PETERSBURG, Va. -- In October of 2002, thousands of police officers and federal agents were searching for a serial sniper who had struck fear into the hearts of people from Montgomery County, Maryland to metro Richmond.
During this time, the public was asked to keep their eyes open for two possible getaway vehicles: a white box truck and a white Chevy Astro van. Vehicles matching those descriptions had been seen by witnesses near some of the crime scenes.
We later learned the two men responsible for the shootings had been traveling in a much different looking car, one that had been spotted in Central Virginia just two weeks before the killing spree began.
At about 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, Petersburg Police Officer Jerome George received a call for service in reference to a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn that used to stand at the intersection of North Little Church and East Washington Streets.
At the time, due to a dorm room shortage, the building was housing students from Virginia State University.
But that morning, security noticed a car that was not supposed to be there.
“There was a lot of clothing in the back seat, I do remember that very well,” said George. “Their license plates I do remember that they were New Jersey.”
The car was a blue Chevrolet Caprice, and two people were inside.
“I did make contact with both individuals, and I do remember specifically that the driver was actually asleep,” said George.
The patrolman woke up the driver, who was polite and cooperative, and raised no suspicions at the time.
“He said that he was traveling north from Louisiana and he was going to see relatives in Maryland, and he was tired and he pulled over to the side of the road and he just wanted to get some sleep,” said George. “I just wanted to check on his well-being. You gotta understand, out here in Petersburg, you’ve got two major interstates, you have 85 and you’ve got Interstate 95. It's not uncommon to see individuals pull off to the side of the road into a parking lot to get some rest.”
George said he ran a warrant check on the vehicle and the driver. Both came back negative, so the officer told them to be safe and went back on patrol.
Thirteen days later the sniper shootings began.
“As a matter of fact, I even pulled over a couple white vans during the time, with probable cause of course,” said George about the widespread search for the gunman that ensued.
Then on Oct. 24, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were captured at a rest stop in Maryland, while they slept inside a blue Chevy Caprice.
Once he saw their photos on TV, and learned about their car, George said he immediately checked his notes.
“I can remember writing down the name of the driver, specifically,” George said. “My mouth dropped.”
It was John Allen Muhammad.
George told his supervisor, who had him type up a detailed report which was then sent to federal investigators.
“Our department did forward my findings to them, but I never heard anything back from them,” said George.
Before he became a police officer, George served in the United States Navy. And like Muhammad, he was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.
To this day, he cannot understand how someone who once swore to protect our country against all enemies – foreign or domestic – could have done something so evil.
“It’s sad,” said George. “I really don’t have any other word about it.”
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