a parting gift
soldier honored
hoops teams split
beach school board names its athletic field after departing member, long-time coach. Page 4
fredericksburg armory is named after area man killed in iraq war in 2004. Page 10
Colonial beach girls cruise while W&L boys just edge their cross-county rival. Page 5 POSTAL CUSTOMER
T he
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Volume 38, Number 51
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Oliff’s suit against police set for Feb. trial
Restaurant owner says he was falsely charged after sheriff’s department set up drug sting Richard Leggitt A malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by well-known Westmoreland County restaurant owner Bryan Oliff against Westmoreland County Deputy Sheriff Anthony Darby seeking $12 million in compensatory and punitive damages is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 23 in Prince William County.
The lawsuit is the result of actions allegedly taken by Darby, a detective with the sheriff ’s office, and other officers that caused the filing of five felony complaints against Oliff in May 2012. Oliff was publicly arrested at his catering business 13 days later, the beginning of what he has called his “nightmare.” Also arrested that day were Josh Sanford and Lois Wright, employees
of Oliff ’s restaurant, Angelos in Montross. Oliff was charged with five complaints of selling, giving or distributing a substance which imitated a controlled substance, a felony under Virginia law. Sanford was arrested on one count of the same charge and Wright was arrested on two counts of the charge. Oliff, a former member of the Westmoreland County school board
and a popular former W&L high school athlete, and his employees immediately and vehemently denied the charges filed against them. Their lawsuits were filed in May 2013. Four months after the arrests, Matthew Ackley, a special prosecutor from Henrico County who was handling the cases for the Commonwealth of Virginia, dropped all charges against Oliff
and his employees and said he was ending the prosecutions because of a lack of evidence to support the charges. Oliff ’s lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of $10 million and punitive damages of $2 million. Sanford’s lawsuit seeks $2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Wright’s lawsuit sought $4 million
in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Sanford’s suit was heard in Prince William County Circuit Court Dec. 1 and resulted in a hung jury. No decision has been made about when or whether a retrial of the lawsuit will be conducted. Wright’s lawsuit was dismissed earlier in the year. All See LAWSUIT, page 4
Bike Fest event numbers in eye of the beholder
beach man dies in accident
Chamber head says figures are good, but official says not so fast Linda Farneth
Jamar A. Tate, 22, of Colonial Beach, died Dec. 11 from injuries he sustained when his dirt bike collided with a school bus. Virginia State Police investigated the crash, which occurred at 2:05 p.m. at the intersection of Kintz Avenue and Franklin Street. According to police,
Tate was driving a 2007 Kawasaki dirt bike east on Franklin Street at a high rate of speed. As he approached the intersection, the bike went down and Tate was thrown into the intersection, where the school bus was traveling north on Kintz Avenue, police said.
Preliminary figures given to Colonial Beach Chamber of Commerce President Carey Geddes made him optimistic the First Annual Bike Fest brought in almost $250,000 in sales for local businesses. However, Colonial Beach Chief Financial Officer Joan Grant said these figures need to be analyzed more before a definitive figure is known. Geddes figured the amount of additional sales by using the tax revenue collected by the town from businesses and vendors. Geddes’ numbers include meals and lodging, as well as general merchandise sales. He took the tax paid to the town and calculated what amount of sales would produce that amount of tax. Grant was asked by the town council to report on the lodging tax for the month of October. In her report, she said the tax collected in October 2012 was $25,855 and this October was $33,723, about a 30 percent increase. The October 2014 figure equates to approximately $175,000 in food sales for restaurants. Grant said the food vendor tax collected was $1,095 and this figure
Tate, who was not wearing a helmet, was flown to Mary Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. No children were on the bus at the time of the accident, and the driver was not injured, police said. No charges will be filed, police said.
was not included in the number reported for restaurant sales. Grant also said only three restaurants benefited from increased income. “Our analysis for meal tax concluded that the increase of revenue from 2013 to 2014 for the same reporting period is attributable to only three establishments. Other establishments showed a decrease in this reporting period.” Grant declined to say which restaurants had increased business. Grant said the town had one new restaurant reporting during this time period and a another restaurant reported no income during October 2012 so these factors impact the data when analyzing the success of the event. “The revenue must be tempered with any expense to public works and the police department that the town may have incurred or any expense that was deferred for this year but will be assessed next year for the next bike fest weekend,” Grant said. Police Chief Libby Legg has reported the town received a lot of help from Maryland, state police and county police, much of which was volunteer.
Man guilty in restaurant melee shooting George Circuit Court in connection connection with the incident. Because with the shooting, which occurred of a conviction Major-Purdie is facing A Fredericksburg man was after a private party at the restaurant in Stafford County, he is not expected convicted on a felony charge of turned into a brawl involving more to be released from prison until 2019. “As a result of the extremely unlawful wounding for his part in than 100 people. Major-Purdie was sentenced by time-consuming and exhaustive a violent melee that took place in the parking lot of the China Garden King George Circuit Court Judge investigation by the King George Herbert Hewitt to five years, but four Sheriff ’s Office, we secured a violent restaurant in Dahlgren. Don’t stretch your Holiday Budget! The March 9, 2013 incident left two years of the sentence were suspended felony conviction on the defendant,” youronlist, count itoftwice. whatsaid. you“Ineed the condition 20 yearsBorrow of good just Gusmann commend Sheriff men seriously wounded, oneMake who was behavior by the defendant. Dempsey and his office for the shot in the chest and one in the leg. for the holidays! Don’t max out those high rate credit cards! After Major-Purdie’s guilty plea, thorough investigation that led to this Both victims, ages 18 and 24 at the George Commonwealth’s result. It took a long time to bring this time, were from King George County. King Andre Major Purdie, 22, entered a Attorney Keri Gusmann agreed to to trial, but I am pleased that justice guilty plea to the charge Dec. 11 in King drop two other charges against him in has been served.” Richard Leggitt
Although Major-Purdie was one of those on the scene when officers arrived at the restaurant, it took a $1,000 reward from the sheriff ’s office and several months of intense investigation before Major-Purdie was charged. Despite the large number of witnesses on the scene, those who actually saw the incident were less than cooperative with officers, authorities said. Officers finally determined the fight in the parking lot led to MajorPurdie firing the shots that injured the two men.
Linda Farneth
Whether or not the initial Bike Fest event in Colonial Beach was a financial boon to the town is up for debate.
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