Yardley Police Chief Expected To Resign For LMT Post

YARDLEY, PA —Long-time Yardley Police Chief Joseph D. Kelly III plans to move from the borough to the township.

The Yardley Borough Council is expected to accept the police chief's resignation at its meeting Tuesday night while the Lower Makefield Township Supervisors are expected to announce Kelly's hiring at its meeting on Wednesday night.

Kelly told Patch Tuesday that he would hold off making comment until Lower Makefield could approve the decision. Township Manager David Kratzer also told Patch that a formal statement would be released once the decision has been made on Kelly's appointment.

Yardley Borough officials would not comment on Kelly prior to Tuesday's meeting.

Lower Makefield Supervisors have an item on Wednesday night's meeting consent agenda to ratify and confirm the conditional offer of employment for Kelly as the township's next police chief.

Kelly would replace Police Chief Kenneth Coluzzi, who served 48 years in law enforcement. He investigated the "Boy In the Box" case in Philadelphia.

For 24 years, Coluzzi led the Lower Makefield Township Police Department while also taking on roles as the township's emergency management coordinator and temporary township manager.

He announced his retirement in December.

During his tenure, Kelly was shot and injured while on the scene of a four-hour standoff with a 26-year-old man at his Yardley Commons apartment on Aug. 18, 2021.