By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 11, 2006; 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.
"I asked if he was going to ask his sergeant whether he was still beating his wife," Fusaro said. In September, Breeden temporarily lost the right to carry a gun after his estranged wife accused him of breaking down their garage door.
On the warrant, however, Fusaro is quoted as saying, "Tell me something, would you ask Sergeant Breeden if he was screwing his wife?"
"I then terminated the phone call," Baldwin wrote. "Due to Dennis's statement being profane and indecent I am requesting a warrant for this violation."
The warrant was signed at 8:10 p.m. May 4, authorizing the arrest of Fusaro for using profane language over the telephone, a misdemeanor. Earlier that day, Fusaro said, he had filed a Freedom of Information request for details about the sobriety checkpoints.
At the first stop, Breeden said, officers took it as a sign that Fusaro might be intoxicated when he initially refused to roll down his window. The second stop, he said, was made at random, and the officer did not know it was Fusaro's car.
"As far as the police are concerned, they did nothing wrong. It's not like we yelled at him," Breeden said.
He added that others have been charged after cursing and using abusive language on the phone and that Fusaro was not singled out.
"Its not like we're picking on him," Breeden said. "It is a violation of the law."
Fusaro, however, sees it differently, and he plans to bring the incident before the Town Council on June 19.
He estimates that even with the case being dismissed June 1, the ordeal has cost him $2,000 in attorney's fees and forced him to make a trip to the police station, where he was fingerprinted and photographed.
"We are just trying to tell the Town Council, 'Come on, folks, you have people who assert their rights. Don't criminalize them,' " he said.
On the Web site http://townofhaymarket.info , which has been critical of the police department, many users expressed strong opinions about Fusaro's case.
"It leaves one with a perception that Haymarket is a backward, 'good old boy' small Southern town to be avoided," one person wrote.
"The Haymarket police department is now dealing with a population who knows their rights under the law and will not tolerate that good ol' boy mentality. We know our rights, we have lawyers, we have video cameras and we have camera phones that we will use to adjust your attitude," another entry says.
Council member Robert B. Weir, who until recently was the council's liaison to the police department, said that residents should feel free to speak out without fear of repercussions and that many do, as has been evident at recent council meetings.
"People voice criticism about the police department in Haymarket all the time," he said. "We're more than willing to hear criticism and plaudits as well."
Weir said he has received more than 100 e-mail messages complaining about the incident from people across Virginia -- but none from Haymarket residents. The matter is not an issue for the council, he said, because the council cannot intervene in police cases.
"I am not going to intercede on anyone's behalf, whether it be DUI to a reckless driving down Washington Street or an assault and battery. That is a police issue, not a Town Council issue," he said. "Now if a police officer takes out a nightstick and starts beating someone for jaywalking, then yes, that's something we will address."
Mayor Pam E. Stutz agreed the dispute is a police matter but said Fusaro is welcome to bring whatever evidence he has before the council.
"We will certainly listen to him, see what he has to say, and then we will go from there," she said.