Investigation of alleged intentional fatal crash under question

Questions are being raised in the case of a man charged with murder for a crash that killed his girlfriend and her 5-year-old daughter last year.

Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham ruled the investigating officer violated department policy, and the driver’s defense attorney thinks that finding casts doubt on the case and the allegations police prosecutors are making.

Mustafa Aljazairi is accused of intentionally driving his car into oncoming traffic, killing Dorothy Fontain and her daughter, Empress.

Initially charged with manslaughter, the charges against Aljazairi were upgraded to second-degree murder.

His family insists the crash was an accident. The defendant’s brothers filed an internal affairs complaint with Prince William County police, alleging the investigating officer “falsified” a portion of his police report to say the couple was arguing before the crash.

Aljazairi’s brother provided a taped version of a phone conversation that contradicted portions of the written police report.

Last month, the Aljazairi family received a brief letter from Newsham reading, “The investigation revealed that Master Police Officer Drumm violated Department policy, therefore, appropriate corrective action has been taken.”

Aljazairi hired a new defense attorney, Blake Weiner, who says he specializes in police misconduct cases.

“The police report talks about my client saying, ‘I know what happened,’” Weiner said. “He didn’t say that. The police report also says that they were arguing in the car. He didn’t say that. Not only are these material facts and material misrepresentations, they’re the foundation of the government’s case.”

Without the incriminating statement, there is no proof Aljazairi intentionally crashed the car, Weiner said.

Police will not disclose specifically what led to the finding that the investigating officer violated department policy. In a statement a spokesman wrote, “The community can be rest assured the very minor administrative errors that were uncovered and addressed will not have a negative impact on the double murder charges the accused is facing in the deaths of a mother and her 5-year-old daughter.”

The commonwealth’s attorney also said the policy violation will not impact the case, writing, “The letter has no impact on our case or the charges that we’ve brought. We were aware of the mistake that the officer made in his report and had already provided that information to the defense.”

Court documents filed by prosecutors say there is other evidence supporting the charges, including dashboard camera video from the vehicle, but there is no audio on the recording.

“They claim they don’t have audio of the dash camera, but here they are telling the public they were arguing,” Weiner said. “So if they don’t have audio and my client didn’t say they were arguing despite the police report saying so, what’s their basis? We don’t know.”

Weiner said his next step as the new defense attorney will be to seek bond for his client. The trial is set for December.