Camblos Refuses to Charge in Covesville Attack

A couple of weeks ago, Edward and Angela Bourne, of Buckingham County, were driving south on Rt. 29 when their car was surrounded by six speeding vehicles. The Bournes were forced off the road, and a man from one car attacked Angela Bourne. Her husband defended her, for which he was bludgeoned. His wife then tried to help him, and she was held and restrained by another man. Finally, all the men left, and the Bournes were taken to the hospital.

Any number of laws were broken here, but Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos says he’s not going to press charges. Why? The attacker is from Maryland, and extradition requires a felony — Camblos says that the only one crime was committed (assault and battery), and it was just a misdemeanor, and, hey, what are the odds that a guy from Maryland might ever cross the border again?

The Bournes are furious, and don’t understand how it is that this is allowed to happen. Typing in “Camblos” in the site search reminded me of why I’m not surprised — this is par for the course for Camblos. Remember in the 1998, when a grandmother and her two grandchildren were killed in an auto accident on 29 when a woman drove clear across the vast, wooded median strip and collided with their car head-on? There were neither charges nor an investigation, after Camblos refused to permit it. Remember the murder of Osama Hassan at the Shell Station on Ivy Road in 1998? Charges had to be dropped against Dylan Tyree in that case after Camblos mishandled the submission of evidence to the courts. Remember the three police officers who shot and killed a pitchfork-wielding mentally ill man in 2001? Camblos exonerated them. Remember the involuntary manslaughter trial of a UVa professor in 2003? Camblos didn’t subpoena a key witness, and charges had to be dropped. Remember the 2003-4 story of Deputy Stephen Shifflett, who claimed to have been shot by a black man, going so far as to arrest two guys, but turned out to have shot himself? Camblos refused to charge him with anything, got called on it by the Progress, and then claimed that he’d been investigating it all along; Judge Peatross had to intervene.

Call me crazy, but I’m seeing a pattern here. While the Bournes might be surprised by Camblos’ bizarre refusal to place charges, it strikes me as about right for the guy.

Reed Williams has the story in today’s Progress.

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