Charges dismissed against 3 emergency management supervisors in 2020 death

Waynesburg, PA. (AP) – A judge has dismissed all charges against three Western pennsylvania Emergency management supervisors were accused of obstructing the investigation of an emergency dispatcher who was accused of failing to dispatch an ambulance to the rural home of a woman who died of internal bleeding about a day later.

Senior Judge Katherine Emery dismissed the cases last week, writing that there was “no evidence” that Gregory Leathers, Robert “Jeff” Rhodes and Richard Policz acted maliciously or that investigators were not responsible for the Greene County 911 call center. Blocked from accessing information within. (Washington) Observer-Reporter informed of.

All three were charged last year with tampering with public records, tampering or fabricating evidence and obstruction. Prosecutors accused him of providing incomplete records in response to a search warrant in the July 2020 death of 54-year-old Dianna Cronk.

Waynesburg emergency dispatcher Leon “Lee” Price, 50, was previously charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and other counts for his reluctance to dispatch help without receiving more assurances that Cronk was actually going to the hospital. Was done on the basis.

Three supervisors were accused of blocking access to information on standard operating procedures and other documents, but the judge ruled that the policy memorandum detailing standard operating procedures at the center of the prosecution’s case was “in plain view and Wasn’t hidden.”

Two defense attorneys criticized the conduct of the investigation and the decision to file charges.

David Pollock, the attorney representing Leathers, said, “That case is nonsense and was filed for political purposes from the beginning.” Rhodes’ attorney Harry Cancelmi said the case – which he said cost his client time, money and his reputation, “should never have been filed.”

Emery also dismissed lesser charges against Price, including official oppression and obstruction of justice, but allowed two misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment to proceed. His defense attorney, Timothy Ross, declined to comment.

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