Want to know why I think Staunton Police needed to take the reckless driving incident at a political protest earlier this month more seriously? Look at what just happened in Vancouver.
A 30-year-old man “known to police” is in custody after plowing his SUV through a Filipino street festival Saturday night, killing nine and injuring at least 20 at a scene described by witnesses as resembling a “war zone.”
“It just kept going and going and going. People were just screaming and trying to run away,” one witness at the scene told the CBC.
The incident in Staunton that led to criminal charges being placed against the owner of a local towing company, Jeffrey Wayne Armentrout, fortunately didn’t escalate anywhere near that level.
ICYMI
- Staunton: Magistrate issues warrant in ‘rolling coal’ incident at April 5 protest
- Staunton PD had past issues with tow-truck driver charged in April 5 rally incident
Armentrout, driving one of his tow trucks, raced through the intersection of Johnson Street and Augusta Street in front of the Augusta County Courthouse, where hundreds of people were attending an April 5 protest against the overreach of the Trump/Musk administration.
The truck passed literally a couple of feet away from a couple dozen protest attendees on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse.
A Staunton Police officer pulled Armentrout over a couple of blocks away from the courthouse, but only gave him a verbal warning, and Armentrout was later seen by witnesses at the protest driving through the intersection engaging in a practice known as “rolling coal” – blowing diesel smoke through modified smokestacks on the truck.
“Rolling coal” is illegal in 11 states, but it is not illegal in Virginia.
Armentrout was only charged in the initial incident in which he drove his truck at a high rate of speed through the protest site after our investigation here at AFP, which was spurred by readers sending in photos and video that we could present to a local magistrate, who reviewed the evidence and decided to issue an arrest warrant.
Armentrout is due in court for a hearing in his criminal reckless driving case on May 7.
As is the case with the driver in the Vancouver incident, Armentrout is also “known to police,” with a lengthy rap sheet that includes charges dating back to 2018 for pointing/brandishing a weapon and malicious wounding, petit larceny and annoying phone calls, all of which were ultimately dismissed.
A criminologist would tell you that being able to get away with lower-level offenses can embolden a perpetrator to continue to push the limits of what can be gotten away with.
That said, it’s almost certain to me that our guy here in Staunton isn’t going to be held accountable for coming a couple of feet away from plowing through a crowd of protestors back on April 5, really only by the grace of god.
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Chris Graham
