. Those tapes should be made available to the opposing side in any criminal or civil proceeding, but it doesn't help the department any to hand it over to the Post, so they won't do it. If I was driving my car and wrecked into somebody and somehow had a videotape of the whole thing, I imagine my lawyer would advise me not to plaster the video all over the 6 pm news either. They're more worried about shelling out $$$ in civil court than proving their case in the court of public opinion .. can't say I blame them.

the information that the car is equiped with video or not should be public as it is a state vehical. additionally, if there is a tape it should be public as it is belongs to the state and that whole "Freedom of Information Act" bit says they must. If they are withholding information or evidence, it is a cover-up.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if there is a tape it should be
> public as it is belongs to the state and that
> whole "Freedom of Information Act" bit says they
> must. If they are withholding information or
> evidence, it is a cover-up.

I don't think that is correct. The Freedom of Information Act applies to federal agencies, not local police departments. Second, FOIA requests are for records and they may argue that a recording of a police tape isn't a record but rather a circumstance of an event. A transcript of the recording might be a record, but it may not include details about background noises. Third, someone needs to file a written Freedom of Information Act request and then have it approved or denied... the Act doesn't allow someone to just walk up to a government official and demand stuff and get it.

fb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That intersection is not controlled therefore he
> could not have a red light and would not have to
> slow down.


I don't know that intersection, so thanks for that. But, how does that intersection work? Is it a 4 way stop? There must be something there, right? Unless the officer had no stop sign, he would still have to stop to make sure there was no traffic even if running with lights and siren.

Deep Trouble Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know that intersection, so thanks for
> that. But, how does that intersection work? Is
> it a 4 way stop? There must be something there,
> right? Unless the officer had no stop sign, he
> would still have to stop to make sure there was no
> traffic even if running with lights and siren.

Traffic on Columbia Pike has no traffic control device at this intersection. No traffic signal and no stop sign. Closest control for traffic on Columbia Pike is a light at Lacy Bv. if you're looking at a map.

S Wrote:
> Traffic on Columbia Pike has no traffic control
> device at this intersection. No traffic signal
> and no stop sign. Closest control for traffic on
> Columbia Pike is a light at Lacy Bv. if you're
> looking at a map.


That makes it very interesting and the lawyers will have fun with that. Ultimately, I'm sure Fairfax will settle out of court because regulations for running with lights and siren will still have some catch-all phrase that puts the responsibility on the officer to exercise caution. It would be tough to prove that the other driver was responsible without some hard evidence like film from a dashboard camera.

I also think the video should be made public. The officer isn't above criminal charges as well.

I know that this will probably mean very little to the folks on this board, but I've been in a cruiser with Ofc. Weinhaus, I've even ridden shotgun with him when he was running code (lights/sirens) to a call, and I was suprised with his attention to safety while running code (maintaining a reasonable speed, double and triple checking intersections, slowing to a near-stop (55-70mph down to about 2mph) at red lights, even when he was sure it was clear). He has also always struck me as a very nice guy - not an asshole cop at all. I would be very suprised if he was lying about his speed, or his lights/siren.
Also - the current communications setup of the police now means officers can go a week without talking into their radio once - everything is on their computer - so I would also be suprised if a radio recording even existed of him talking, except after the accident, to report it, and start rescue and supervisors, when his siren would have been turned off.
As for video - most FCPD cruisers have cameras, and they are set to automatically start recording when the lights and sirens are activated - some don't have them, some don't automatically record, and some are just broken.

That being said, from the sound of it, there's a few things that the Fairfax County police should have done that they didn't.
They should confirm or deny publically if there is a video/audio recording, and release it or disclose it's contents.
They should have released the death publically ASAP.

In addition - I don't know that intersection - but it doesn't look like Columbia Pike and Courtland Ave cross - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=courtland+dr,+falls+church,+va&ll=38.847502,-77.134393&spn=0.001498,0.003254&t=k&om=1
Maybe I misread the intersection that this happened at.

All in all, looks like a very unfortunate incident - for the family and the Officer Weinhaus - but not a coverup.

Actually, Virginia law is clear that if someone is speeding, they LOSE right of way at intersections.

It's one of the little interesting vagaries of Virginia law that few people know about.

Here's another one:

Failure to use your turn signal is reckless driving, which a Class 1 misdemeanor (up to 1 year in jair or $2500 fine)

"Police said they did not intentionally withhold the news of the first fatal crash involving an officer since 1993, only that an internal communication breakdown occurred."

Hmm sounds familiar

Also the desc. of the crash makes it sound like someone was doing far more then the speed limit.

Ill post a link of a FCPD/DEA coverup later if i can find it.

Mr. Babootas name is clean on this sites arrest list.
Im not sure if the police meant an 'internal' or an 'intentional communication breakdown'

Anyone know what resulted with this situation?

Yes. Mr. Babootas is dead. End of story.

s wrote:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Baboota? That pretty much just about sums it up right there!




Good one! Not really. But if it makes you feel any better, that comment DID succeed at summing up how much of an ass hole you are.

Concerned Citizen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> s wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -------------
> Mr. Baboota? That pretty much just about sums it
> up right there!
>
>
>
>
> Good one! Not really. But if it makes you feel any
> better, that comment DID succeed at summing up how
> much of an ass hole you are.


Hey fucktard, why did you bump a 3 year old thread???

­



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2013 10:01AM by chuckhoffmann.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-920

brianl703 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually, Virginia law is clear that if someone is
> speeding, they LOSE right of way at
> intersections.
>
> It's one of the little interesting vagaries of
> Virginia law that few people know about.
>
> Here's another one:
>
> Failure to use your turn signal is reckless
> driving, which a Class 1 misdemeanor (up to 1 year
> in jair or $2500 fine)