Former, Current WCSO Deputies Indicted Criminally in Ralph Ennis Traffic Stop Set for Trial in June

Contacted by Royal Examiner, Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth confirmed jury trial dates of June 6 through June 14, 2024, for former Warren County Sheriff’s Office deputy Zachary A. Fadely and currently on paid leave Deputy Tyler S. Poe. A motions hearing date of March 22 at 10 a.m. has also been set. At this point, Fadely and Poe are slated to be tried jointly on the Malicious Wounding (Fadely) and Unlawful Wounding (Poe) charges announced against them by the investigating agency, the Virginia State Police, following indictments being handed down on May 8 of this year by a grand jury regarding a traffic stop of 77-year-old Ralph Ennis on April 2, 2022.

If convicted, Fadely, 30 at the time of the indictments, faces up to 20 years in prison; Poe, 25 when indicted, faces up to five years if convicted on the lesser charge.

Ralph Ennis died 13 days after his encounter with the WCSO deputies after first being transported to Warren Memorial Hospital, transferred to Winchester Medical Center before eventually being released to hospice care due to the injuries incurred during an aborted April 2nd arrest attempt. While the state coroner’s office ruled Ennis died of natural causes, there is some controversy over whether those natural causes were exacerbated by the injuries, including a brain bleed Ennis received 13 days prior to his death from his encounter with first Poe, then Fadely, on April 2 last year.

As executor of his father’s estate, Ian Ennis’ filed a civil suit against the deputies initially reported at $6 million. That suit was filed on August 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, citing a violation of Ralph Ennis’ Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Attorneys for both deputies have filed for dismissals of the civil cases against their clients. Attempts to reach Ian Ennis and the federal court on the status of that civil case were unsuccessful prior to publication.

As previously reported by Royal Examiner, the situation evolved from an evening low-speed southbound pursuit of Ennis by Deputy Poe for speeding, 63 in a 55 mph zone, on Route 340 north of Front Royal, and erratic driving as Ennis failed to pull over for 3-3/4 miles on the way toward town before turning into the 7/11 parking lot at the Crooked Run Shopping Center entrance.

Body cam video shows Ralph Ennis approach an officer with his keys in his hand after having left his pickup truck, and parked background while receiving conflicting instructions from various deputies on the scene about remaining in or leaving his vehicle. Royal Examiner File Photo

It was later reported by his family and a local friend that Ennis, described as a sweet and caring man, had been battling the onset of dementia for some time prior to April 2022. In fact, after being reported missing by his family, WCSO deputies had been involved in locating Gainesville, Virginia resident Ennis at his Front Royal friend Ralph Waller’s East Main Street Pawn Shop in Front Royal the month prior to the April 2, 2022 incident. Unfortunately, it would seem that none of those deputies familiar with Ennis’s story were on the scene the night of the traffic stop incident.

Friends Ralph Ennis left, and Ralph Waller in Waller’s East Main St. Pawn Shop in Front Royal. Courtesy Photo Ralph Waller

Due to the recusal of the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office due to previous interactions with the deputies in routine prosecutions of cases brought forward by those deputies, prosecutorial oversight of the investigation and a recommendation regarding prosecution was handed over to the Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office as a Special Prosecutor in the case.