Deputy said he was attacked along Virginia road. But it was all made up, sheriff says
A deputy who told a tale about being attacked on a Virginia roadway last week now faces criminal charges, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office.
Jake Preston Dooley is charged with falsely summonsing law enforcement and obstruction of justice in the July 10 incident, authorities said in a news release.
Dooley, 22, said he had stopped to remove a hazard from the roadway near Old Waterloo Road around 7 p.m. Friday when a dark-colored SUV approached and he was struck in the head with something, per the initial release posted to the department’s Facebook page. That’s when a passerby spotted him “lying unconscious and face down” in the road and dialed 911.
The deputy was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Fauquier County Sheriff Robert P. Mosier said his department immediately launched an investigation into the incident and had asked the public to be on the lookout and to call in with tips on the case.
Detectives soon concluded that Dooley had made up the entire drive-by incident, authorities said. Officials did not explain why the deputy was in the street when the passerby found him.
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“Sometimes bad things happen to good organizations,” Mosier said in a statement posted to Facebook. “We truly regret that this happened but find a tremendous amount of comfort in the knowledge that our community understands and supports law enforcement in Fauquier County.”
Dooley was relieved of duty and later jailed on the aforementioned charges.
He has since been released on a $10,000 unsecured bond but will be taken to a regional facility for a mental health evaluation, according to the sheriff’s office.
“One of the goals of the Sheriff’s Office is to ensure that the integrity of the agency is maintained through an internal system where objectivity, fairness, and justice are assured by intensive and impartial investigation and review,” Mosier said in a statement. “Because of our dedication to our profession and determination to find the truth, this matter has been resolved.”
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