Letters Say The Police Harassed Teen, Officer
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Haymarket Chief is Center of Complaints

Letters Say That Police Harassed Teen, Officer
By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 29, 2007; Page PW01
Prince William Extra

Haymarket Police Chief James T. Roop wrote a letter to the public about a year ago asking whether people wanted a professional police department with a good reputation or “a soap opera.”

Haymarket Mayor Says Election Settles Things
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After Storm, Town 'Needs to Move On'

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 7, 2006; Page PW01

Haymarket Mayor Pam E. Stutz said her decisive reelection last Tuesday was a vote of confidence from the public that she and the Town Council made good decisions this past year.

But what an election.

Stutz won about 72 percent of the vote, while her challenger, Timothy M. Benjamin Jr., a former auxiliary police officer, drew 26 percent.

Incumbent council members Robert B. Weir, John C. Cole, Sheila L. Jarboe and Natasha A. Sikorsky were also reelected and will be joined by newcomers and surprise winners Ozzie Vazquez and Susan Shuryn, who are married to each other.

The campaigns by Vazquez and Shuryn and by Benjamin and his wife, Vicki, who ran unsuccessfully for council, added more quirkiness to the election in a town with a $1.5 million budget and a continuous rumor mill.

The town of 1,000 people has been embroiled in controversy since a probe last year into accusations of sexual harassment by Police Chief James E. Roop and Sgt. Gregory Breeden. The Town Council suspended Roop and Breeden for 15 days without pay after a lawyer hired by the council found that the men created a "hostile work environment" through sexually offensive comments.

Months later, the council fired a police officer who was accused of standing guard at an illegal poker game in Fairfax County and shut down an auxiliary police program indefinitely. Most recently, Stutz was criticized after she did not immediately show the council a March 29 resignation letter from former prosecutor Cynthia A. Dupray that questioned Roop's integrity.

All of the town's happenings were reported on Townofhaymarket.info, a Web site that Stutz criticized because it posted Dupray's confidential letter.

Stutz said the election results showed that......

Haymarket Mayor Says Election Settles Things

Haymarket Traffic Stop Sparks Month-Long Ordeal
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Heated Call Leads to Warrant for Motorist's Arrest

By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 11, 2006; Page PW01

Dennis Fusaro admits he wasn't the most docile person when Haymarket police pulled him over twice. And maybe he shouldn't have mentioned an officer's past troubles when he called the police station to complain about the stops.

But, he said, he never expected it would result in a warrant for his arrest.

The warrant against Fusaro was issued in May, and although that case was dismissed this month, Fusaro said what happened to him is indicative of a bigger problem in Haymarket. The case has fueled criticism against the police on a controversial Web site about the town, and a council member estimates that he has received 100 e-mails about the incident, the latest to involve the town's police department.

"It's kind of an eye-opener for a guy like me," Fusaro, 45, of Stephens City said. "There seems to be an attitude there that they are not going to take any criticism."

Haymarket police described Fusaro's actions as "belligerent" and stand by the warrant.

Fusaro was first stopped at a sobriety checkpoint about 1 a.m. April 29 on the westbound ramp for Interstate 66 as he was heading home from Dulles Airport. He said he handed his license to the officer but refused to answer questions.

Fusaro -- a member of Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group, and a self-described conservative political activist -- said he has a "fundamental disagreement" with the checkpoints.

He was ordered out of his car, and after a tense back-and-forth with Officer Jeremy K. Baldwin and Sgt. Gregory Breeden, Fusaro agreed to take a breathalyzer test and was eventually let go, he said.

Fast-forward to about 9 p.m. May 3. Fusaro said that he was stopped again by Baldwin near the same exit ramp. He again refused to answer questions.

Afterward, he said, he went to a Subway restaurant in a nearby strip mall and called the main number for the Haymarket police because he feared that his blue BMW would be targeted again as he drove through town. Baldwin, the officer who had pulled him over, got on the phone, Fusaro said.

Fusaro said he told Baldwin he would like to meet. Baldwin, according to the police warrant, told him he couldn't.

The two differ on what was said next........

Haymarket Traffic Stop Sparks Month-Long Ordeal

Haymarket's Troubles Get More Public
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Site Posts Prosecutor's Letter of Resignation

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 23, 2006; PW01

There's a new wrinkle in the Haymarket police/mayor/Town Council/pending election saga.

Haymarket Mayor Pam E. Stutz, who is running for reelection, publicly distributed a letter last week criticizing the posting of the town prosecutor's letter of resignation on a Web site.

Under the heading "Caught in a Lie," an anonymous posting on http://Townofhaymarket.info -- which dubs itself "The Haymarket Smoking Gun" -- displays former prosecutor Cynthia A. Dupray's March 29 resignation letter. Dupray writes in the letter that she is leaving her post because she believes she cannot rely on the accuracy of information provided by Police Chief James E. Roop when prosecuting cases.

Stutz said in her letter that "the unauthorized release of the document" violated confidentiality laws and exposed the town to possible lawsuits.

But Stutz's critics say she is attempting to divert attention from the main issue: that she did not give the letter to other Town Council members when they discussed Dupray's departure at a meeting April 3.

Stutz was asked at that meeting why Dupray decided to leave. "Her reply was that she [Dupray] wanted to leave because of the bad press that the town's been getting," said Timothy M. Benjamin Jr., a former town auxiliary police officer and Stutz's opponent in the May 2 election. "I call for her resignation for misleading the public."

The two letters are the latest addition to an ongoing controversy in Haymarket, a small town of about 1,000 residents that was rocked last year by a probe into accusations of sexual harassment by Roop and Sgt. Gregory Breeden. The Town Council suspended Roop and Breeden for 15 days without pay after a lawyer hired by the council found that the men created a "hostile work environment" through sexually offensive comments.

Stutz has been a supporter of Roop, who recently distributed a letter door-to-door saying he wanted back pay for the 15 days and his name cleared.

At the beginning of the year, the council voted to suspend the town's auxiliary police program because it was overlapping with the full-time officers. The town now has three officers, instead of nine.

The controversy is occurring amid the run-up to the May 2 election, which pits Stutz against Benjamin and includes 10 candidates for the six-seat council.

In her resignation letter, Dupray expresses concerns about Roop giving inaccurate information to the Manassas Journal Messenger newspaper about whether the town had to dismiss cases because a police officer left court early to attend college classes. Without the officer in attendance, the town could not prove the infractions, she said.

"Because I was in Court on the date in question, I know it did" occur, Dupray wrote.

The incident caused her to question the reliability of information provided by Roop. "I should make it clear that I am not stating that the Chief would bring false information, only that I cannot be certain that the facts are accurate," she wrote.

Dupray could not be reached at her private law practice.

When reached, Stutz said she would call back to discuss the issue but did not. She could not be reached after the initial call. Attempts to reach Roop were unsuccessful.

In her letter, Stutz said that legal counsel advised town officials.....

Haymarket's Troubles Get More Public