A former sergeant with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has been charged with assaulting a man during an arrest earlier this month.
Joshua Silver was arrested yesterday (Tuesday) and charged with assault and battery after appearing to punch the man in the head multiple times when he was brought to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Sept. 11, according to in-car video shared by the sheriff’s office.
The incident was investigated by the Fairfax County Police Department, whose officers conducted the arrest.
“Per agency policy, the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) investigated the matter and determined that criminal charges were appropriate,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “The Sheriff’s Office has cooperated fully with the investigation and will continue to work with the FCPD.”
The FCPD didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The nearly hour-long in-car video starts at 9:28 p.m., per a time stamp, when the unseen driver turns on their sirens, suggesting they’re involved in a pursuit that lasts until 9:32 p.m. The sound of a vehicle door shutting can then be heard.
Around 9:36 p.m., three officers carry a hogtied man in handcuffs into the vehicle. While a Fairfax County police officer, marked by his vest, starts unclasping the strap that connects the man’s handcuffs to restraints around his feet, an individual appears to pull a mask onto the man’s head.
“Ow, this hurts. Oh my god, it hurts,” the man yells before unleashing a stream of profanity. “You see this s–t? You see this s–t? I got a f—–g mask on my face. What is this s–t?”
After momentarily leaving the man in the car, the officers return, and two of them hold him back while a third appears to be re-securing the foot restraint. At 9:42 p.m., an officer asks the man if he “wants medical” attention.
The man later confirms that a skateboard belongs to him, telling officers to “put that s–t in the car.”
After the vehicle arrives at the county jail around 10:25 p.m., the man yells at the people who open the vehicle door to “take this s–t off my face” and to “quit shining that light on me.” A male voice asks if he’s “going to cooperate or get dragged out.”
When the man makes a chuffing sound, the sergeant identified by the FCSO as Silver lunges into the vehicle, holds the man back with one hand and punches him twice with the other. A third punch hits the back of the seat.
“Piece of s–t,” Silver says. “F—–g piss on me again, m———-r, see what happens.”
Silver then yanks the man out of the vehicle and onto the ground. People can be seen carrying the possibly unconscious man away by his legs and arms.
The circumstances around the man’s arrest are unclear, but at one point in the video, he shouts his name. Fairfax County court records show he has been charged with three felony counts of assault on law enforcement personnel but do not list any other Sept. 11 charges.
The FCSO says it’s unable to share specific facts about the case while “criminal charges and administrative investigations are pending.”
The man was released on his own recognizance after a bond hearing on Sept. 16 and will face a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025.
According to the FCSO press release, Silver was “immediately” put on administrative leave, and he’s no longer employed by the sheriff’s office.
In a statement to FFXnow, Fairfax County Chief Public Defender Dawn Butorac, whose office is listed as the legal representative for the man who was arrested, called the former sergeant’s conduct “outrageous.”
“[My client] was clearly having a mental health crisis and Mr. Sliver chose to punch him repeatedly in the face, while he was handcuffed, instead of treating him with empathy and compassion,” Butorac said. “I hope that he is punished in the same manner as any other individual that is charged with assault for attacking a defenseless person would be. Mr. Silver was in a position of power and he abused that power. That is inexcusable.”
In Virginia, assault and battery is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of $2,500, though the charge can be elevated if the victim was targeted for their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or another trait protected by hate crime laws.
Assaulting a law enforcement officer is a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of six months in jail upon conviction, per the state code.
