Chilhowie town officials a year ago reviewed photographs that appear to show off-duty Police Sgt. David Conley Cullop – who resigned late Tuesday after being charged last week with driving under the influence – partying with underage drinkers.
One of the partygoers pictured is town Mayor Gary Heninger’s son, then just shy of the legal drinking age of 21.
Town officials dismissed the complaint, sent anonymously in the mail, following an investigation by two separate law enforcement agencies, Chilhowie Police Chief Steve Price told the Bristol Herald Courier on Tuesday.
But a Herald Courier inquiry raises questions about the veracity of those police investigations: Neither of the two agencies cited by Price have records of ever looking into the matter.
Price, when confronted with this information on Wednesday, acknowledged that official investigations never happened. Instead, Price said, he sought opinions about the pictures from a friend who is a ranking officer with the Smyth County Sheriff’s Department and also from another friend with the Virginia State Police.
“There was nothing to document,” said Price, who dismissed the photos’ relevance. “It’s been over a year ago, and this is a done issue.”
Price refused to name the two law enforcement friends.
Anonymous mail
Cullop, 34, resigned four days after State Police said he smashed head-on into a truck while driving off-duty in the wrong lane across a bridge.
No one was injured in the crash. Police charged Cullop with driving under the influence and with refusal to take a breath test.
The Chilhowie Police Department responded to the accident, but called in the State Police when it was discovered that one of its own was involved.
Cullop, reached by the Herald Courier at his Chilhowie home Tuesday evening, declined to discuss the charges or questions of past conduct.
Heninger said he would not allow his son to be interviewed.
The photos arrived in 2009 on a compact disc anonymously mailed to Councilman Lewis Shortt. Pictures obtained by the Herald Courier appear to show an off-duty Cullop partying with others in January 2008.
Shortt said he didn’t pay much attention to the photos, and that he has only a vague recollection of the matter. He added that he was not sure if the mayor’s son, Garrett Heninger, is among the people with Cullop.
Little credence was given to the photos because they were sent anonymously, Shortt said.
“You can’t go on an anonymous letter,” he said. “If no one comes forward, you can’t do anything about it.”
Mayor Heninger readily acknowledged that his son is among the partygoers pictured sitting next to Cullop.
The son, then 19 or 20 years old, is laughing as he clutches in his right hand an open Coors Light beer bottle.
The father does have his doubts about whether the bottle contained any beer, though. Heninger said his son claimed the bottle was empty of alcohol.
“It’s hard to say about pictures because he dips Skoal tobacco, and he uses a bottle as a spittoon,” Heninger said. “I don’t know if it was alcohol or spit.”
Chief Price made the same argument.
“You’ve got to prove there’s alcohol in them,” Price said. “[Cullop] said there was nothing in them.”
Investigation
On Tuesday, Price said the photos were dismissed as an unfounded complaint after investigations by the Smyth County Sheriff’s Department and State Police cleared Cullop of any wrongdoing.
But there never was an official investigation.
“I don’t know what [Price is] talking about,” Smyth County Sheriff R. David Bradley said Wednesday. “I asked my chief investigator about it this morning, and he doesn’t know anything about it.”
State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy also couldn’t find records of an investigation. He added that an initial, undocumented inquiry could have been done to determine if an investigation was necessary, however.
On Wednesday, Price said the investigation boiled down to him asking two friends in law enforcement whether the photos were worthy of investigation.
The investigation consisted of “an opinion of a sworn law enforcement officer that there was nothing there,” Price said.
When asked Wednesday, Price said he was not sure if he ever handed the photos to county Commonwealth’s Attorney Roy Evans for a legal opinion.
Evans, when called later, said he vaguely remembered a conversation about pictures a year ago, but was not sure what it was about. He said he would check.
In a follow-up conversation, Evans said that Price did ask for an opinion about a series of photos involving Cullop and possible underage drinkers.
The conclusion, Evans said, was that underage drinking is a misdemeanor with a 12-month statute of limitations. Even if some partygoers were underage, nothing could be done because the photos were a year old.
Evans, asked if he remembered that conversation with Price, laughed and said no. Evans said he had talked with Price minutes earlier and was relaying the police chief’s recollection of events.
“I don’t have a vivid recollection of that event, but [Price] did say that’s what happened, and I don’t doubt it,” Evans said.
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