Quote:HPD high-speed chase ends in death, deeper mystery
Killed man known to his friends as a federal intelligence officer
By MIKE TOLSON, LINDSAY WISE and MIKE GLENN
Mystery continues to envelop a man shot and killed by Houston police Tuesday morning after a high-speed chase that ended near the Galleria.
The victim was identified by friends as Roland Vincent Carnaby, 52, of Houston. But who he really was — or more precisely, what he was — is something police are still trying to piece together.
Carnaby held himself out as a federal intelligence agent but was sometimes cagey about his precise job and employer. At times he mentioned the Central Intelligence Agency or the Department of Homeland Security. He was the president of the local chapter of the Association for Intelligence Officers, a legitimate national organization whose board contains luminaries such as former President George H.W. Bush. Friends said they have seen him in the company socially of local law enforcement officials and high-level CIA bureaucrats.
The CIA told KHOU that Carnaby was not an employee of the intelligence agency.
Car dealer Alan Helfman met Carnaby more than a decade ago when "a mutual friend high in law enforcement" brought him by the dealership. "He bought eight or nine cars from me over the years," Helfman said.
Carnaby told Helfman he was a federal officer who worked in intelligence. The two men struck up a close friendship.
"He was always teasing me about being a reserve constable," said Helfman, who volunteers for Harris County Precinct 7.
Friends insist Carnaby was very much who he said he was, even if he was less than specific about his duties. One recalled a recent party in Washington that they both attended for retired intelligence agents.
'A blank page'
"Most of what he does is so classified that regular homicide (detectives) will come up with a blank page and then a question about why you are asking," said Fred Platt, the vice president of the local chapter of intelligence agents. "He's here because of homeland security. The port and the airport. He knows everybody on the command staff of every agency."
Local law enforcement officials, however, say they don't know him, including Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt and Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas. The local FBI office also claims to have no knowledge of him.
Hurtt said he'd attended a function held by the Association last year and may have met Carnaby there. He said he did not remember him well, though the two were photographed together.
"I don't know the gentleman," he said.
Carnaby traveled frequently for work, Helfman said, but whenever he was in Houston, he visited the dealership on a daily basis. Helfman said Carnaby spoke seven languages and always carried an arsenal of weapons, including several guns and a knife.
"He was always showing me his knife tricks," he said. "He was real good at karate, too."
Carnaby was tight-lipped about his work and his private life, and Helfman said he didn't question him.
"His entire life has always been clandestine. His girlfriends didn't even know what he was doing," Helfman said.
Even mundane details of Carnaby's life were tinged with mystery. His address listed with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is a private mailbox at a UPS Store near downtown. The address at which he registered his Jeep Commander was a different UPS Store in Pearland.
Whatever his real story, Carnaby's life came to an end about 11 a.m. after police forced his vehicle to a stop. He didn't acknowledge the officers who encircled him with guns drawn. And he "refused to put his hands where the officers could see him," said Houston Police Sgt. John Chomiak.
"The driver refused to comply, talk or roll down the window," Chomiak said.
He opened the driver's side door only after one of the officers smashed the passenger-side window, police said.
"He stepped out of his vehicle, turned around and reached under the seat," Chomiak said.
When he did, two officers each fired one time, authorities said. The officers were identified by police officials as HPD Sgt. A.J. Washington and Officer C.A. Foster. Carnaby was later pronounced dead at Ben Taub Hospital.
The incident lasted most of an hour. It began with a routine traffic stop when Carnaby was pulled over for speeding along Texas 288 near Orem. Carnaby raced away after the officers learned he had a license to carry a concealed weapon, police said.
120-mph chase
With the officers in close pursuit, the Jeep raced north along the South Freeway, with speeds reaching 120 mph toward downtown Houston before heading west on the Katy Freeway. Carnaby then headed south along the West Loop, exiting at Woodway where the chase finally came to an end.
Harris County medical examiners said the autopsy will probably be performed today.
Washington, a 22-year HPD veteran, and Foster, who has been on the force for about 15 years, later told investigators they fired because they were in fear for their safety, police said.
Police said the shooting was apparently captured by the dashboard cameras of the HPD patrol cars.
Carnaby slumped to the ground after the officers began firing. He was motionless when they placed him in handcuffs.
'This doesn't smell right'
Although an initial examination revealed no weapons inside the man's car, that changed once it was taken into custody for a more detailed search.
"We have located three weapons inside the vehicle — two pistols and a shotgun," said HPD spokesman John Cannon. "At least one of them was within reach of the suspect."
The frontage road was closed for several hours Tuesday as investigators questioned the officers behind long lines of crime scene tape.
"What's going on?" a passing motorist shouted out as he crawled along the clogged West Loop.
That's the question his friends want answered. They say Carnaby had no reason to run or disobey police. Platt said he had dined with Carnaby both Saturday and Sunday and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Carnaby was engaged to be married, he said, and led a happy life.
"I can't fathom any reason why he would be running from the police because he is the police," Platt said. "This doesn't make any sense. I can't understand him running or why they opened up on him. This doesn't smell right."
Alright, Stewie, I want your professional opinion. Was this guy a delusional crackpot, or what?
-b0b
(...bets he was about to spill the beans on the Clintons.)
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