ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
THE ROANOKE AND CHARLOTTE departments both want to know how a man wanted for attacking his ex-girlfriend failed to be arrested in North Carolina for more than month before she was killed in Roanoke.
Police communication foul-ups plagued the search for Aquilia Marcibicci Barnette, the 23-year-old charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend in Roanoke and another man in Charlotte, N.C.
A week after Barnette's arrest, Charlotte police say they are continuing to investigate any "deficiencies" in their system.
"We very much use situations like this to correct problems," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Deputy Chief Larry Snider.
Roanoke police say their methods of searching for violent felons will not change. As in the past, the Teletype will be the primary source of communication, and each case will be reviewed to see if a telephone call is necessary, said Roanoke Lt. William Beason Jr.
In the Barnette case, ``At some point we should have said, `Why are Charlotte police not responding to our Teletypes? Let's find out what's going on down there,''' Beason acknowledged.
Barnette eluded police for nearly two months. They began looking for him after he was charged with trying to kill his ex-girlfriend, Robin Williams, in an April 30 firebombing.
This week, Roanoke police released the six Teletypes dispatched from their offices regarding the investigation. Charlotte police explained how the messages were handled by their department (see accompanying graphic).
Wednesday, Charlotte police released a timetable of what they know went wrong within their department. The records show that, on several occasions, officers could have taken an extra step that might have expedited the arrest of Barnette, but they failed to do so.
They say they received three of the five Teletypes that Roanoke relayed to North Carolina. A sixth Teletype, which was sent a half-hour after the April 30 firebombing, went to jurisdictions in Virginia and possibly North Carolina. Roanoke police had earlier said the Teletype was sent to all Southeastern states.
The records released this week also show that Roanoke sent three Teletypes on May 2, two days after the firebombing. The first two stated that Barnette was wanted on numerous felony charges. Charlotte police have not been able to locate those Teletypes.
The third Teletype issued that day referred to the two earlier Teletypes and said Barnette was an "arson subject" and was believed to be at an address in Charlotte. When Charlotte police checked the address, they were unable to find it and mistakenly told Roanoke it was invalid.
Charlotte police admit that one of their investigators forgot to follow up on a Teletype received May 31. They contend that it was not clear Barnette was wanted until a June 20 Teletype. And that one was lost and not found until after Barnette was captured June 25.
"The person actually making the arrest has to be satisfied that the warrants exist," Snider said.
But Snider said he has no information that his investigators ever checked Barnette in the National Crime Information Center, a nationwide criminal database that lists all wanted suspects.
Snider said that while an internal investigation dissecting what went wrong in their department continues, it does not appear anyone will be disciplined.
In Roanoke, the procedures regarding Teletypes are expected to be reviewed by Chief M. David Hooper and his administrative staff.
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