Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis said Monday that evidence confirms what his department initially alleged about a fatal interaction between a car and a pedestrian on Nassau Street: that the crash victim was struck by a woman fleeing the pedestrian’s attack.
A misinformed social media post, Kochis said, led to community outrage over the death of 42-year-old Charlottesville resident Edward Fitzhugh Anderson.
"This post was taken down shortly after it went up, but was shared multiple times," Kochis told reporters at a press conference inside the Charlottesville police station Monday. "The individual did not witness the incident and was only repeating, quote, speculation they heard in the neighborhood."
What officials know is they found Anderson dead or dying in the roadway in the 700 block of Nassau Street in the city’s Belmont neighborhood upon the 7:34 p.m. dispatch of officers on July 6. Nearby, Kochis said, was a "visibly upset" woman in her vehicle.
"Officers and detectives have interviewed multiple, individuals including an independent eyewitness to the event, witnesses to Mr. Anderson’s actions prior to the event and those who may have information that may be pertinent to this investigation," said Kochis. "To this day, no person has come forward that contradicts the eyewitness accounts, evidence found on the scene or the video evidence we have collected of the incident."
He said the video came from a Ring doorbell camera.
"It shows the incident," said Kochis.
Additional data was pulled from the vehicle’s onboard data collection device and the driver’s cell phone, Kochis said. He said that while evidence continues to point in the direction originally announced, that Anderson was perpetrating an attack on a stranger, the probe continues.
"I want to be clear," he said. "This was and continues to be a very fluid and ongoing investigation."
He said police hope to recover evidence from a weapon recovered at the scene, a pair of scissors, as well as a toxicology report on Anderson. While the chief stopped short of asserting that Anderson wielded the scissors, he said the woman was injured and taken to University of Virginia Medical Center for the treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Court records show that Anderson has more than 20 criminal convictions, including a yearlong sentence an Albemarle Circuit Court judge delivered in 2020 for a third assault and battery against a family member, in this instance for beating a pregnant girlfriend’s head against a wall.
Whatever his past transgressions, Kochis noted that the death of Anderson is painful to his loved ones.
"A mother and father without their son, children are without their father and a sister is without her brother," said Kochis. "No matter the circumstances, the tragedy these families are going through cannot and should not be overstated."
Kochis said he has kept the city’s commonwealth’s attorney advised, and he also had some words of advice to those thinking about making allegations online.
"We have a role to play in combating misinformation," said Kochis. "Before sharing or posting content, it is essential to verify the facts."
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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