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The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and three members of the agency were recognized Wednesday, Oct. 5, at an awards luncheon held by the Smooth Operator Campaign.
The agency, headed by Sheriff Steve Simpson, along with Lt. Rudy Landon, Deputy Specialist Craig Schleiden and Deputy First Class John Fowler were recognized for their efforts in going above and beyond their traffic-enforcement duties and for implementing a traffic-safety program targeting aggressive driving.
The Smooth Operator Program is a public safety initiative, which aims to provide education, information and solutions for the problem of aggressive driving. For nearly 10 years, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., have partnered through the Smooth Operator Program to combat aggressive driving.
Sheriff's Investigator John Russ was named homicide investigator of the year Tuesday, Oct. 11, by the Virginia
Homicide Investigators Association (V.H.I.A.).
Russ was one of four investigators throughout the state and the only investigator in Northern Virginia recognized during a ceremony in Chesapeake, Va. Each year the association recognizes the Homicide Investigator of the Year within Virginia.
Russ has been lead investigator on several homicide cases in Loudoun, most notably the 2001 murder of biophysicist Dr. Robert M. Schwartz. The case gained national attention after the investigation revealed Schwartz's own daughter contrived the murder and convincied a friend, Kyle Hulbert, that her father was trying to kill her.
Clara Schwartz was sentenced to 48 years in prison on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Hulbert pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Russ is a 15-year-veteran in law enforcement and has been investigating homicides for four years.