The Washington Post
November 6, 1999, Saturday, Final Edition
Fairfax Police Sued Over Termination; Department Erred by
Taking Action on Legal Gun Sale, Former Officer Says
BYLINE: Brooke A. Masters, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: METRO; Pg. B04
LENGTH: 361 words
A former Fairfax County police officer who was fired for
selling his privately owned gun to a friend sued the department yesterday,
alleging the termination violated his constitutional right to choose his
acquaintances.
Paulo Freyesleben, with the force for 10 years, said he was
told by his commander, Audrey Slyman, that he was dismissed because he sold the
gun and some ammunition to "a young man who looked like a gang
member," according to a four-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court
in Alexandria.
Freyesleben's conduct violated police policy and was
"unbecoming" for an officer, Police Chief J. Thomas Manger ruled in
April 1998, the complaint said.
The gun sale was legal and the gun buyer was not a gang
member and did not have a criminal record, said Richard Gardiner, Freyesleben's
attorney. He said Freyesleben befriended the young man while providing security
at a McDonald's.
Lt. Amy Lubas, a Fairfax police spokeswoman, said, "We
have not been notified of this lawsuit and therefore we cannot respond to
it."
According to the records of the Fairfax Civil Service
Commission, Freyesleben sold the 9mm Smith & Wesson to a man he had met
only three or four times and knew only as "Mario." The commission
also found that Freyesleben also sold him a box of ammunition issued by the
Fairfax County Police Department firing range that was labeled "for law
enforcement purposes only." According to the commission, Freyesleben delivered
the ammunition to the buyer while on duty, in uniform and driving a police car.
In its four-page report upholding the firing, the commission
ruled that "Freyesleben's handling of this entire matter fell well below
the standards of responsible behavior and exercise of discretion that must be
expected of a Fairfax County police officer."
Gardiner said that the ammunition was not county property
and that Freyesleben had gotten to know the gun buyer before the sale. Fairfax
learned about the sale when the young man talked about the transaction to
another police officer.
"They're punishing him because he chose to associate
with someone who looked like a gang member," Gardiner said.
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Misconduct.