Roland Vincent Carnaby, a 52-year-old Lebanese man who lived in Pearland TX with his wife of 11 years, was initially pulled over during a routine traffic stop April 29, 2008, but drove off when the officer discovered his concealed weapon license. A high-speed chase ensued, during which Carnaby was said to be armed. He was fatally shot after officers said they thought he reached for a gun. He died in his blood stained suit, handcuffed ; officers rendered no first aid at the scene.
Relatives said Carnaby, 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.
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.
Alan Helfman
"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.
Helfman said he met Carnaby a dozen years ago when the man showed up at his dealership to buy a vehicle with a mutual friend, high in local law enforcement. The two quickly became good friends.
Federal credentials were also found inside the black Jeep Commander 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.
Carnaby's lawyer, Kenneth Brooten, said the fatal shooting, which occurred after Carnaby exited his car at the end of the chase, did not appear necessary.
"All of this has a smell factor," Brooten said. "What was the justification for the use of deadly force? Was this man a felon that was fleeing the scene of an armed robbery? Had he pulled a gun on them previously? That's a public policy issue. That affects every person who drives around Houston or lives there."
"I recall people coming out recognizing him, `Hey Tony, how are you?' This is what I saw.
The executive director of the AFIO, Elizabeth Bancroft, said she met Carnaby several years ago at the group's functions held near McLean, Va. Carnaby was a very eager, enthusiastic AFIO member, Bancroft said. When she told him that the group's Houston chapter had been inactive for years, he volunteered to get it going again. She said he was an excellent organizer and boosted chapter membership to about 200 members. He also had extensive contacts with law enforcement, which helped him book speakers for the chapter's meetings. Carnaby asked the national headquarters if he could name the Houston chapter after CIA agent William Francis Buckley, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in Lebanon in 1985.
"He talked about Buckley, how much he admired him and the bravery it must have taken to endure that type of torture that ends your life," she said.
For a person who was so supportive of law enforcement, Carnaby's final agony angers lawyer Brooten, who criticized the officers present for handcuffing him instead of administering medical care.
"All of this other stuff (about Carnaby's mysterious life) is all very interesting, but it is of no consequence when you consider a man is dead and he died handcuffed and nobody tried to stop the bleeding or anything," Brooten said. "You know what you call that? You call that an assassination."
Jett defended the officers at the scene, saying they are not trained to assist people with serious gunshot wounds.
"We would handcuff people and try to get them comfortable, but we're not paramedics, and most officers don't know about giving first aid like that other than CPR, and you don't want to give CPR to a gunshot victim," he said.
Investigators later found three weapons in Carnaby's car, police said. One pistol was under the passenger-side floormat. A second was between the seats. On the back seat floorboard lay a pistol-grip shotgun with a round in the chamber and the safety off.
Brooten said he has no idea why his friend and client ran from police, but he has a difficult time believing HPD's account.
"Maybe he thought he was being set up. That's speculation only," he said. "The answer is no, I don't know. But there are multiple reasons why an experienced professional would feel threatened. And given the actions after the shooting, maybe his instinct was correct."
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