The Washington Post
November 7, 1979, Wednesday, Final Edition
1 Officer Shifted, Another Cleared In Fairfax Melee
BYLINE: By Ronald D. White, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: Metro; C2
LENGTH: 346 words
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.
One Fairfax County police officer has been cleared and a
second officer ordered transferred after an internal investigation of a melee
involving the two men and members of a Groveton family last August, police said
yesterday.
Police Chief Richard A. King said Officer James W. Cavender
Jr., 29, a six-year veteran of the force, will be reassigned to unspecified
duties outside the Groveton area as a result of the probe.
Cavender is "not really being punished, just
reassigned," said King, who added that Cavender "could have used
other options" to avoid the incident. w
The second officer, Jerry L. Bowers, 26, was cleared by
police.
King ordered the probe of possible use of excessive force by
the officers following newspaper accounts of the fracas, in which both officers
and some family members suffered minor injuries.
A spokesman in the FBI's Alexandria office confirmed
yesterday that an agent also is investigating possible use of excessive force
by the patrolmen.
The incident occurred Aug. 10 after 20-year-old Timothy
Rickman allegedly flashed his lights and honked his horn at a patrol car being
driven by Cavender about 10:30 p.m.
Cavender followed Rickman into the family's driveway of 3408
Memorial Dr. The scuffle ensued when Rickman allegedly refused to be questioned
and called for help. Cavender also radioed for assistance and Bowers came to
the scene.
Rickman was charged with drunk driving and assault.
Obstruction of justice and assault charges were brought against his father,
Donald Rickman, his mother Arlene, and his stepbrother Daniel Mancini.
All of the charges were dismissed on Oct. 12 by Fairfax
General District Court Judge Martin E. Morris, who cited a lack of evidence.
"They ought to put both (officers) behind the desk.
Neither one of them are ready to work in the street," Arlene Rickman said
yesterday.
"i couldn't expect much punishment even if they found
them guilty. I'm surprised they're doing this much. This is like a police
state. . . and they really protect their own," she said.