GreenSurfer
Well-Known Member
By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; 4:18 PM
An off-duty D.C. police officer was arrested today after he allegedly was caught smoking marijuana in Rock Creek Park and then led U.S. Park Police on a foot and vehicle chase, authorities said.
Assistant Chief Peter Newsham identified the officer as Henry Smallwood, 47, a patrol officer in the 6th District who has been on the force for 18 years.
Earlier in the day, Sgt. Robert Lachance, a Park Police spokesman, described the incident. He said it began about 10 a.m. when someone in the park complained to police officers that two "suspicious men" were loitering in a picnic grove near the Fitzgerald Tennis Stadium.
As Park Police officers approached the men, Lachance said, they smelled the odor of marijuana and saw that the two "were smoking something."
While the two were being questioned, Lachance said, the off-duty officer fled on foot to his car a few hundreds yards away and drove off.
After leading police on a car chase for about four blocks, Smallwood allegedly got out of his vehicle and again fled on foot, Lachance said.
He said the officer was arrested a short while later in the 1400 block of Rock Creek Ford Road NW. Smallwood was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession and illegally fleeing from police, Lachance said.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; 4:18 PM
An off-duty D.C. police officer was arrested today after he allegedly was caught smoking marijuana in Rock Creek Park and then led U.S. Park Police on a foot and vehicle chase, authorities said.
Assistant Chief Peter Newsham identified the officer as Henry Smallwood, 47, a patrol officer in the 6th District who has been on the force for 18 years.
Earlier in the day, Sgt. Robert Lachance, a Park Police spokesman, described the incident. He said it began about 10 a.m. when someone in the park complained to police officers that two "suspicious men" were loitering in a picnic grove near the Fitzgerald Tennis Stadium.
As Park Police officers approached the men, Lachance said, they smelled the odor of marijuana and saw that the two "were smoking something."
While the two were being questioned, Lachance said, the off-duty officer fled on foot to his car a few hundreds yards away and drove off.
After leading police on a car chase for about four blocks, Smallwood allegedly got out of his vehicle and again fled on foot, Lachance said.
He said the officer was arrested a short while later in the 1400 block of Rock Creek Ford Road NW. Smallwood was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession and illegally fleeing from police, Lachance said.
