The December regular meeting of the Middleburg Town Council opened with Mayor Betsy Davis praising Middleburg Eccentric Editor Dee Dee Hubbard for her leadership role in this year's "Christmas in Middleburg" celebration, and ended with a closed-session discussion of the role of the Middleburg Police Chief, Steve Webber, in her arrest by State Police, her "perp walk", and transport in irons to the County Detention Center in Leesburg.

Hubbard, 67, had been called to a meeting in a local restaurant on November 30 by Police Chief Webber, ostensibly to talk about traffic and security preparations for the December 4 "Christmas in Middleburg" parade which she has co-chaired for the past dozen years or so.

Once at Mello Out, Hubbard was arrested.

At least two photographers with 35mm cameras were on hand to capture the event, as was 40% of the Middleburg Police Department and three Virginia State Police officers. Pictures of the perp walk appeared above the fold in the next day's edition of the Loudoun Times Mirror, on the paper's web site, and on YouTube.

Hubbard, a grandmother, is a thirty-year resident of Middleburg, a multi-term President of the Middleburg Business Association, the mother of a former Town Council Member, and the perennial recipient of formal commendation by the Town Council, most recently for her work with Project Helping Hand on events for the survivors of the Pacific Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, her contributions to the work of the Middleburg Humane Foundation, the Cherry Blossom Fund, the Middleburg Community Center, Windy Hill, and the Mosby Heritage Area Association.

Described by one supporter as one of the town's "most prominent and truly beloved" volunteers, her arrest, and particularly the manner in which that arrest was carried out and publicized, shocked the Town.

Supporters of Hubbard wore orange ribbons as symbols of their solidarity during the Christmas in Middleburg weekend.

More than one offer to establish a legal defense fund has been reported.

In response to a combination of public anger, unsubstantiated rumors, and on-line speculation on the eve of Christmas in Middleburg, Council Member Kathy Jo Shea added an amendment to the last item on the Council's regular December meeting agenda. In addition to discussing a routine appointment to a Town committee, the Council would also discuss the actions of the Town's Police Chief on or around November 30.

The Charges

The Hubbard case is rooted in complaints of embezzlement lodged with the Middleburg Police by Jack J. Goehring of McLean, Virginia.

For roughly twenty years Hubbard had managed some 20 to 25 properties, including private homes, offices, and retail stores, for Goehring and a partner John Bennison. Bennison has reportedly dissolved his Middleburg business relationship with Goehring. Hubbard and Goehring formally dissolved their 20-year relationship on May 31, 2010.

Goehring's difficulty with Hubbard took the form of complaints about what he described as missing or misdeposited rent checks, which he suggested Hubbard may have put into her own accounts.

The total amount Goehring believed to be missing, he claimed, amounted to just over $9,000, spread over three years and some 15 checks, an average of roughly $600 per check.

At some point between April and the end of August, 2010, Goering formally complained to the Middleburg Police Department.

Middleburg Police Chief Webber contends that, after looking into the matter himself, he found it necessary to ask for help from the Virginia State Police.

A "joint" investigation headed by State Police Special Agent Robert J. Mrak followed, beginning in late August or early September, some "90 days" before Hubbard's arrest.

Hubbard during the period in question, was in the habit of regularly depositing funds into some eleven different Middleburg bank accounts : six belonging to Goehring and his partner; two belonging to her own businesses; and three belonging to three different members of her family.

Hubbard contends that: the checks in question were properly endorsed; any errors were innocent; not all the errors were hers; and in any case all were corrected as soon as they were brought to her attention.

Sources with knowledge of inquiries into the matter by Middleburg Bank confirm a significant amount of innocent bank error. Checks clearly endorsed to one account were sometimes inadvertently accepted for deposit into an account with a different name, something which should not occur, but sometimes does. Goehring has not indicated that he intends to file charges against Middleburg Bank.

A preliminary hearing on the Hubbard case is set for 1:00 PM, January 12, 2011, in Loudoun County General Circuit Court. That hearing will determine if grounds actually exist for moving forward with the case against Hubbard at all.

Hubbard's attorney, Middleburg's Ed MacMahon, publicly referred to the charges against his client as not only "false" but "absurd," and termed the behavior of the Middleburg Police as "suspicious."

"After Hubbard's acquittal," MacMahon told the press, he would immediately file a civil suit seeking damages for "malicious prosecution."

The Complainant

Jack Goehring is perhaps best known to travelers on Route 50 for his bright red truck and "Jack the Ripper" billboard which mark the western entrance to the town. "Jack the Ripper" refers to his work as a professional arborist, which has been positively profiled in the Eccentric.

Goehring is an amateur historian, and owns a significant portion of the land on which the Civil War Battle of Middleburg was fought.

Several times suggested as a candidate for appointment to the Town's Historic District Review Committee, Goehring designed and built the white-columned monument to "Union Victory" at Middleburg that stands on the south side of Route 50 just east of Mount Defiance. Two "cannon," made from gas canisters mounted on what appear to be hay wagon wheels, complete the monument. From a flagpole erected on state-owned right of way in the center of the Route 50 median strip near the monument, he also flies a Virginia State Flag and a 13-stripe variant of the "Don't Tread on Me" banner.

Goehring has been criticized for his approach to clearing the woods that once covered the battlefield below Mount Defiance, and for building a still-unfinished cape-cod style one-and-a-half story "clubhouse" dominating the site, ostensibly for an entity defiantly named "The Union League Club."

The "Union League Club" staged one public lecture at the Middleburg Community Center.

Perp Walk

Despite efforts by at least four newspapers to uncover the facts surrounding what has become know as the perp walk of Dee Dee Hubbard, key facts remain elusive.

It would appear that, after three months of "joint investigation," Webber and Special Agent Mrak took it upon themselves to stage Hubbard's arrest before formally bringing it to the attention of Commonwealth's Attorney James Plowman, the Mayor of Middleburg, the Town Administrator, or any member of the Town Council. All have been asked. None have said they were informed. Several have said, on the record, that they knew nothing of the planned arrest until after it happened.

While it is not illegal to stage and arrest in that way, it is somewhat unusual, and to date, no explanation for those decisions have been forthcoming.

When asked by the press, and in closed session about the details of the arrest itself, Chief Webber insists that while the "investigation" was "joint," the "arrest" was a State Police matter and not his fault. Mrak confirms that his officers chose the time and place and carried out the arrest.

It has also been reported, though not confirmed, that the Chief personally regrets what happened to Hubbard.

Both the Middleburg Police and State Police deny informing the press before Hubbard's arrest took place.

Webber's Role

Documents indicate that around 3:30, on the afternoon of November 29, in the midst of ongoing preparations for the annual Christmas in Middleburg Parade, Webber set a train of events in motion by asking for a "meeting" with Hubbard. "I am getting ready to leave for the day. Are you available to meet for a few minutes around 11:30 tomorrow," he wrote. "I can meet you at Mellow – Out." [sic]. The building in which Mello Out is located, ironically, is owned by Jack Goehring.

Given their long history of working together on the Christmas parade, Hubbard says she saw nothing unusual in the request, and assumed it had something to do with the parade, just days away.

Around 5:00 PM she replied to Webber's email. "That will be perfect," she wrote. " will copy Jim Herbert [co-chair of the Christmas event] on this so he can be there too."

Fully aware of what the "meeting" was really about, Webber didn't reply until the next morning. "No need for Jim. Up to you," he wrote at 8:23 on the morning of the arrest. "Is this about Christmas in Middleburg," Hubbard replied.

Webber answered ten minutes later, at 8:33 AM on the day of the arrest, with one word: "Yes."

According to Hubbard, Webber or the State Police could have chosen anywhere in Middleburg to meet, and she would have gone there.

Instead, she says, they apparently chose Mello Out, a restaurant owned by Hubbard's daughter, former Town Council Member Lisa Patterson . . . at lunch time, at an hour almost guaranteed to have as many people as possible in the restaurant.

The basement-level restaurant was crowded when Webber arrived. Among the crowd was the Mayor herself.

At the appointed time, Webber reportedly walked down the stairs into the basement level restaurant, and asked Hubbard if he could "Speak to her for a minute, outside."

Hubbard, followed by Middleburg Mayor Betsy Davis, dutifully started up the stairs. A photographer with a 35mm camera, according to the Mayor, almost knocked her down trying to get upstairs in time to take pictures.

To date no official reason has been offered for perp-walking Hubbard from Mello Out to a waiting police car.

No reason has been given publicly for staging her arrest before, instead of after the Christmas in Middleburg events, set for Saturday December 4. No one has confirmed or denied any efforts by the Middleburg Police to mitigate the timing or behavior of the State Police in any way.

Once lured outside Mello Out by Webber, State Police officers handcuffed Hubbard, walked her, without a coat or hat in a wind-driven drizzling rain to a waiting police car, and took her, still in irons, to the County Detention Center.

Webber, who commands a total force of four and regularly wears the Marine Corps "Eagle Globe and Anchor" prominently on his police uniform donned a swat-team-style official police baseball cap and heavy-weather traffic-safety- yellow rain gear (clearly marked with silver reflective tape) for the occasion.

All this was fully documented by photographers, one of whom sold her photographs to the Loudoun Times Mirror. Leesburg Today reportedly refused the offer.

Rumors, Misinformation and a Press Release

News of the arrest and Hubbard's perp walk began to circulate even before the Times Mirror posted its first story (and newly acquired photographs) on its web site.

This reporter was telephoned as the events were in progress, told that his editor had just been arrested and that "people were saying the FBI was involved."

A local physician heard that Hubbard had been caught stealing money from Sheila Johnson. Asked how much he thought was involved, he speculated "$200,000 . . .maybe more."

A hour or so after the arrest, and just in time to meet the county weeklies' deadlines, Chief Webber took the unusual step of issuing an abbreviated one-sentence after-action report in the form of an official press release.

No one in Middleburg Town Government, and no member of the Town Council (to whom the Chief reports) knew anything about the press release until they received their own email copy. "All members of Council received electronic copies, with the exception of David Stewart," according to Town Clerk Rhonda North. Stewart does not have an e-mail address.

North also affirmed that she had not been alerted in advance of the arrest.

Chief Webber's bare bones, one-sentence press release was, according to one newspaper source, "an invitation to speculation and rumor."

Neither Goehring's name, the $9,000 in dispute, nor the specific nature of the "embezzlement" charges for which Hubbard was arrested were outlined . . . only an assertion that she had been arrested, after a joint Middleburg/State Police investigation, and faced 15 "felony" charges for "embezzlement."

It was nowhere indicated that the "15" counts really meant one count per check, for 15 checks, spread over three years.

No one in town government was apparently aware that Webber had issued a statement to the press until after it had been sent.

No one in Town Government had reviewed it for either factual accuracy or appropriateness.