More on the Fenty Accident Report
The Washington Post, also in possession of the Mayor Adrian M. Fenty collector's edition accident report from his Sunday evening collision in Northwest D.C., notes that the report
seems to indicate that several police procedures were violated, including that the names of passengers in Fenty's vehicle were not listed on the accident form and pictures were not taken at the scene even though a city vehicle was apparently damaged. The report was taken by a member of Fenty's security detail and not a regular patrol officer.
The "detailed narrative" says that Fenty reported being struck by James Gambrill Utt Jr., which is what Fenty's spokesperson told the Post earlier in the week. But Allison Klein notes that the report lists Fenty's as the "striking vehicle/object."
According to the same narrative, Utt said he never saw Fenty.
7:00 pm
It's always the cover up.
9:05 pm
Can we draft Tony Williams to return as mayor? Can we file a recall petition to get rid of Fenty? He's a bum.
Just because you're mayor doesn't mean your frat should get $37,000 - & whoever tried to steal that money should be fired & prosecuted. It also doesn't mean your children can go to whatever public school you choose - if he wants his kids to go to the good schools in the good part of DC, let him buy a house here & let him pay real estate taxes we pay. It also doesn't mean you can crash into someone's car & let your private cops handle it & have the corrupt MPD look the other way.
Maybe the kid will sue Fenty & DC. That'd be hilarious.
9:22 pm
Yeah, by all means, let's beg the Mayor who brought us the Pershing Park debacle to come back. Maybe we'll hit the trifecta and he'll bring Ramsey and Singer, too.
Alternately, we could ask his hand picked successor Linda Cropp and her husband (long-time Barry enabler and crony) to re-up against Fenty in the next go around.
Woo-hoo!
Mad Al, you are truly a clueless Idiot.
9:47 pm
Were the unidentified passengers frat brothers in town for the 79th Grand Chapter Meeting of Kappa Alpha Psi?
If so, perhaps they just didn't want anyone to notice they cut out on the Province Polemarch's Dinner (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)-- the accident was at 7PM. Maybe they got back in time for the Grand Polemarch's Reception (10:30 PM - 12:00 AM).
Full schedule at:
http://www.kappaalphapsi1911.com/79gcmevents.asp
12:33 am
Adrian M. Fenty is corrupt and have many of his friends and Kappa Alpha Psi brothers on the District payroll. It was inappropriate for Mayor Fenty to use D.C. tax dollars to pay for his fraternity's cash bar in the amount of $37,000.00. Fenty is an Attorney and he should have known, this was illegal and wrong. Fenty doesn't seem to bright to me.
7:13 am
Alex: In all fairness, it appears that the Mayor didn't know about the use of city funds for the reception -- as soon as he learned, he had DC reimbursed from provate funds. The real question is who on the Mayor's staff thought the initial expenditure was appropriate, and how long they will remain on the city payroll.
9:11 am
"Yeah, by all means, let’s beg the Mayor who brought us the Pershing Park debacle to come back. Maybe we’ll hit the trifecta and he’ll bring Ramsey and Singer, too."
The list of scandals that Fenty's accumulated makes Williams look like a prince.
And what exactly is your problem with Linda Singer? As far as I can tell she was about the only person with any integrity in the administration. As you may recall, she resigned in disgust when Nickles fired the guy who wrote the handgun brief the week before it was to be argued in front of the supreme court.
9:19 am
OK...so he didn't know about the bill being paid. Why would a bill from a private event even be in the hands of a staff member anyway? It's public money paying their salaries and I would hope that they are doing the city's business - not his personal event planning. When he found out, why would he even have to go to the OAG to ask if its OK? Personal morals and ethics should have kicked right in.
10:31 am
Mayor Fenty has always been a wolf in sheepskin. He's an ass. At least tony williams did his job. Fenty starting this cover up bs.
10:46 am
Williams wasn't all that great, I think I said half-way decent in one post, but none of the previous mayors have come close to doing a good job. & there's no hope for change. Who else is there? Kwame Brown? He's just another Fenty clone. Vincent Gray? He's just a low-rent Barry clone.
Ramsey is a criminal & should've been locked up a long time ago. The MPD has always been lawless - & Tony Williams did little to change that. It's a big scar on his record, no doubt.
I'll return to one of my favorite themes. DC is ungovernable in many ways. You have 40% of the population who are desperately poor people, & who are mostly incredibly ignorant. Then you have about 40% who are mostly transient yuppies, who really care about nothing but playing hipster & gazing at their navels. The other 20% consists of educated, civic-minded people, black white brown all colors, but their numbers are too few to do anything.
It's hopeless. If we could take Arlington back, that might help. If we were combined into one big city with Fairfax, Montgomery, & PG counties, that would work. Neither will ever happen. If we were given back to Maryland, that would only make things worse.
It's hopeless. The Last Plantation will never change.
10:59 am
Procedures should have been followed, pure and simple. He's had too many things to happen and it's always damage control by Nickles or it's I made a mistake. His pattern of handling things won't allow a simple traffic fender bender to be just that. There's no trust, no confidence and Fenty has no one to blame but himself. I have no trust, no confidence and no sympathy for whatever happens to him. Quite frankly, I'd like to see the IG investigate the $37,000 frat party. At a time when people are losing jobs, homes, programs being cut and taxes rising, the party should have been a fundraiser to benefit needy kids or seniors. Not an opportunity for Fenty to look good in the eyes of his frat bros. I guess in the end, with the unexpected $37,000 they had to pay back, he looks like shit in their eyes now!
11:15 am
Mike: Sorry, but you are incorrect. The Mayor's fraternity brothers were thanking him the whole night for throwing the party. He knew that he did not personally write a check for the party. Therefore, eventhough is he not the brightest bulb in the lamp, he had to know that the city was covering the cost. Additionally, the information given yesterday said that the "grant" came from the Deputy Mayor's office. Thus, Mr. Fenty either knew or should have known.
11:23 am
This was an article about the ACCIDENT...I'm just sayin. Save Fenty bashing for the other numerous blogs. Preserve the integrity of this story please.
As a member of the so-called 20% that Antagonist Al has mentioned, what does that have to do with a fender bender. Are you suggesting that the desperately poor and ignorant don't have insurance, so they just assume allow Fenty to get away with this? Please Al, add something pertinent to the post or don't add anything at all.
2:19 pm
The most disturbing thing about the whole "accident" is that a member of Fenty"s security detail prepared the report. How did this happen? Was the security guard in the car? Following behind in another car? Or was the security guard called to the scene by Fenty? If Fenty called his security guard instead of the regular MPD officer, that indicates an intent to cover up. There are all these stories that Fire Chief Rubin has been caught drunk driving in D.C. and not prosecuted. Maybe he has the same phone number.
3:10 pm
Fenty doesn't and refuses to have a seurity detail.
4:32 pm
Terry Miller, you make a very valid point!
6:06 pm
Q, Angry Al, Mike or Jason Cherkis:
Fenty had his twins in the government-owned Navigator during this accident. Are city employees allowed to provide transport to their children in government vehicles?
8:50 pm
again that jack ass still wants to be a cop. According to his favorite paper ie: washington Post he no longer has a security detail. That jerk probably had other people not his family in that vehicle. I'm a dc taxpayer and damn it I want to know why is he laying people off with little to no warning but he can pay money for a damn fraternity party. He doesn't care about anyone may he face the same wrath..
9:04 pm
Terry Miller (comment 15) asks the right questions. How did an officer from the Mayor's security detail end up writing the accident report?
9:08 pm
Nope it was the twins in the car. It was Fenty's weekend to have the kids since he and his wife seperated.
9:33 pm
Everyone should read the accident report. It was NOT taken at the scene. It was prepared on 8/3, NOT 8/2, the date of the accident. It says that the total number of occupants of the mayor's vehicle (including the drviver) was ONE. Definitely something wrong here.
11:30 pm
Truth Hurts is making some good points. Interesting when the accident report was prepared. That's not SOP.
12:51 am
So get the answers, Cherkis. My hunch -- and it's only a hunch -- is that neither driver waited at the scene for mpd to arrive (they probably exchanged info and left. When the mayor got home, he called his security detail guy, who went to the mayor's home and took a report (that night or the next day). Would explain why no photos were taken at the scene, why the report is dated the following day, why the reporting officer notes that the report was not taken at the scene, and why the cop issued no citation to either driver.
It doesn't explain, however, why Nickles told reporters the officer should've taken photos, but dismissed this lapse by sarcastically remarking that the officer had been a "bad boy". Did the mayor tell Nickles the whole story up front? If so, did Nickles fail to come clean with the press? And why hasn't the mayor and/or Nickles cleared this up? It makes one wonder.
12:39 pm
Truth Hurts, you are right. In some fender bender cases, waiting around for MPDC is like waiting for grass to grow. They just assumed exchanged insurance cards and called it a day. The crazy thing is that in order for Mr. Utt to file a claim, he HAD to get all the pertinent information about Fenty's vehicle, including his insurance. Doing so would always require a POLICE report.
Based on that, at least in Mr. Utt's case, waiting a day later to get a Police Report # seems weird. Hence why most people WAIT for the Police to show up after an accident to get it. Just for grins Jason, do a FOIA request on a Police report with Mr. Utt to see if they are the same report.
12:44 pm
Another theory was that the damage was so minor, and it was Mr. Utt's fault. Even so, you'd best believe that DC will attempt to recover any funds from him (and his insurance company) to repair the damages done to the vehicle.
One final question to some of the bloggers...I know Fenty's track record for disclosure has been spotty at best. Is this a case of a minor mistake happening but his past reputation makes him look bad (abuse of power/conspiracy/cover-up) or do you think this is a legitimate case of skirting around proper procedure?
1:10 pm
Q, Lanier just told the press that the other driver left, but Fenty waited at the scene for the police. QUESTION: Why does the police report indicate it WASN'T taken at the scene? Both versions can't be right. And btw, the police report does list Utt's info, which mpd likely obtained from Fenty. But again, in addition to the report not being taken at the scene, why was it done the day after the accident?
1:54 pm
Let me defend MPD here. MPD takes a bit of time. I was in an accident and every bit of that 20 minutes felt like an eternity but they got there and lets make clear. HE is the mayor---I am sure he has a few numbers to get them there ASAP.
Fenty told his security detail who showed up to the house to take the report after he left the scene (not illegal in DC ) that it was an accident and he was by himself. Mafara Hobson made it a family friendly moment and said his kids were in the car. Who was in car that they want to spread that image? Hmm.
He doesn't want to travel with a detail---legally they are required to turn evidence if they see something.
In regards to the 37,000 party. Who gives money without getting accolades for it. According to people at the party there were written acknowledgments everywhere. I know he doesn't read but they were not hiding it. Mayor knew or they thought they had his consent.
He is an embarrassment for the way he does things. Cronysm, cockiness, ineptitude, corrupt and not very effective manager.
Say what you want about Williams...at least you knew stuff was getting done. And he would at least had the good sense to not invite reporters to the same party you are handing out city money for a private event.
And the other driver was at fault. Forensic evidence says otherwise.
2:44 pm
Corey and Truth Hurts, this fits the old adage, "Always tell the truth. Otherwise you have to tell more lies to cover up the first one." How bad would it have been if Mafara scooped the media and said that Fenty was in a minor traffic accident, neither the driver nor Mayor Fenty were hurt, and appropriate insurance information was exchanged. Or heck, don't report it AT ALL...to the media that is.
Am I concerned that Fenty had a fender bender...no not hardly. The only thing that makes this news is if it was a DUI, Wreckless Driving, or if the vehicle was hit outside of some questionable establishment.
If he was truly by himself, I bet this wouldn't have happened if he was driving the Smart.
4:36 pm
Q, you're a smart guy. Did you read the accident report and compare it with the Lanier's statement to the press (both posted online by CP)? If not, please do. Then you'll understand my concern -- not about the fender bender -- about the irreconcilable inconsistencies.