Westmoreland reopens shuttered juvenile center to house captured teen

Dec. 11—There was nothing to prevent two teens facing criminal charges from just walking out of the Westmoreland County-administered shelter where they were staying, the county's juvenile detention director said Monday.

The teens, Braedon M. Dickinson, 16, and Robert Cogdell, 14, did just that Saturday, prompting a multi-agency search that included a public warning as they were accused of stealing a white Ford F-150 King Ranch truck with a .45-caliber handgun inside.

By Monday morning, Dickinson and Cogdell were in custody as those in charge of the county's juvenile justice system worked to explain what happened.

"We were in the process of starting our evening routine and the kids were sitting around watching TV until without warning they got up and ran out the back," facility director Rich Gordon said regarding Dickinson and Cogdell. "Our shelter is non-secure and under state law there's nothing to prevent them from running. They have the ability to come and go."

Westmoreland District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli, said in a statement that juveniles who are charged with serious violent crimes should be housed in secured facilities.

"Failure to secure them after serious, violent offenses puts not only public safety at risk but puts law enforcement at undue risk. I have been advocating for the (juvenile detention) center to be reopened," Ziccarelli said.

Jonathan Lindsay, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 62, said the incident should have been averted.

"Had these juveniles not been housed in an unsecured shelter, they would not of had the opportunity to jeopardize countless members of the public or law enforcement," Lindsay said. "Pennsylvania State Troopers will always answer the call to help, but the amount of resources exhausted this past weekend, and the lives it endangered is incomprehensible."

Juvenile detention center reeopened in response

A shuttered juvenile detention center that's in the same building as the shelter the teens walked away from was re-opened Monday.

County commissioners approved the limited reopening of the detention center to address what they called an emergency.

"It was a crisis situation and we are able to operate with a bare bones staff to ensure a bad actor is taken off the street," said Commissioner Ted Kopas.

The county's 16-bed detention center will be limited to just two juveniles — Dickinson and another unidentified boy who also was placed in the facility on Monday — until additional staff is hired, according to Commissioner Sean Kertes.

Police said Dickinson and Cogdell ran away Saturday night from the shelter that operates on the same Regional Youth Services Center building but in a separate area.

Officials confirmed Dickinson, 16, was placed in the secured center that since June had been closed amid staffing shortages and following a series of state inspections that found the facility was understaffed and its workers were insufficiently trained.

The shelter Dickinson and Cogdell ran away from operates in the same Regional Youth Services Center building but in a separate area.

One of the teens was charged with murder

Dickinson was charged last year with second-degree murder, along with six other co-defendants accused in the July 3, 2022 fatal shooting of 39-year-old Jason Raiford in New Kensington. One co-defendant, Amir Kennedy, 16, of New Kensington, was convicted last week of first-degree murder and other offenses. Two others, DaMontae Brooks, 17, and Elijah Gary, 20, both of New Kensington, were acquitted of second-degree murder charges. Brooks and Gary were convicted of robbery and conspiracy offenses.

Cogdell faced drug and gun charges in unrelated cases, officials said.

Dickinson and Cogdell were captured by state police Monday morning after a foot chase in Fayette County, according to authorities.

They didn't say where Cogdell was being held.

Dickinson had been a shelter resident since Nov. 14, Gordon said. He had previously been held in custody at the juvenile detention center this spring, before its closing, and was released on house arrest after a failed suicide attempt and the transfer of his criminal case to the juvenile court system. Officials said Dickinson went on the run this summer and was captured last month.

A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 21 on to determine the legality of a request by District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli to transfer of Dickinson's case back to adult court. That hearing was scheduled earlier this month and before Dickinson fled, officials said.

Cogdell lived at the shelter since Oct. 25, Gordon said.

'Only alternative'

Common Pleas Court Judge Michele Bononi, who oversees the county's juvenile courts, last month authorized Dickinson to be placed in the shelter program.

"When he got picked up (in November) there was no other place to put him. It was to protect him and for the community," Bononi said. "It was better than having him on the street. It was the only alternative."

Officials said Westmoreland's eight-bed shelter program is for troubled youth and teens with nowhere to go and who are typically monitored by the county's children's bureau. Its doors don't lock and there are no guards to keep residents in the facility.

"The shelter program is designed to be a 30-day emergency youth program. We have no lockdowns and they have the ability to enter and exit," Gordon said.

Few options

Controller Jeff Balzer, who serves as the chairman of the county's juvenile detention board, said June's temporary closure of the juvenile detention center program left a substantial shortage of viable options to house children charged with serious crimes.

A study released in May by Pennsylvania's Juvenile Court Judges' Commission said in addition to Westmoreland's facility, there is just one other government-operated juvenile detention center in western Pennsylvania, a 20-bed detention center in Erie.

Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in Pittsburgh was closed in 2021. Allegheny County officials are planning for its reopening next year.

"We're in an interesting place here. We're going to see much more of these children who are charged and we don't have a place to keep them. We need to make arrangements to house them," Balzer said.

Lindsay said the incident highlights a crisis across the nation.

"What happened over the weekend was very preventable and jeopardized not only public safety, but the safety of law enforcement," Lindsay said. "Our entire nation is seeing an increase in youthful violent offenders, and this county is no different. We need a secure facility in place to house serious and violent juvenile offenders without the probability of them returning to the streets to reoffend."

County leaders for months have planned for the reopening of Westmoreland's juvenile detention center. Five new staff members have been hired since Thanksgiving and the roster of employees is now at six. Gordon said at least a dozen workers are needed for the 16-bed detention facility to resume full operations.

"We were trying to get it opened by the end of the month," Balzer said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .