Apparently, someone has it in for Troy Farlow, the Democratic candidate for the open seat in the 96th House of delegates district. I’ve heard that the documents linked on Too Conservative have been shopped around to a number of media outlets. Is this a case of the blogs taking on a story that the MSM won’t touch? Who knows. Nevertheless, a close reading of the documents gives some clue to what really happened.
Note that the warrant for the arrest, executed 6/23/99, refers to an incident “on or about 10/15/1995,” a delay of nearly four years. The charge is misdemeanor hit and run, under Virginia Code Section 46.2-895. That section deals with the responsibility of a passenger in an automobile, in which the driver fails to report the hit and run. In fact, the warrant is quite clear that Farlow was charged “while being the passenger of a vehicle” involved and section 46.2-894, which deals with the driver, is scratched out . Under the code, the penalty for failure to report is either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on whether or not someone is injured. In this case, the warrant clearly says “misdemeanor” so, thankfully, no one was hurt. Farlow was fined $250 after pleading guilty.
Now here’s the real story. Farlow was raised by his mother and stepfather, his parents having divorced when he was about 4. In college, Farlow reestablished a relationship with his biological father. After college, Farlow was living in Richmond and his father in Chesterfield County. One evening, they were out together. His father was driving and hit another car. After checking to see that the passengers were not hurt, Farlow’s father drove off, and swore Farlow to secrecy. Later, Farlow went to an attorney and turned his father in.
Every kid wants a relationship with his “real” father and will do nearly anything to have one. Farlow’s father should have never put his son in that position. From what I’ve been told, Farlow’s father is a real piece of work, and was, no doubt, only looking out for himself. Farlow, albeit belatedly, did the right thing. For that he should be commended.
UPDATE: The Virginia Gazette story mentioned in the comments below is now available. And I see that Too Conservative has up a story about a hit and run accident that occurred around the same time. Problem is, that story isn’t the accident involving Farlow. Note that the story he has up refers to a woman driver who hit a pedestrian. As The Virginia Gazette reports, the accident involved hitting another car. I understand that story was given to the newspaper at the time the other documents were delivered. Obviously, the writer dismissed it as being the applicable story after talking to other people, including Farlow’s attorney.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Thanks for clearing this up Vivian. Troy is a good guy and the Republican smear tactics can’t bring him down!
It’s troubling how often blogs are letting themselves be used to smear candidates dishonestly and unfairly. It’s one thing to be partisan and to promote your candidate or even to truly expose an opponent’s true record. But when blogs let themselves be used to spread lies, they hurt the credibility of blogs in general.
Even though honest bloggers are not responsible for what their fellow, less than ethical counterparts do, unfortunately, the general public then begins to wonder whom they can trust.
Thank you for clearing this up. Hopefully, calm, evidenced based reporting can help a candidate wrongfully accused and help us all to keep the trust of the reading public.
Which is worse the crime itself or the coverup. No surprise that Ms. Page is telling the “Real Story” It has a democrat lean, which Ms. Page, is an active member.
Check it out for yourself – VAGAZZETE.COM
Do you have a link? I just search the vagazzette.com and didn’t find anything on this story.
I don’t know how telling the truth has any lean to it at all. The facts are the facts – he was charged as a passenger in a hit and run incident that occurred some 4 years earlier. Regardless of whether you believe how the incident occurred, he wasn’t driving.
Viv, couple thoughts on this.
1) I’m glad Troy wasn’t the driver but,
2) he PLEAD GUILTY to HIT & RUN
3) He failed to report it for FOUR YEARS untill he was ARRESTED
4) The incident was apparently not an “evening drive” as you were told. It occurred on an early Sunday morning at 1:50 a.m. on Jeff Davis Hwy. I don’t know anyone who “goes for a drive” on Jeff Davis Hwy after dark!
5) Plus, 1:50 a.m. happens to be about ten minutes after last call! on a Sat. night.
6) No one’s going to buy the “I did the honorable thing and turned my pop in FOUR YEARS AFTER THE FACT.”
7) Troy, I sure as heck hope you told the state party about this ahead of time. YOU BETTER HAVE BEEN HONEST WITH THEM A FEW MONTHS AGO!
Um, Jordan – where do you see where I said it was an evening drive? And where did you get the info on the date, time and location of the accident? It is not in the paperwork that Too Conservative posted. Care to prove it?
And, the bars close at 2am, so even if the time you have is correct, that would be 10 minutes BEFORE closing time.
Finally, my understanding is that the arrest took place AFTER he reported it.
The code is quite clear: misdemeanor hit and run is applicable if the passenger fails to report the incident within 24 hours and there are no injuries. My goodness – we’re talking about a $250 fine here! Had Troy been convicted of a felony, he would be ineligible as a candidate.
Viv, Look at the warrant, It was issued BEFORE he was ARRESTED. And it was served on him by a State Trooper, not the Richmond Police (who he claims to have turned himself into.)
We’re toast in this race; Time to give that money where it can do some good; to Ralph Northam or Steve Heretick!!!!
The Va Gazette has the story up here. The story is clear: had Troy not turned his father in, no one would have known about the accident. Of course the warrant was issued before he was arrested. I’m no lawyer but isn’t that normal?
since the republicans have nothing to run on, they run on slander and innuendo. that is the way it always is.
troy is and excellent candidate and will make a great delegate.
going to go and contribute right now.
The Va Gazette piece is probably about the best possible angle on the story that Troy could hope for. The headline could have been better, but it’s intriguing enough to get a higher number of readers than normal to read past the headline into the lede. The fact that his first quote isn’t defensive–on the contrary, it shows relief–is also outstanding for him, and it’s likewise intriguing enough to get the reader to keep going for a few more paragraphs to get to the next salient detail: Troy Farlow was not driving. Troy Farlow was, at worst, a reticent witness to a misdemeanor moving violation because he felt pained at the thought of testifying against his father.
It’s hard for me to judge one way or the other as to the details of the case itself, but from a public relations standpoint, Troy has every right to feel relieved; he handled this about as well as he could have. My hat’s off to Troy.
Whoever has been pushing this story, meanwhile, blew it; reporters HATE it when they’re forced into the position of attacking the character of someone who basically is a good person who made a lapse of judgement for an understandable reason. SOME bloggers may turn amateur journalist for the thrill of participating in the “politics of personal destruction,” but professional journalists tend to see their occupation as a public service and a noble calling (otherwise they wouldn’t work insane hours for crap pay). They’d rather be watchdogs who guard against politicians like Pogge who abuse the public’s trust for personal gain, not smear some poor guy who’s caught between a rock and a hard place.
Pogge should accept the likelihood that she won’t see any positive press from local media outlets in her district for the rest of the campaign; she should realize that while the paper said the source wasn’t “directly” associated with her campaign, the fact that they stressed the word directly at all makes it pretty clear to everyone that source was at least indirectly associated with the campaign. Her credit with the Gazette is done. Troy, meanwhile, should get out in front of the story and keep talking about what he wants to accomplish for voters in his district.
Apparently there is more to come. I’m hearing Troy was a bad boy in college too. Vivian, you better get a response ready for Troy’s Larceny ARREST in 1991. And then they’ll be MORE AFTER THAT!!! This guy belongs in prison, not running as a Democrat.
Any relation to Tim Murtaugh?
Good nose, asmith!
Two ways to look at househusband Troy in light of this story:
His old man is a dishonest sort, and typically the apple does not fall far from the tree.
or
Troy is the disloyal sort, willing to rat-out his old man when it seems to be to his own advantage.
Yes, reporting the incident was the right thing to do, but why did he take so long? Sounds like he waited for dear old dad to piss Troy off about something and that triggered the ratting on Troy’s part. It doesn’t sound as clean and pretty as originally presented; real life decisions rarely are as clean-cut as we wish they were.
Troy did the “right thing” but only after an inexplicable delay. I would feel much better about his chances in politics if he had done the right thing promptly.
It doesn’t matter, anyway, since Brenda Pogge is going to mop the floor with househusband Troy in November. Then he can go back to tending house for his doctor wife and this little item of trivia can fade into the past where it belongs.
The lesson is that Democrats need to pick more top notch candidates like John Miller and leave the househusbands at home.
VJP: “Of course the warrant was issued before he was arrested. I’m no lawyer but isn’t that normal?”
Yes, Vivian, you’re correct. Charges, whether served by summons or arrest, must be in writing. As a practical matter, it’s very difficult to serve a warrant which does not, in fact, exist. So, yes, the warrant would have to be issued BEFORE he was arrested. No real surprise there, and no law degree required to figure out Jordan’s sham statement. Probably just another fictitious Democrat worried about “our” chances.
If you look at the documents, he was served with the warrant at 10:20 on June 23rd, and released on his own recognizance at 11:52 the same day. Obviously, no one considered him the slightest threat to the public safety. He probably came in, picked up the warrant, and was released, after standing in line for awhile.
Meanwhile, the unethical Republicans are busily trying to accuse every Democrat who opposes them of some dastardly deed or crime, to deflect attention from the pathetic record of their incumbents. An example: Bobby Mathieson removed the supposedly offending “City Seal” from his website weeks ago. Any idea why many Republican incumbents still sport the same seal on their private campaign websites with impunity? Where’s the shame?