A CNN survey in 2018 found that police at dozens of agencies nationwide had trashed 400 rape kits in cases that could have been prosecuted. August 11, 2022 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. — Gretchen Van Winkle was transfixed as the hit Netflix series "Unbelievable" played across her TV screen in 2019. The dramatized version of a true story of one woman's...

Bauserman was accused of a "lack of accountability, process failures, lack of purging, failure to hold staff accountable and failure to document or process by policy." June 14, 2021 WINCHESTER — The city's police chief and commonwealth's attorney say alleged mishandling of evidence in the police department property room for seven years didn't compr...

September 19, 2021 WINCHESTER — A Winchester Circuit Court judge has ruled against a former city police officer who claimed he was unfairly disciplined and subsequently fired over his job performance. In a ruling filed this week, Judge Bruce D. Albertson said the Winchester Police Department was within its rights to discipline Capt. Leonard M. Baus...

It's just somebody not following the policies and procedures of their agency," police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. "That's not criminal. That's administrative violations." September 4, 2021 State police have declined Petersburg Commonwealth's Attorney Tiffany Buckner's request to investigate misplaced evidence problems within the Petersbur...

Defense attorneys are still looking for answers. August 9, 2021 A Petersburg police detective who was banished from the department's evidence and property room six years ago amid a scandal involving missing evidence that included $13,000 has retired after he was linked to "hidden" evidence found in the ceiling of the office where he worked, in a du...

"The Town of Pound Town Council created a situation in which the preservation of evidence in numerous pending cases has been questioned," July 28, 2021 WISE — Thirty-one people facing charges connected to Pound Police Department investigations will see their cases dropped after a motion filed Wednesday by Wise County and Norton Commonwealth's Attor...

The town's evidence situation may have contributed to a mistrial in Wise County this week June 29, 2021 POUND — Even before getting into budget matters on Tuesday, the Pound Council got a hard look at what its police department left in its wake after disbandment almost two months ago. Interim Police Chief Chris Wilcox, in his report to the council,...

Radford police discovered a discrepancy in funds that were stored as criminal evidence. June 16, 2021 A former Radford police officer has been convicted after admitting he took money from the evidence room. The now-retired Lieutenant Andy Wilburn plead guilty after being charged last Friday to one misdemeanor count of Malfeasance in Public Office T...

"Council, without taking into account responsibilities in maintaining a police department, has eliminated its police department,"  May 19, 2021 POUND — There were no takers on Wednesday for a court order to put Pound's police evidence room key in the custody of a Virginia law enforcement officer. Wise County and Norton Common- wealth's Attorne...

The town has demanded that the police chief hand over the keys to the evidence storage room May 24, 2021 By Suzie Ziegler POUND, Va. — The town of Pound, Virginia, has removed its police chief and terminated all other police officers, reported WYMT. According to a petition filed earlier this week, town officials voted on Tuesday to fire "every...

A former patrol officer who is accused of stealing drugs from the police property room April 16, 2021 Fairfax County prosecutors are moving to throw out more than 400 criminal convictions based on the testimony or work of a former patrol officer who is accused of stealing drugs from the police property room, planting drugs on innocent people and st...

DNA evidence resubmitted for analysis by a cold case unit yielded a hit that led officers to Thomson December 2, 2020 RLINGTON, Va. (AP) - A 63-year-old man from Virginia's Northern Neck has been charged with a series of rapes and assaults that occurred nearly 30 years ago near a northern Virginia Metrorail station. Arlington County Police announce...

Deputy 'lightheaded and faint' after exposure November 1, 2020 CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A deputy was hospitalized after officials said he was exposed to what is believed to be a mixture of heroin and fentanyl while searching an inmate being admitted to the Chesterfield County Jail Friday morning. Lt. Joshua Fahy with the Chesterfield Sheriff's O...

As of last month, Virginia is only the sixth state, along with Washington, D.C., to have cleared its backlog, according to the End the Backlog campaign August 30, 2020 Twenty-seven years later, Natasha Alexenko, 47, clearly remembers her rapist's gun — a smooth black handgun that resembled a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. In 1993, on the Upper West Sid...

2,665 rape kits have been tested, 851 new DNA profiles have been uploaded into a national DNA database and 354 "hits" have been sent to law enforcement agencies July 8, 2020 RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia has eliminated a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits, becoming only the seventh state in the country to do so, Virginia Attorney General Mark H...

The suspect, James "Jimmy" Edwards died in 1997. April 5, 2020 FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (WDVM) — Police say they have solved the murder of a 12-year-old Virginia girl, who was last seen alive in 1972. The Cold Case Squad at the Fairfax County Police Department believes Karen Lee Spencer's alleged boyfriend at the time killed her in the Huntington area o...

No unclaimed money has ever been given to the State Literary Fund, at least in the past five years October 25, 2019 HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - No unclaimed money has ever been given to the State Literary Fund, at least in the past five years, according to the Hanover County Sheriff's Office's own records. On Your Side Investigator, Diane Walker f...

The missing money led Petersburg prosecutors to seek the dismissal of charges against at least three criminal defendants because monetary evidence in their cases inexplicably disappeared. October 11, 2019 A special prosecutor appointed three years ago to investigate more than $10,000 in missing cash from the Petersburg Bureau of Police's evidence r...

Smith said the costume jewelry — a ring found in a burn barrel during a homicide investigation in 2016 — was checked out by an investigator about three months after he took office that same year. The ring was never returned. October 9, 2019 VERONA - The Augusta County Sheriff's Office was recently denied accreditation after a piece of costume jewel...

Now two companies are halting the sale of do-it-yourself evidence collection kits after being threatened with legal action. September 29, 2019 ARLINGTON, Va. (ABC7) — They boasted an "alternative solution" for sexual assault survivors. Now two companies are halting the sale of do-it-yourself evidence collection kits after being threatened with lega...

The detective was transported to an area hospital and is expected to recover. May 16, 2019 PETERSBURG, Va. -- A Petersburg detective has been hospitalized following a possible exposure to fentanyl during a narcotics arrest, While executing an arrest in the 700 block of Kirkham street, a Narcotics Detective collecting evidence was possibly exposed t...

A police source familiar with the investigation revealed to DailyMail.com that the case involved DNA evidence April 10, 2019 Police in New York City have arrested an 80-year-old man in connection with the brutal 1973 murders of two 19-year-old women in Virginia Beach. Ernest Broadnax, an ex-convict with a lengthy criminal record, was taken into cus...

Now, that could change with a new ballistics technology being awarded to 22 state and local enforcement agencies all over the nation on Thursday. October 12, 2018 Sometimes it can be hard for police to trace gun shell casings back to the scene of a crime and it could take months for ballistic results to be returned back to investigators without the...

The growing number, complexity and safety requirements of drug cases submitted for testing to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science is creating a backlog for the department September 1, 2018 The growing number, complexity and safety requirements of drug cases submitted for testing to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science is creating a b...

Admitted to inadvertently disposing of the items on Nov. 3, 2017, according to the complaint. July 19, 2018 MARION — The destruction of seized items in a Smyth County drug case resulted in two misdemeanor charges being filed against a Virginia State Police trooper, according to court records. State Police charged Trooper Lee Testerman, 40, of Chilh...

It's not just the storage that is the problem. Police staff are "burning" discs and making other copies that must be shared with prosecutors and defense attorneys and others June 9, 2018 LEESBURG — Sherlock Holmes would never think of leaving Baker Street without his deerstalker hat and a magnifying glass. If Leesburg police have their way Monday, ...

Enter Headline here May 31, 2018 COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VA (WWBT) - The misdemeanor criminal charges against former Colonial Heights Police Officer Bryan Drake have been set aside. He was once accused of embezzlement and obstruction of the legal process. Police say the former officer admitted to downloading an inappropriate video from a suspect's cell p...

"When people start turning in firearms at the request of the police, they don't want them anymore or we're getting illegal firearms through tips, information being provided by the public," Miller said. April 6, 2018 PETERSBURG, Va. -- More than 100 guns that were taken off of the streets of Petersburg were destroyed by the order of the police chief...

The agencies recently bought a high-tech camera system — at a joint cost of $210,762 — designed to match spent cartridge cases to guns that police have previously seized and to shell casings collected from prior shootings. March 19, 22018 Police in Hampton and Newport News are hoping that their recent purchase of a powerful new machine to photograp...

The evidence from both cases matched a DNA profile for Slade that was in a state database. February 6, 2018 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- A man has pleaded guilty to two rapes in Virginia that police say he committed in 1984. The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday that 58-year-old Rubin Carroll Slade Jr. will face up to two life terms at his sentencing...

Richmond's deputy commonwealth's attorney says a Richmond detective ran Poortie's fingernail clippings that were collected after her murder for DNA. October 13,2017 RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Police have arrested a man in connection with a murder that took place more than 30 years ago. The man was serving time in New Jersey for another crime w...

the department hopes to make the donation a recurring program in which bicycles collected as evidence get new life May 25, 2017 Rainy weather Wednesday didn't keep police away from the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center to donate refurbished, used bicycles to teenagers in need. The recipients are members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harr...

Keith Allen Harward, 60, was exonerated by the Virginia Supreme Court in April after DNA testing not only excluded him of the savage beating death of a Newport News man and the rape of his wife in the couple's home, but also implicated the real killer. January 16, 2017 Bills pending in the General Assembly would award $1.45 million in compensation ...

Fisher theorized the seized money, which was kept inside an evidence room safe in two separate packages, fell onto the floor and into a trash pile beneath the safe. October 25, 2016 STAUNTON - Former Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher and his son are under investigation by Virginia State Police and are suspected of illegally possess...

Officials announced a 30-year-old cold case has been solved Wednesday when a DNA test identified human remains discovered by a fisherman decades ago. October 7, 2016 According to The Roanoke Times, authorities believe the boy drowned in May 1985 while fleeing a gas station in Covington that he or a friend may have firebombed. He was 17 years old at...

According to wavy.com, a police source revealed that the 17-year veteran had been taking ammo, holsters, and magazines in the past, but court documents actually lists two black gun bags, one green gun bag and one air soft clip from the green bag in the report about his current arrest. September 10,2016 A Virginia cop who ma...

Enter Headline here August 25th 2016 PETERSBURG, VA (WWBT) - NBC12 is uncovering new details concerning the missing money in the Petersburg Police evidence room. Through an open records request, we've uncovered an insurance claim filed by the Petersburg Police Department for $20,000. It was filed with VACorp Risk Management several weeks after we s...

He entered Alford pleas — maintaining his innocence while acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him — on 11 counts of forging public documents, one count of embezzlement and two counts of obtaining drugs by fraud. Enter Article DATE HERE A former Altavista police chief was convicted Wednesday of 15 felonies after a prosecuto...

The investigation involved allegations of officer misconduct, including an incident where it was believed $9,700 went missing from the police department's evidence room. That dollar amount then increased to about $13,000 July 28, 20`6 PETERSBURG, Va. -- Virginia State Police and the FBI conducted a search of Petersburg Police Headquarters. The week...

During a March 31 trial, Frank Michael Pearson, 45, of Winchester, was found guilty of stealing $229,381 from the county's asset forfeiture fund June 17, 2016 A former Loudoun County Sheriff's Office deputy was sentenced Friday to 36 months in prison for embezzling money from the agency. During a March 31 trial, Frank Michael Pearson, 45, of Winche...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, richmond.com BYLINE: MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch, Link to Article 2016-01-28_charge dismissed over missing 4000.00Drug charge dismissed against Petersburg man over miss...

WWBT, NBC12, 12 On Your Side, nbc12.comBYLINE: Rachel DePompaPetersburg, VAPetersburg Bureau of Police (Source: NBC12)(Source: NBC12)PETERSBURG, VA (WWBT) - Fallout is beginning from a case involving missing money in the Pete...

TimesDispatch.com, timesdispatch.comBYLINE: Mark Bowes | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERHopewell, VAA Virginia State Police investigation into chronic problems within the Hopewell Bureau of Police's property and evidence room sti...

The Daily News Leader (Staunton, Virginia)BYLINE: By, Heather Kays/staffAugusta County, VAVERONA - The Augusta County Sheriff's Office confiscated 1,840 pounds of marijuana found on an American Safety Razor Company truck Tues...

Young Broadcasting of Richmond, WorldNow and WRIC, ABC 8News, wric.comRichmond, VARichmond, VA—Virginia law requires illegal drugs and paraphernalia seized by law enforcement officials to be destroyed. But after several offic...

The Virginian-Pilot, hamptonroads.comBYLINE: Patrick WilsonLink to ArticlePortsmouth, VAA grand jury indicted Officer Robert Anthony Murray on a charge of embezzlement. PORTSMOUTHMissing evidence from the Police Department ha...

The Virginian-Pilot, hamptonroads.comBYLINE: Jeff Sheler, The Virginian-PilotChesapeake, VACHESAPEAKE - A city audit of the Chesapeake Police Department found deficiencies in how it stores evidence, drugs and weapons seized d...