Funeral to be held for Arlington deputy killed in car crash

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A joint honor guard of Arlington and Prince William county sheriff’s deputies will perform Wednesday at the funeral of a deputy who served both departments for more than 20 years.

Arlington Chief Deputy Dennis Webb, 52, died Saturday in a car crash in Manassas.

“He was a friendly, exuberant man, a genuinely good person,” Arlington Sheriff Beth Arthur said. “It’s truly terrible. We’re all pretty much numb at this point.”

A 2005 Jeep traveling south on Sudley Road about 2 p.m. ran off the street, sideswiping a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder, according to a Prince William County police statement. The Jeep’s driver then lost control a second time, striking Webb’s 2007 Toyota Highlander in the parking lot of a thrift store.

Webb died at the scene. No one else was in his sport utility vehicle, said Officer Erika Hernandez, a Prince William police spokeswoman. The Pathfinder’s driver, a 33-year-old Manassas man, wasn’t injured.

Webb was a Prince William sheriff’s deputy, then an administrator at the Manassas jail for 22 years, Arthur said. When her chief deputy retired three years ago, she asked longtime friend Webb to take the job.

The Jeep’s driver, Scott Richard Edgell, 47, of Stafford, is charged with reckless driving. Speed is considered a factor in the crash.

mhegstad@dcexaminer.com