The Letter that Led to Chief's Suspension

An unsigned letter sent to the Chairman of the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors sheds new light on the incident that led to the board suspending the township's police chief for four days last week.

Tredyffrin Township's solicitor says this letter is what led to the investigation that resulted in a four day suspension of Tredyffrin Police Superintendent Andrew Chambers that began Wednesday, Dec. 14.

The letter, received by Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Lamina, includes serious allegations made by a writer who appears to be a police department employee. 

The letter does not indicate whether the writer is a police officer or civilian and it does not indicate whether the writer was an actual witness to the incident. The chief's 16-year-old son crashed a police cruiser on a closed training course with an instructor in the car on Noember 23.  The teenager, according to Township Solicitor Vince Donohue's statement, has a Pennsylvania learner's permit.

According to the letter sent to Lamina "State law requires a report of accidents that involve injury or tow, but no report was generated. When asked for a copy of any accident reports Township Manager Mimi Gleason told Patch that "it was not a reportable accident, so there is not an accident report."  The accident occured in a closed training facility and not a public road.

The anonymous letter also states that "coincidetaly (sic) there was a video in the car." Gleason tells Patch that the township is not aware of any video recording of the accident and that township police cars are equipped with cameras that are activated when the lights and siren are turned on.

Click on the PDFs to read the letter and the Township Solicitor's official statement about the suspension.  The anonymous letter is signed "do (sic) to fear of retaliation I wish to remain anonymous."

Other allegations in the letter have not been specifically addressed by township officials in a public forum, but the solicitor's statement clearly is a show of support for the chief, a 30 year veteran of the force.

Patch will continue to follow this story and will have more on it on Tuesday.