Earlier in the morning, students had been moved to rooms with windows, and telephone and internet access were affected, according to a text sent to parents at about 9:30 a.m. Parents received a follow-up message from the school at 10:30 a.m. about the outages and the subsequent dismissal at 11 a.m.

An electrical worker at the scene told a Daily Press reporter that a “squirrel in the line” triggered the electrical issues. Power to the building has been restored, but the dismissal will continue.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

Peter Dujardin, peter.dujardin@dailypress.com

But this time, he was seeking to benefit others, too.

“In these last 10 years, I went through a divorce, I moved, and just had a lot of personal stuff that I went through,” Scott said. “So turning 50 feels kind of more reflective. I wanted to do something big, but I wanted to do it in a way where I could give back.”

So now, Scott is riding his bicycle 588 miles across Virginia — and raising money for charity — to celebrate his 50 years.

It all began in early 2023, when Scott — a former college English teacher who now runs a fledgling business called Fennario Coffee Roasters — began talking to one of his new customers at the Farmer’s Market in Hilton Village.

That customer, Caroline Dutle, is the director of development at THRIVE Peninsula, a nonprofit that provides food and financial, housing and utilities assistance for those in need.

When THRIVE received a large whole-bean coffee donation a few months later, Dutle thought of her “coffee guy” and asked Scott if he’d be willing to grind the beans down before it’s given away.

“Most of our clients can’t afford coffee, let alone a coffee grinder,” Dutle said. “So a donation isn’t too helpful if it’s in bean form.”

Scott immediately said yes.

“He came to check out our facility, and has been really active and involved in supporting us ever since,” Dutle said. “So it all started with coffee beans.”

Scott took the beans home, ground them up and returned them in packages, ready for distribution. Though most consider coffee a staple, she said, for others it’s a “luxury item.”

“Any time we can provide things beyond the necessities, it’s a real treat for our clients,” Dutle said.

THRIVE Peninsula was founded 50 years ago by several churches in Newport News’ Denbigh section, and still considers itself a Christian-based organization. But Scott said he was drawn to the fact that the nonprofit helps people of all faiths — or no faith.

“I am sensitive to people telling me what to do or trying to evangelize me,” Scott said. “But (faith) doesn’t affect who gets help or who doesn’t get help. The only thing that you have to do is qualify financially.”

“And once I saw how selfless and giving these people are, the volunteers, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to be involved in this somehow.’ ”

THRIVE has a pantry where people can come once a month by appointment and get about a week’s worth of groceries. It also offers financial assistance and coaching.

So when it came time for Scott to mark his 50th birthday, he decided he wanted THRIVE to be the recipient of a charity event. He came to Dutle with a concept: He’d bike 500 miles to raise $5,000 and 500 pounds of food — all multiples of 50 — to benefit the organization.

Dutle liked the idea, and helped him put the plan — and the fundraising mechanisms — into action.

It began Saturday morning at Breaks Interstate Park near the Kentucky and Virginia border. Scott will then trek the Virginia portion of the TransAmerica Trail — 588 miles — over nine days. That’s about 65 miles a day.

The route will take him south to Damascus, then northeast to Radford, Christiansburg and Lexington. He will hit the Blue Ridge Parkway, then Charlottesville, Ashland and Richmond before heading back to Hampton Roads.

Scott can be followed online in real time — at www.tinyurl.com/heathwatch — as he makes his way through the commonwealth.

Though Scott has done lengthy rides in the past, this will be the longest. He said the first several days — where the route is most mountainous — will be the most challenging.

Luckily, Scott is no stranger to physical exertion. He has been an ultra distance runner in the past. And over the past couple years, his coffee business includes a guarantee to deliver the java the next day anywhere in Newport News by bike. That also ensures he’s getting in his daily rides.

“Rain and snow doesn’t stop me,” he said. “I had a broken rib last year, and was out delivering on the bike … so it’s gonna take a lot to stop me.”

THRIVE, for one, is appreciative.

“I think it’s just such a superhuman feat that Heath is taking on, and this is just an amazing opportunity for us to be recognized in this way,” Dutle said Friday. “He’s really garnered a lot of support within the community, and it’s been very helpful to THRIVE.”

Scott will carry a tent and sleeping bag, and plans to camp on his route. It’ll be a mixture of “stealth camping” — finding a spot in wooded areas along the way — and campgrounds, and a hotel for his night in Richmond.

He’ll bring a couple days’ worth of trail food with plans to replenish in small towns along the way.

“It’s all back roads, and you’re never more than an hour or two ride from any kind of convenience store,” Scott explained.

A friend plans to meet him Thursday at the Blue Ridge Parkway to help him resupply and offer moral support. Scott’s wife, Woodside High School art teacher Heidi Compton, will meet him in the evenings starting that same night.

He plans to be back on or about Sept. 15 — his 50th birthday.

Road construction on the Capital Trail will prevent Scott from finishing at the end of the cross-country TransAmerica trail in Yorktown. So he plans to end the route at the THRIVE building on Nettles Drive in Newport News, likely arriving by way of Warwick Boulevard.

Scott has already surpassed his initial $5,000 fundraising goal. That’s in large part because of Priority Bicycles, the New York-based company that makes the bike he’s riding, a belt-driven Priority 600.

“I’ve seen them do charitable work, on everything from suicide prevention to getting kids on bikes,” Scott said of the company. “I sent them a letter explaining what I was doing, and they didn’t hesitate. They got back to me within 24 hours and said, ‘We’d love to help out.’ ”

Scott asked Priority to donate a less expensive bicycle than the $2,500 one that Scott will be riding. “And they came right back and said, ‘No, let’s do the Priority 600,’ They completely donated it, no strings attached.'”

The bike will be raffled off as part of the fundraising effort. Tickets are selling for $25 apiece or five for $100, with all proceeds counting toward the $5,000 goal. And last week, an anonymous local family kicked in $2,630 — at the time just enough to hit the $5,000 mark.

“Their anonymity will be respected, but we can assure you that they are one of the most wonderful families we’ve had had the honor to get to know,” Scott wrote on his coffee company’s Instagram page. “They are true models of how to be a good human.”

The fundraiser is now up to $5,370 and counting, with 100% of the proceeds going to THRIVE.

Canned goods and other non-perishables are being collected at THRIVE (12749 Nettles Drive) or Village Bicycles (9913 Warwick Blvd.). Both are in Newport News.

“I’m just really excited,” he said Friday before leaving for the Kentucky border. “I’m pretty humbled by the outpouring of support from folks and the interest from folks. I was doing this as a kind of a small way to help try and raise some money, and the swell of support that I’ve gotten from the community, it’s just been unbelievable.”

THRIVE will host a community day Sept. 22 with Scott, featuring refreshments, a mobile coffee bar and an opportunity to learn more about the organization’s mission. That’s also when the donated bicycle will be raffled off.

To contribute or buy a raffle ticket for the bike, go to the donation website, “50 to 5000: Heath’s Trans-Virginia Birthday Ride for THRIVE,” at givebutter.com/HeathsRide4THRIVE.

“Trading river views for mountains tomorrow,” Scott wrote Thursday on Instagram, with a picture of his bicycle near the James River. “Who knows what adventures lay ahead?”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Gunter “Garshon” Morgenstein, 88, bought Boar’s Head liverwurst July 30 from a Newport News Harris Teeter, and consumed some of it over the next several days.

Morgenstein’s son said his father would typically spread the liverwurst over a bagel, just like he did as a boy growing up in Germany in the 1940s.

But a few days later, Morgenstein began to feel weak and short of breath and developed a fever.

“As his condition deteriorated, he began to look increasingly ill, and his family called emergency services,” according to the lawsuit.

An ambulance took him to Riverside Regional Medical Center on July 8. While hospital staff thought Morgenstein would be out within a couple days, he didn’t improve.

“For the first few days the hospital staff was perplexed by his worsening condition,” the lawsuit said.

Hospital staffers took a blood culture July 11. It came back positive for bacterial meningitis, with the presence of listeria monocytogenes. Morgenstein’s red blood cell count kept dropping, and his fever continued unabated, the lawsuit. Though the hospital took “aggressive measures” to save him, he died July 18 at Riverside.

After surviving the Holocaust in Germany, Morgenstein emigrated to Canada in 1954, according to his family’s obituary. He moved to Newport News more than 50 years ago and became a “master hair designer.” He leaves behind a son and two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

His son, Garshon “Shon” Morganstein, 49, of Virginia Beach, said the family “put two and two together” when they saw news reports about a massive recall involving Boar’s Head meats.

The lawsuit was filed in Sarasota County, Florida — where Boar’s Head Provisions is based — by Ron Simon & Associates, a Texas law firm. It was filed on behalf of Morgenstein’s wife, Margaret “Peggy” Morgenstein, and son.

The complaint doesn’t seek a specific dollar amount, but asks for a jury to determine damages.

According to the lawsuit, the U.S. Food and Drug Administraiton, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state regulatory agencies began on July 19 investigating a multi-state listeria outbreak that was resulting in sicknesses and deaths.

Listeria most affects older people and those with weakened immune systems, federal regulators said.

“Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria usually look, smell, and taste normal, meaning that a consumer has no warning of contamination,” the lawsuit added.

Invetigators ultimately traced the illnesses to the Boar’s Head liverwurst “as the likely source.” As part of that investigation, the Maryland Health Department got an unopened meat package from a Baltimore grocery store, with its contents testing positive for listeria monocytogenes.

On July 26, Boar Head Provisions Co., based in Jarrett — about 75 miles west of Norfolk — recalled the Boar’s Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst, made at the plant between mid-June and mid-July. The meat has a shelf life of 44 days, with “sell by” dates ranging from late July to late August.

The company also recalled ham and bologna products made on the same line, with more than 200,000 pounds of meat ultimately recalled.

According to the lawsuit, 57 people in 18 states have been hospitalized from the liverwurst, with nine people dying from the illnesses. But the true number of victims is likely “much higher,” the lawsuit asserted, in part because some who got sick were able to recover without medical care.

Boar’s Head Provisions Co. has posted an extensive post on its website about the recall.

“We deeply regret the impact this recall has had on affected families,” the statement said. “No words can fully express our sympathies and the sincere and deep hurt we feel for those who have suffered losses or endured illness.”

Production has been paused at the Jarratt plant and won’t resume “until we are confident that it meets USDA regulatory standards and Boar’s Head’s highest quality and safety standards,” Boar’s Head added. The company said it’s conducting an extensive examination to determine how the contanination happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

So far, the company said, only the liverwurst has been found to have been adulterated. “You have our promise that we will work tirelessly to regain your trust.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Portsmouth prosecutors had charged McClean with manslaughter in two separate 2018 cases. In both, the officer was accused of failing to render first aid to people police arrested before they died.

Stanfield, 38, wanted to see the records, he said, in large part because it’s “so unusual to me that it’s law enforcement being prosecuted by the local prosecutor.”

This was only the latest in court cases stemming from the York County man’s hobby — filing open records requests to state and local agencies, which he says he does about a half-dozen times a week.

“I’ll read a news article in the morning, and I’ll think, ‘Oh, that’s interesting,’ ” he said. “I want to see some records.’ ”

Several of Stanfield’s open records requests have gone to court. He tends to focus on high-profile cases — a meals-tax scandal in Richmond, casino controversies in Richmond and Norfolk and a report into a shooting at a Richmond high school graduation last year.

And when he pushes for records, he said, it’s all about attitude.

“Public bodies think these are their records — and that when you do a (Freedom of Information Act) request, you’re asking permission for them to share something with you,” he said. “And that’s just not my position. My position is what the law says — that these are all presumed to be mine. They’re the public’s. They’re all of ours.”

Though agencies can withhold some documents under certain exemptions, he said, those should be the exception rather than the rule.

By the time Stanfield asked for records into the McClean case in December, the officer already had been acquitted of one of the manslaughter counts. He was acquitted in the second three months ago.

Also at the time, Stanfield wanted records about Robert Huntington, a former Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s investigator who helped look into McClean — and whom McClean sued in May, alleging malicious prosecution.

On Dec. 19, Stanfield sent a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request to the Portsmouth Police Department and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

He asked for “any and all documents and communications mentioning or concerning any closed investigations” into McClean. And he sought “any and all documents and communications mentioning or concerning any complaints or disciplinary actions against Mr. Robert Huntington” between 2014-23.

The city eventually acknowledged they had 20 files “with hundreds of pages of records” into McClean. But they cited personnel and administrative exemptions in withholding them.

But police referred Stanfield to the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney regarding documents pertaining to Huntington. But about a week later, the prosecutor’s office said the police were actually the “custodian” of that record. Stanfield wrote back to the police — and they referred him back to prosecutors.

Feeling the runaround, Stanfield emailed Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales and two others.

“Please clarify who is the proper custodian of the records, otherwise I will be forced to bring the question to a Circuit Court judge,” he wrote on Dec. 27.

He never got a response.

But Stanfield didn’t take that lying down. Though he typically takes his cases to court without a lawyer, he hired attorney Verbena M. Askew to represent him in this case, explaining that “Portsmouth can be tricky.”

Askew sued Morales on March 20, asserting the prosecutor violated the state’s open records law by failing to properly cite an exemption within the five working days. Morales, meantime, hired two outside lawyers to represent her.

In May — five months after Stanfield’s initial request — the commonwealth’s attorney’s office’s lawyers said the records about Huntington are exempt from mandatory disclosure under protections for personnel records and administrative records. Separately, the city said it had 70 pages of records into Huntington on file, but also withheld them based on the same provisions.

At a hearing Monday, Askew asked Circuit Judge Randall Smith to rule that the prosecutor’s office ceded its right to withhold the records when it took five months to invoke an exemption. Under law, Askew noted, they only have five business days to do so.

“They have played games with Mr. Stanfield,” Askew said at Monday’s hearing. “You don’t get to wait five months to say the records are exempt. So I would submit that they have waived that.”

A spokeswoman for the commonwealth’s attorney said this week that the office was unable to comment because of the pending litigation.

Attorneys representing Morales acknowledged at the Circuit Court hearing that the prosecutor’s office should have cited the exemptions earlier. Still, they contended, that doesn’t mean they give up their right to cite the provisions allowing the withholding under law.

Because the records Stanfield wants are clearly exempt from mandatory disclosure anyway, they asserted, “the alleged failure is immaterial … and of no consequence.”

Smith said the runaround “must have been frustrating for Mr. Stanfield.”

“No one likes to have to submit a bunch of requests,” he said. “It certainly would lead a reasonable person to be frustrated.”

But Smith stopped short of granting Askew’s motion to force Morales to turn over the records. While the prosecutor’s office improperly ignored the response deadlines, Smith said, he would still allow them to cite the exemption.

Still, Smith voiced skepticism that a government agency should be the unilateral arbiter that a document should be withheld, particularly when it ends up in a court challenge.

“No one can ever see if they were following the law or not?” he asked skeptically during the hearing. “No one can check behind the public officer?

Smith told attorneys from both sides to file briefs on that issue in the coming weeks. He also appeared open to the possibility of reviewing the documents himself to determine what can be released.

Stanfield said the episode proves he has a lot more work to do to push for government transparency.

“I thought one way to get public bodies to comply more often with the law was to get a reputation where they think, ‘OK, maybe we ignore the timelines with other people, but this guy, he’ll be a pain in our ass,'” Stanfield said. “He’ll sue us. We need to follow the law with this guy.”

But so far, he said, “it hasn’t had that effect.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Philip Charles Bay, 33, was found guilty of 20 counts of possession of child pornography following a two-day bench trial before Virginia Beach Circuit Judge Kevin M. Duffan.

A Verizon cloud storage service that automatically scans stored images for suspected child pornography first reported the case to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

That led to Virginia Beach surveilling and searching Bay’s home off Princess Anne Road in June 2023 and seizing multiple electronic devices.

On the cloud storage service, police investigators found 20 sexually explicit pictures that became subject of this week’s trial. Those images — of girls between about 8 and 12 years old — had been uploaded to the cloud eight months before Bay’s home was searched.

Bay was arrested on June 22, 2023.

His attorney, Eric Korslund, honed in on the fact that the images were stored on the cloud service — which backed up data automatically — and not on Bay’s electronic devices.

“My argument was that in order for somebody to be found guilty of (child porn) possession, the commonwealth has to prove that they knew the stuff was on there,” Korslund said. “You may not necessarily know what’s on the cloud, because every time it backs it up, you don’t get a notification.”

Virginia Beach prosecutors, however, contended the images came from Bay.

According to the Verizon cloud service data, the images came from the same make and model phone Bay used. Moreover, several other pictures of Bay were uploaded to the cloud storage service around that same time — with no evidence anyone else had access to it.

The first child possession count is a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The other 19 counts are Class 5 felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years. That means Bay faces a maximum 195 years when Duffan sentences him Nov. 26.

The guilty verdicts come 15 years after the Landstown High School case. In April 2009, when Bay was 17, police discovered hours of homemade videos and journal entries indicating he’d been plotting to attack fellow Landstown students on the 10-year anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Investigators also found a stockpile of Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs in Bay’s home. They determined that he developed a hit list of targeted students and enlisted two younger classmates to help.

But one of those classmates tipped off police just two weeks before the planned attack. Word spread quickly among students and more than 850 students were reported absent that day.

In 2011, Bay was sentenced to 12 years in prison on multiple terrorism, weapons and conspiracy charges. He was released from prison in that case in October 2019.

Staff writer Jane Harper contributed to this report.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

A correction was made on Aug. 29, 2024: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story gave an incorrect spelling for Landstown High School.

The “Cold Case Team” will include two full-time detectives and a retired police investigator who is being hired back part-time.

“The Cold Case Team will help bring back a voice to victims that, through time, has become a whisper,” said Aaron Thornton, a veteran homicide detective who is part of the initiative.

“We hope to help those families desperately looking for answers,” added Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew. “We have assembled a skilled and compassionate team dedicated to making this happen.”

The others on the team are veteran homicide detective Amber Rogers and retired investigator Misty Mercer. The three have 80 years of combined law enforcement experience, “with an emphasis on complex investigations,” the department said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many cold case killings the team will have on its plate. But the city’s unsolved homicides number into the hundreds.

In 2010, Newport News police began an initiative to farm out some of the older unsolved cases to robbery detectives. But in more recent years, the department’s homicide unit — at 10 detectives when fully staffed — has handled investigations of recent and cold case killings.

In practice, the unit focuses mostly on the more recent cases, looking at older cases in their spare time.

The existing homicide unit will maintain a manpower of 10 detectives, with the three Cold Case Team positions in addition to that, department spokeswoman Kelly King said.

While the part-time investigator position is new to the department’s ranks, the two other detective slots are being shifted from different investigatory areas. The change, King said, stemmed from regular staffing reviews designed to “optimize operations and respond to the evolving needs of our residents.”

The department said the new three-person team will use DNA analysis and other technological advances to investigate the older cases, and will work in partnership with local, state and federal law agencies.

They also are seeking tips from the community, with the department asking that anyone with information about an unsolved case share it with the new team.

In certain cases, experts say, the amount of time that’s elapsed since a killing can cause people to finally come forward after years of sitting on crucial information.

“Behind every unsolved homicide is a family looking for answers,” the department said in announcing the new team.

“As months and even years pass by, they live with uncertainty and unanswered questions about their loved ones. The Cold Case Team is dedicated to solving these cases and providing some sense of closure to these families.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

But his family said the liverwurst was contaminated, and the 88-year-old Newport News resident died a few weeks later.

Morgenstein — a retired Newport News hair stylist — was admitted to Riverside Regional Medical Center on July 8 after growing short of breath, and died there 10 days later.

“I think we’re all just still in shock, and just like completely mind blown, that this is how he died, because of lunch meat,” his son, Garshon “Shon” Morgenstein, said Saturday.

Though the elder Morgenstein was set to be released from the hospital a day or two after being admitted, his wife of 50 years, Peggy Morgenstein, questioned that decision.

“My mom was like, ‘I don’t think he should come home, because something is just off about him,’ ” said Shon Morgenstein, 49, of Virginia Beach. “He doesn’t look right, and he seems super weak.”

Riverside did more tests to get to the cause of the issue. A blood culture came back positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

Around that time, the family saw a news report about a major meat recall, to include the Boar’s Head Stassburger Brand Liverwurst made at a plant in Jarratt, about 75 miles west of Norfolk.

“Then we put two and two together,” Shon Morgenstein said.

According to the July 26 recall notice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recalled the liverwurst after finding that the Boar’s Head product made at the plant between June 11 and July 17 may be “adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes.”

The USDA warned that eating the contaminated food can cause listeriosis, an infection that begins in the gastrointestinal tract and leads to fever, muscle aches, headache, confusion, loss of balance and flu-like symptoms.

“Serious and sometimes fatal infections can occur in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems,” the report added.

Other meats made on the same line also were affected, with more than 200,000 pounds of meat ultimately recalled.

While his father’s liverwurst packaging had long been thrown away, Shon Morgenstein tracked the June 30 purchase to the Harris Teeter grocery store, on Warwick Boulevard in Newport News’ Hidenwood section.

Morganstein consumed the liverwurst “one or more times” between June 30 and July 7, according to Tony Coveny, an attorney with a Texas law firm that is representing the family in the case.

Despite being treated with antibiotics at the hospital, Gunter Morgenstein kept feeling worse.

“We said, ‘You just have to try to keep fighting, don’t give up,'” his son said. “I know you want to go home, but just keep fighting … But he never really spoke again after that.”

Morgenstein died July 18 at Riverside.

His death and his family’s contentions about the food poisoning were first reported Friday by WAVY-10.

Elizabeth Ward, a vice president for communications at Boar’s Head Provisions Co., could not be reached Saturday for comment. A spokeswoman for Harris Teeter declined to comment.

The family is in touch with Coveny, who works for Ron Simon & Associates, a Texas law firm that represents victims in food poisoning claims.

“We have not yet filed the lawsuit, on this or any of the other victims we represent, but will make that decision in the coming weeks,” Coveny said. ”

Gunter Morgenstein survived the Holocaust, and left Germany in 1954. After emigrating to Canada, he moved to Newport News more than 50 years ago and became a “master hair designer.”

He leaves behind a son and two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“He showed his courage in facing life challenges with a smile, and stayed strong until the end,” the family’s obituary said.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

The Virginia State Crime Commission — which analyzed six years of state car crash data — said there were 1,005 crash fatalities on the Old Dominion’s roadways in 2022, up from 843 in 2017.

More than 5,300 people in Virginia — including 923 in Hampton Roads — were killed in car crashes during that stretch, the report says. That included people who died in cars and trucks as well as those struck while walking or riding bicycles.

The increase in roadway deaths, the state report said, is a result of “an escalation in risky driving behaviors,” such as speeding, impaired driving and failing to wear a seat belt. Larger and heavier vehicles also likely played a role, the report said.

The 19% jump in fatalities came despite a 4% reduction in total car crashes in Virginia over the same six-year period, the report shows.

Speed was a factor in nearly half — or 43% — of the state’s roadway fatalities, while alcohol was a factor in just over a quarter of them. More than a third of those killed — or 37% — were not wearing seat belts.

The increase in roadway deaths came as police and sheriff’s deputies throughout the state have sharply cut back on the number of speeding tickets they handed out.

“While Virginia has a number of laws meant to promote roadway safety, the enforcement of many of these laws has been significantly decreasing in recent years,” the report said.

Cutbacks in traffic enforcement that began during the pandemic have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2022, for example, there were just over 171,500 speeding tickets issued statewide for people accused of going up to 19 miles over posted limits. That was down 37% from the more than 274,000 such speeding tickets in 2017.

Tickets for “reckless driving by speed” — for going 20 mph or more above the limit — also fell sharply, the numbers show. There were just over 52,000 such tickets issued in 2022 — a 47% drop from the more than 99,000 handed out five years earlier.

Charges brought for failing to wear a seat belt have likewise dropped sharply — to about 21,000 such tickets statewide in 2022 from nearly 39,000 in 2017. That’s a reduction of 46%.

Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the manpower shortages at the state’s police departments are real — and it affects basic public safety.

“We just don’t have as many people out there on the road as we need to have,” she said. “It’s a big concern.”

Aggressive driving, including people hitting speeds of more than 100 mph, is on the rise, Schrad added. The crashes that do occur, she said, “are more likely to have serious injuries and fatalities.”

Police manpower shortages, she said, began across the country with officer retention and recruitment challenges following the George Floyd protests in 2020. “They didn’t feel like they had the respect of the public anymore,” she said.

It’s been a struggle in many departments ever since, Schrad said.

Moreover, she said, there’s there’s been “a hesitation” by some departments to conduct the high visibility traffic stops that once were routine.

“We’ve been trying to restore that positive relationship with our communities,” Schrad said. “To make sure people understand that when you pull somebody over for a traffic violation, you’re doing it not only in their best interest, but in the interest of other people on the road.”

The Virginia State Crime Commission first publicly presented the results of their car crash research at a meeting in November. But the commission completed the report this year — and first published it online June 30 as part of the board’s annual report to the governor and General Assembly.

The commission a 13-member state board that includes six members of the House of Delegates, three members of the state Senate, three citizens appointed by the governor, and a representative of the state attorney general’s office.

Among other things, the commission advises the General Assembly on possible changes that could be made to state law. In this case, for example, that includes changes “to promote roadway safety.”

To reduce traffic crash fatalities, the report said, Virginia should consider expanding remote speed monitoring and make failing to wear a seat belt a primary offense — which would mean someone could be pulled over for that alone.

States where not wearing a safety belt is a primary offense, the report said, tend to have better seat belt usage and fewer fatalities.

The commission said the state could also boost technology to help officers determine whether drivers are impaired by drugs. The state can also bar headphone use while driving and create a new criminal charge for injuring someone by reckless driving.

The study — conducted in 2023 at the request of the General Assembly — included examining six years of Virginia Department of Transportation car crash data, delving into traffic laws and talking with various stakeholders.

The report found that there were nearly 734,000 traffic crashes — and more than 5,300 roadway fatalities — in Virginia between 2017 and 2022.

More than 85% of the fatal collisions were on non-interstate roadways, the report said, and more than half — or 54% — were single-vehicle accidents. About 71% of those who died on the roads were male.

A significant number of pedestrians were struck and killed by cars in Virginia.

They accounted for 771 of the fatalities over the six years — or about 15% of the total. Their numbers spiked sharply to 171 pedestrian deaths in 2022, up 50% from five years earlier.

About a third of the pedestrians killed were above legal limits for intoxication, the report shows. Those between 50 to 69 were more likely than other age groups to be killed while walking. And most pedestrian fatalities occur at night.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Correction: Due to a reporting error, a prior version of this story undercounted the number of roadway fatalities in Hampton Roads between 2017 and 2022. There were 923 roadway fatalities in the region in that six-year period, according to the state report.

The three-judge appellate panel ruled that the trial judge acted appropriately when she told jurors that Sgt. Albin Trevor Pearson and other officers violated the decedent’s rights when they barged into his Oyster Point townhome without a warrant in December 2019.

Pearson shot and killed Henry “Hank” Berry III, 43, during a struggle over a Taser when police went to his home to arrest him on a misdemeanor charge of abusing the city’s 911 system. That came after Berry made a series of calls to police about the well-being of his 9-year-old son.

At the December 2022 trial, the jury found Pearson guilty of voluntary manslaughter and entering Berry’s home unlawfully. He was later sentenced to serve six years.

On appeal, Pearson’s lawyers contended that Circuit Court Judge Margaret Poles Spencer erred when she instructed jurors that officers acted “unlawfully” when they entered the home without a warrant.

“An officer may not arrest someone in his home … unless the officer secures an arrest warrant,” Spencer told the jurors. “The attempted arrest of Mr. Berry was unlawful.”

Spencer further instructed the 12-member jury that officers going into a home unlawfully are “aggressors,” and that an arrestee has “the right to use self-defense to resist so long as the force used is reasonable.”

In this case, Spencer told the jurors, Berry “was entitled to resist the attempted unlawful arrest with such reasonable force as was necessary” to repel it.

But Pearson’s lawyers, Timothy Clancy and Lisa Mallory, contended the jury instructions were improper.

For one thing, they asserted, Spencer was wrong on the law — Pearson entered Berry’s home legally to effect a valid arrest. Moreover, they contended that any question on whether the officers had the right to go into the home was for the jury to decide.

According to evidence at the 2022 trial, Berry called police in Newport News and Fairfax County several times on Dec. 27, 2019, looking for the whereabouts of his son. He also told dispatchers that he wanted to show officers a video he believed showed his son’s face had been bruised.

Police officers who viewed the video determined that the boy was fine, but Berry kept calling. The child’s mother told police Berry “might not remember” that he lost custody of the boy weeks earlier following a mental health episode.

Officers met in the parking lot outside Berry’s home, planning to draw him outside to arrest him for abuse of the city’s 911 system. When Berry answered the officers’ knocks and asked to show them the video of his son, an officer asked him to come outside to play it.

“No, I’d rather stand right here,” Berry replied.

“Well, Mr. Berry, you need to come out and talk to us at this point,” Pearson interjected from behind the first officer. “You need to hang up the phone from 911.”

Berry stepped back to close his door, but the first officer used her boot to block the door, and Pearson led the chase inside.

“They’re trying to kill me!” Berry yelled as a clock is knocked from his wall. “God help me!”

Berry ended up seated against a wall in a hallway off his living room, with four officers closely flanking him. He resisted their attempts to take him into custody.

During the intense back and forth, Officer Dwight Pitterson pointed a Taser at Berry’s chest and deployed it at close range, with the swinging electrified barbs stinging officers.

That’s when Pearson pulled out his handgun and shot Berry, testifying at trial that he saw him wrest control of the Taser.

Body camera footage from the shooting of Henry Berry can be viewed here. Warning: The video shows a man being shot. Viewer discretion is advised.

In making their case on the appeal, Pearson’s lawyers cited a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, U.S. v. Santana, that upheld the arrest of a Philadelphia woman on a felony heroin charge. Officers pulled up outside the woman’s home, saw her with a brown paper bag and chased her into her vestibule to arrest her.

Though the officers in that case didn’t have a warrant, the Supreme Court found that the “hot pursuit” into the home was legitimate in part because the chase began outside and officers were concerned about evidence destruction.

But the Court of Appeals ruled that officers had no such urgent need to barge into Berry’s home in 2019.

“There was no indication the situation would worsen if the police had taken the time to obtain a warrant,” Appeals Court Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. wrote in the opinion that was backed by Judges Mary Grace O’Brien and Glenn A. Huff.

The panel instead cited a different U.S. Supreme Court case, Payton v. New York, that struck down most warrantless searches into homes.

“The Fourth Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house,” the high court ruled in that 1980 case. Without an urgent reason, a home’s threshold “may not reasonably be crossed without a warrant.”

The appeals court panel agreed with Spencer that the Newport News officers violated Berry’s constitutional rights.

“The evidence shows that Berry was inside his home, and thus … enjoyed all the protections of the Fourth Amendment,” Athey wrote.

The officers “initiated the attempted arrest of Berry when he was in a constitutionally protected place,” the opinion added.

Judge rules in favor of Daily Press, Virginian-Pilot; unseals records in police officer shooting case

Berry “expressly refused” to come outside, “and twice unequivocally stated his desire to remain in his home,” the opinion said. It was only when he tried to close the door that police “escalated the situation” and swarmed in.

As such, the panel ruled that Spencer’s jury instructions “were accurate statements of law,” and she did not “abuse her discretion” by giving them.

Clancy said Pearson will appeal the ruling.

“We’re disappointed in the ruling, and we intend to fully pursue Pearson’s appellate rights,” he said Wednesday.

He said he will either ask that the full 17-member appellate court hear the case, or appeal directly to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Pearson is being held at the Haynesville Correctional Center on the Northern Neck, scheduled for release in September 2026.

“He’s doing well under the circumstances,” Clancy said.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Christopher Clayton Rice, now 33, was wielding a baseball bat at a Ford dealership in the city’s Coliseum area when nervous workers called police.

During a standoff after officers arrived, the lawsuit says, a police sergeant “lunged” at Rice in an attempt to take the bat from him. But Rice struck the sergeant in the head with the bat as she approached.

That’s when Hampton officer Bryan Wilson shot Rice five times, hitting him in the chest, thigh and forearm. The sergeant, Katherine Novak, and Rice were hospitalized — Novak for a day and Rice for roughly one week.

The federal lawsuit, filed in January in U.S. District Court in Newport News, contends Wilson used excessive force.

The lawsuit says Wilson was alone in pulling his handgun, as others officers drew Tasers. Another Hampton officer reported later that he would have “gotten physical” with Rice before Wilson began shooting.

“Every reasonable officer in (Wilson’s) position would have concluded that the force used against Plaintiff was excessive, unjustifiable, and unlawful,” said the lawsuit, filed by South Carolina attorney Bakari Sellers with Norfolk attorney Andrew Protogyrou.

The lawsuit contends Wilson violated Rice’s constitutional rights.

But the Hampton City Attorney’s Office, which is defending Wilson in the case, contends it’s “undisputed” that Rice had assaulted Novak with a deadly weapon when the officer fired.

“There is no question that a reasonable officer, at the moment that Officer Wilson used force, would have had reason to believe that (Rice) posed a threat to Sgt. Novak,” Hampton Senior Deputy City Attorney Brandi A. Law wrote in a motion to dismiss.

Senior U.S. Distict Judge Rebecca Beach Smith must now decide whether the lawsuit can move forward.

The shooting is captured on body-worn cameras from the police officers.

A week after he was shot, Rice was charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer and trespassing at the Ford dealership. But in November 2023, he was found not guilty of both charges by reason of insanity.

Separately, Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell cleared Wilson of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting. Bell termed Wilson’s actions an “absolutely justified act of defense of another.”

The prosecutor said he cleared Wilson verbally — rather than in a written report — because the conclusion was “extremely clear.”

Police responded at 11:04 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2022, to a call about “a disorderly subject armed with a bat” in the parking lot of Wynne Ford on West Mercury Boulevard, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

The workers locked the doors “and retreated to the back of the business where they were out of sight,” then-Police Chief Mark Talbot said.

Arriving officers spoke with Rice, and he wouldn’t put the bat down, Talbot said. They called Novak, who has more than 25 years with the force, to try to de-escalate the situation.

“She spoke … in a very calm voice,” Talbot said. “Trying to encourage him to put down the baseball bat. Over and over again. She made no threats.”

Rice didn’t say anything in response, Talbot said, but at one point “he moved the bat in what appeared to be a threatening manner,” and then “swung the bat and struck the sergeant in the head.”

Wilson fired five rounds. Rice’s wounds were considered life threatening, Talbot said. Novak, meantime, had a “serious.” but non-critical injury.

Talbot maintained at the time there was nothing indicating to officers Rice was going through a mental health crisis.

But the lawsuit has a different take on that.

Rice had come to the dealership about a week earlier to look at a Ford Mustang, the lawsuit said. But he gave workers an “uneasy feeling,” and police ended up escorting him off the property.

Though Rice returned with the bat a week later, he wasn’t being aggressive, the lawsuit maintained. At one point, the suit noted, he put down the bat, leaned up against a Mustang and smoked a cigarette.

At 11:14 a.m., Wilson told other officers by radio that Rice was in front of the business and “appeared to be having a mental health crisis,” the lawsuit said. Rice suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, though was not taking his medication.

Rice later held the bat in a downward position as four or five offficers followed him around the business four times.

Wilson called for a supervisor at 11:25 a.m., with Novak arriving five minutes later. As she slowly approached Rice, the lawsuit said, he “raised the bat and rested it on his right shoulder.”

While up to three officers pulled out their Tasers, Wilson drew his handgun “and pointed it at or towards” Rice, the lawsuit said.

“The sergeant continued approaching Plaintiff and ultimately lunged towards him in an attempt to take the bat.”

Rice moved the bat from one hand to the other “before swinging the bat at the sergeant with one hand, striking her in the head,” the suit says. After Wilson shot him, officers gave him first aid.

The lawsuit says Wilson wasn’t properly trained in proper de-escalation for mental health issues, the lawsuit said, or didn’t apply that training.

The city’s motion to dismiss says Rice was trespassing on private property and refused to comply with officers’ commands.

“The fact that Plaintiff ultimately did swing and struck Sergeant Novak in the head proves that Officer Wilson’s suspicion that deadly force may become necessary was, indeed, correct.”

Wilson is no longer with the Hampton Police, leaving to take a police job in Tennessee. Novak remains a sergeant.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com