Home Augusta County deputy on administrative leave after tackling suspect in Dec. 9 arrest
Local News

Augusta County deputy on administrative leave after tackling suspect in Dec. 9 arrest

Chris Graham
andrew simonetti augusta county
Photo: Screen capture from video provided by Augusta County Sheriff’s Office

The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office finds itself caught up in another issue involving allegations of aggressive behavior from one of its deputies.

Sheriff Donald Smith, in a news release sent out to local media outlets Monday evening, reported that sheriff’s deputy Andrew Simonetti has been placed on administrative leave after video surfaced of Simonetti tackling a suspect in the course of making an arrest in a Dec. 9 incident in Verona.

Smith noted in the release that he has asked Virginia State Police to conduct a criminal investigation into the incident seen on the video.

“No additional information and/or comments will be released until the conclusion of the State Police investigation,” Smith said in a statement in the news release.

This latest incident took place at 12:02 p.m. on Saturday, according to the news release, when Augusta County Fire & Rescue personnel were dispatched to a medical call at a storage facility in the 100 block of Lodge Lane in Verona involving Frank Allen Schulpman, 58.

At 12:20 pm, an Augusta County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to assist the rescue personnel on scene, due to Schulpman becoming disorderly, per the release.

The deputy arrived at 12:28 pm and learned that Schulpman had been drinking, seemed to be intoxicated, and had been swinging at rescue personnel when they tried to help him.

When the initial deputy approached Schulpman, the suspect was reported to be belligerent, threatened the deputy, and took a fighting stance, prompting the deputy to request assistance from additional deputies.

A second deputy arrived on scene, and Schulpman was taken into custody.

Video of the arrest was made available to the sheriff’s office on Monday, according to the release from Smith.

The move to place Simonetti on administrative leave comes weeks after another deputy, Bill Mikolay, was arrested on malicious wounding and assault and battery charges stemming from the Sept. 29 arrest of a wanted Gordonsville man that ended up putting the subject in the hospital.

A third active case against another deputy, CJ Taylor, who is facing two assault and battery charges from an Aug. 31, 2022, incident in the City of Staunton, has been continued until Feb. 29, 2024.

The sheriff’s office is also facing a $5 million lawsuit filed against Smith and four of his deputies over what happened in an Oct. 8, 2020, traffic stop.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].