Details emerge in Amherst County deputy shooting

New information about the shooting of a Lynchburg man last month by an Amherst County sheriff’s deputy has been disclosed in a search warrant filed in Appomattox County Circuit Court by the Virginia State Police.

The warrant details the events leading up to the Madison Heights traffic stop and shooting on March 20 and names the deputy, whose identity has not been disclosed by the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the affidavit, filed last month by Virginia State Police Agent Dino Cappuzzo, the shooting happened during an undercover drug investigation.

Cappuzzo wrote that an informant used by the sheriff’s office set up a drug deal that day to buy $600 of crack cocaine from a Lynchburg woman named Davida Michelle Harsley. The two agreed to meet at the Food Lion parking lot in Madison Heights, according to the affidavit.

When Harsley arrived as the passenger in a Ford Thunderbird with Mack Berkley behind the wheel, Cappuzzo wrote, deputies stopped the car. Amherst County Investigator Chris Smith then approached the car, he wrote.

“Investigator Smith advised he believed the driver was reaching for a weapon when he refused to remove his hands from concealed areas within and around his person in the vehicle,” the affidavit states.

It also states that Smith told the state police agent he saw Harsley make a movement under the dashboard as if she were hiding something.

The inventory, a list of items seized in the search, listed a metal fragment — no drugs or firearms.

Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom, a special prosecutor appointed to oversee the investigation, said he wasn’t familiar with the search warrant, but said he did know at least one item has been sent to a state lab for testing.

Branscom declined to say what that item was.

The state police affidavit does note that while first aid was being administered to Berkley, a small amount of what was believed to be crack cocaine was found in his pants pocket. Berkley was not found to be carrying a weapon on his body, the affidavit states.

The special prosecutor went to the Amherst County courthouse Thursday morning to drop drug charges filed by the sheriff’s office against Berkley and Harsley.

“After looking at all the evidence, I’d like to start fresh,” the prosecutor said.

Branscom said investigators plan to interview Berkley on Tuesday. With Berkley having been shot and Harsley as a witness, he said it’s hard to interview people when they have arrest warrants hanging over their heads.

Branscom also said Berkley has only recently been released from the hospital, is still recovering from gunshot wounds and isn’t in any condition to be arrested and jailed.

The prosecutor said he had not ruled out filing new charges in the case, but said he would not make any decisions until the investigation was complete.

Amherst County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Turner said the deputy involved has been on paid leave since the shooting and will remain on leave until the investigation is completed. Turner said Thursday that the sheriff’s office administrative investigation will not conclude until Branscom’s efforts are complete.

Under the sheriff’s department policy, deadly force may be used when the deputy reasonably believes the action is in “defense of human life, including the officer’s life, or in defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury, or in the apprehension of a fleeing felon” under limited circumstances.