Two cops won’t be charged for killing Virginia man during car chase
A five-year legal saga surrounding two police officers who fatally shot a man during a car chase in Virginia will end with neither officer facing charges.
Bijan Ghaisar, 25, led law enforcement on a stop-and-start chase through Fairfax County back in 2017. After cutting off Ghaisar’s vehicle, officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya of the U.S. Park Police stepped outside of their cruiser and shot him dead.
Because the U.S. Park Police are federal officers, the case was handed to the FBI and the Justice Department. In 2019, the feds decided not to charge Vinyard and Amaya.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano dragged the case into state court in 2020, where a grand jury indicted both officers on manslaughter charges. However, the cops successfully argued for the case to move to federal court, where it was dismissed.
Then-Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s office appealed the dismissal, but the Democratic Herring was voted out of office in November 2021. His Republican replacement, Jason Miyares, dropped the appeal Friday.
Ghaisar was on George Washington Parkway in Fairfax County on Nov. 17, 2017, when he drove away from an accident. A passenger in the other vehicle called the cops.
When Ghaisar refused to pull over, police from multiple agencies followed him on a low-speed, stop-and-start chase into Fort Hunt, Va., about 12 miles south of Washington, D.C.
The third time Ghaisar stopped his vehicle, Vinyard cut him off with his police cruiser. Amaya was riding with him in the passenger seat. Amaya hopped out with his gun drawn.
While Amaya was standing near the front left corner of Ghaisar’s vehicle, Ghaisar began driving forward again. Amaya immediately opened fire. Vinyard then ran around the police car and started firing as well. Ghaisar was mortally wounded and died 10 days later.
The shooting was captured on the dashboard camera of a Fairfax County police officer.
From 2017-2020, Vinyard and Amaya were reassigned to desk duty, the Washington Post reported. After they were charged with manslaughter in 2020, they were placed on paid administrative leave.
“For Attorney General Miyares to not even allow this case to be heard in the Fourth Circuit for purely political reasons is shameful - especially considering all of his rhetoric about supporting victims,” Descano said.
The attorneys have continued sniping publicly even months after the election.
“I will not perpetuate the continued prosecution of two officers who were doing what they were trained to do under tremendously difficult circumstances,” Miyares said in a statement.
