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Officer Down: Corporal Richard Findley

Age: Not available

Cause of Death: Vehicular assault

Vehicular assault

Corporal Richard Findley was struck and killed by a stolen automobile while attempting to arrest its occupants. He and several other officers were conducting surveillance on the vehicle when they observed two occupants enter it and attempt to drive away.

When the officers attempted to block the vehicle's path with their patrol car the suspects rammed. Corporal Findley then exited the car and was struck by the vehicle.

The suspects fled the scene and remain at large.

Corporal Findley had served with the agency for 10 years and also served as a volunteer firefighter with the Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Md. officer fatally hit during traffic stop

By Aaron C. Davis and Hohmann
The Washington Post

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — A Prince George's County police officer was killed today when he was struck by a vehicle driven by suspected car thieves in Laurel, three law enforcement officials said.

Police Chief Melvin C. High was en route to Laurel Regional Hospital and a news conference was expected this afternoon. The officer's wife was also at the hospital, having been flown in by helicopter from their home in Carroll County.

A massive search was underway at an apartment complex several blocks from where the incident occurred, in the 14700 block of Laurel-Bowie Road. Residents of the complex, Laurel Square Apartments, said police were conducting a door-to-door search.

The officer was not publicly identified. One of the sources said the officer had been a volunteer firefighter in Beltsville for 20 years.

Police spokeswoman Sharon Taylor said the officer had spotted a suspected stolen car and was monitoring the vehicle when two men returned to the car and apparently rammed the officer.

Cpl. Stephen Pacheco, another police spokesman, said the officer was dragged by the suspects' vehicle. "We believe a round was discharged," said Pacheco, who said it was unclear whether it had been fired by an officer or one of the suspects.

Mark Brady, spokesman for the county Fire and Emergency Services, said the officer was in critical condition when he was transported to the hospital shortly after the 11:45 a.m. incident.

Pacheco said shortly before 3 p.m. that "a few" persons of interests were being questioned but no arrests had been made; Taylor said officers had arrested one suspect.

Residents of the Laurel Square complex said dozens of heavily armed officers began storming the garden-style apartments before noon.

"They were running around and drawing guns. All of a sudden I felt swarmed with policemen," said Dianne Shields, 46, speaking by phone from inside the police barricade. "They won't let me leave, I tried four times, they told us to go in the house."

Some residents were told to stay in their homes, while others were escorted outside the police line and told it could be hours before they would be allowed to return. At 3 p.m., police still manned roadblocks at all three entrances to the apartments and officers reportedly were searching trunks and residences inside the complex.

The officer is the first to be killed in the county since 2005, when Cpl. Steven Gaughan was fatally shot when he pursued a suspect into a Laurel area apartment complex following a routine traffic stop.

Copyright 2008 The Washington Post

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