Tonight, Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. defended his officers involved in an arrest Saturday morning at the annual Annandale Parade. The man was standing in the street at Gallows Road and Columbia Pike blocking the start of the parade, cursing, and causing a disturbance. The preliminary investigation shows that our officers asked him to move out of the street and to stop using obscene language due to other parade spectators around him. The man refused to comply with the commands and other officers assisted with placing him under arrest. Due to his refusal to comply with police orders, to include showing his hands, he was taken to the ground to maintain control and ensure the safety of not only the officers, but also others in the area. Wilfred Michael Stark III, 49 of Falls Church, was charged with Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Arrest.

“I’m standing before you to defend the lawful actions of my police officers enforcing the law to protect our community at a parade,” Chief Roessler said at a media briefing this evening. “I can ensure I will remain transparent moving forward by providing updates to the community.”

After the arrest, the Chief was notified and immediately ordered the incident be reviewed by our Internal Affairs Bureau. Preliminarily, it doesn’t appear any policy was violated, but we are just several days into this investigation. We continuously strive to maintain transparency and accountability with our community and will provide further information if there are significant developments.

We are asking that anyone with more information, videos, or photographs of this incident to please email our Internal Affairs Bureau: Contact IA