Girardville mayor, OIC explain lack of citations and complaints filed in 2022

Jan. 22—GIRARDVILLE — The borough police department, which is under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office and whose officer-in-charge was fired earlier this month, filed just two criminal complaints and five citations in district court in all of 2022.

The new officer-in-charge blamed his predecessor for the low output of criminal cases, saying there were a minimum of 16 other criminal complaints and 24 traffic and non-traffic citations that never reached court.

Lt. Jeremy Talanca, named officer-in-charge following borough council's termination of Fabrizio Bivona on Jan. 11, said that Bivona failed to act.

"It was under no uncertain terms that everything had to be approved by him," Talanca said. "I had them ready; I wasn't derelicting my duty."

Mayor Judy Lorady Mehlbaum said the borough likely lost thousands of dollars in revenue from fines, half of which are paid to the municipality.

Bivona, meanwhile, called their claims "ridiculous," while the department's evidence room remains locked down by order of the Attorney General's Office.

Suspended twice, then fired

Bivona, who was hired in March following the resignation of the former chief, Fred Lahovski, was suspended from the force Dec. 11, 2022, because he failed to provide the mayor with the key to the evidence room, according to a letter from borough solicitor Arlen R. Day II.

He was suspended again on Dec. 30, 2022, according to another letter from Day, over a number of allegations, including working when told not to work, filing citations against fellow officers while suspended, falsely representing himself as chief of police and ignoring orders to turn in his badge, keys and other borough property.

The council, after a two-minute executive session, voted unanimously less than two weeks later to fire him. Bivona did not attend that meeting.

Day said he could not further discuss the suspensions due to the ongoing investigation by the Attorney General's Office.

Evidence room

The borough came under scrutiny when agents of the Attorney General's Office inventoried and processed the police department evidence room, looking for any type of abnormality.

"The room was sealed by the Attorney General's Office and remains that way pending the investigation," Mehlbaum said.

She said the work was done by borough maintenance personnel under the supervision of Schuylkill County Sheriff Joseph G. Groody and Deputy Sheriff Shawn Butler after an inventory was completed by the Attorney General's Office.

Until the evidence room investigation is complete, Talanca said the borough has an evidence holding area deemed suitable by the Attorney General's Office. He said the area is secured by two locks, each with separate keys, and requires two authorized persons to enter at any time.

"We are in compliance and will stay that way until told otherwise," he said.

Case count

The 16 cases prepared but never filed in court involved crimes of misdemeanor three offenses or higher, Talanca said. He did not expand on the status of the cases or whether or not they will still be filed.

Records from the office of Magisterial District Judge Edward J. Tarantelli, Frackville, show the two criminal complaints that were filed, one on Dec. 8 involving a theft and one Dec. 9 involving DUI-highest rate, were both by Bivona.

No disposition is listed for the first case, while the charges filed Dec. 9 were dismissed by Tarantelli because Bivona failed to attend the preliminary hearing.

Of the five non-traffic citations, also from Bivona, one was filed Oct. 19, three on Nov. 30 and one Dec. 7. Two defendants charged with public drunkenness were found not guilty while the others, involving public drunkenness, harassment and criminal trespass, have no disposition listed.

The Girardville department, which in addition to Talanca has two other officers, Patrolmen Brandon Gonzalez and James Patterson, allots 56 hours a week for officers to work, and otherwise relies on state police.

Troopers from the Frackville station responded to 223 calls in the borough in 2022.

Trooper David Boehm broke down the incidents troopers responded to in Girardville.

The incidents included four drug offenses; 19 crimes against society, including disturbances and warrants; 20 crimes against people, including aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, harassment, indecent assault, terroristic threats and sex offenses; 12 death investigations, including accidental, natural and suicide; three domestic checks; one Megan's Law investigation; and nine vehicle crashes involving fatalities, hit and runs and DUI.

Other investigations totaled 86 and included 911 hang-up calls, dog law violations, domestic incidents, civil matters, suicide threats, suspicious persons and welfare checks.

Boehm, the public relations officer for Troop L, Reading, said troopers also responded to 26 property crimes including burglaries, criminal mischief incidents, identity thefts, frauds, thefts and trespassing.

Included in the calls for 2022 were 35 requests for services, including false alarms; attempts to locate individuals; disabled motorists on the road; license or registration seizure; lost items; mental health issues; requests for assistance; road hazards; and vehicles towed.

Under traffic enforcement, troopers had one incident involving DUI and two others regarding other traffic violations, Boehm said.

Talanca said citations he prepared to file with the magistrate court went back as far as March and April, but Bivona wanted to review them first. Talanca said he had no alternative.

"When you're told no by your OIC, it's no," he said. "I was under orders and it was always a no."

Mehlbaum concurred, saying Bivona wanted everything run by him prior to being sent to the magistrate. She said she learned of the practice recently.

"The officers had to give their citations to him for approval," she said. "They (officers) were allowed to write them but not file them on their own."

Talanca said that since assuming the duties of officer-in-charge earlier this month he is already conducting two criminal investigations and has five summary citations ready to file in district court.

Mehlbaum said she was taken aback to learn of the low number of citations and criminal complaints filed in 2022 considering officers were allotted as many as 2,912 hours.

Bivona replies

Contacted Thursday, Bivona said there was never such a policy in place and that the officers had the authority to file the charges on their own.

He said the mayor is in charge of the police department and therefore the only person authorized to institute new policies.

"Police officers' authority to submit citations and criminal charges comes from the state authority and cannot be impeded," he said, calling the assertion "ridiculous."

As to the allegations about the evidence room, Bivona said in a statement after his firing the notion of giving the mayor the key to the evidence room "would have allowed and facilitated unsupervised access" and was "inappropriate and illegal."

Access by any borough officials must be supervised by a legal custodian, and there must be a legitimate reason to access the room to ensure the "integrity of the evidence and chain of custody," he said.