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Chase Death of Possible CIA Agent Ruled Homicide |
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Written by Fox Houston
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
 The Harris County Medical
Examiner's Office has ruled that the death of a man, who was involved
in a citywide car chase with police, as a homicide.
The official cause of death for Roland Vincent Carnaby, 52, has been listed as a gunshot wound to the torso.
Carnaby was fatally shot Tuesday, following a police chase that wound through several Houston freeways.
Investigators
are still trying to determine who the man was and if he really worked
for the CIA or as a national intelligence officer.
Family members invited FOX 26 News on Wednesday inside the home of Carnaby, who claimed to work for the CIA.
Relatives
said Carnaby, who lived in Pearland with his wife of 11 years, was a
secret federal agent for the FBI and CIA despite local and federal
authorities not being able to verify that claim.
"There was no record of him being an employee of the FBI or CIA," Houston Police Department Chief Harold Hurtt said Wednesday.
Officials
with the FBI and CIA also said that Carnaby did not work for them, even
though Carnaby had pictures of himself with former Secretary of State
James Baker and Hurtt.
"I've taken pictures with probably another thousand Houstonians in the last four years," Hurtt said.
Carnaby
was pulled over Tuesday for speeding and then led police on a chase.
He was fatally shot after officers said they thought he reached for a
gun.
"One of the officers, on the passenger side, saw the
suspect reach down and make an obvious and overt movement underneath
the seat. Fearing for his safety, he fired the weapon one time," HPD
Sgt. John Chomiak said.
A second officer also opened fire but it
is not clear how many times Carnaby was shot. Carnaby, dressed in a
suit, died on the way to the hospital.
Investigators initially
only found a cell phone but then said they discovered two pistols and a
shotgun inside Carnaby's sport utility vehicle. They said one was in
the suspect's reach when the officers shot him.
"At any one
time, he's got three or four shotguns, two guns on him, a knife," said
Alan Helfmen, owner of the River Oaks Chrysler dealership and one of
Carnaby's good friends. "I'd like to believe that he would not have
tried to shoot somebody. That's not his mentality."
Helfman said
Carnaby told people he was a CIA agent or some kind of national
intelligence officer. He said Carnaby donated large amounts of money to
HPD fundraisers, was highly intelligent, spoke seven languages and was
the president of the Houston branch for the Association For
Intelligence Officers.
"He thought he was one of them ... or maybe one of them with a little higher pecking order," Helfman told FOX 26 News.
Helfman
said he met Carnaby a dozen years ago when the man showed up at his
dealership to buy a vehicle. The two quickly became good friends,
sharing a love of cars and law enforcement.
The black Jeep Commander Carnaby was driving is registered to the National Security Command Center.
Federal
credentials were also found inside the SUV but investigators are still
trying to determine if the identification is real.
"We don't know. They could've been made up," HPD Homicide Capt. Steve Jett said.
Relatives
said they have plenty of proof that Carnaby was CIA, including an
autographed book from, they say, his very close friend, former CIA
Director George Tenet.
However, plaques, paperwork and the
people who love him say one thing: the truth seems to be just as much
of a mystery as Carnaby himself.
HPD officials said they are
questioning officers about why medical attention was not given to
Carnaby after he was shot and before paramedics arrived.
The two
officers that fired their guns have nearly 40 years of law enforcement
experience combined. Officials within the police department's internal
affairs and homicide divisions, along with the Harris County District
Attorney's Office, are investigating the shooting.
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The Police State