Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 1, 2006 14:38:52 GMT -5
11.01.2006 - WINDBER — A Paint Township police officer is accused of refusing to help a woman with an abusive partner in a potentially life-threatening situation.
Lorraine Bodziak, 44, filed a complaint against Officer William Gephart after her ex-boyfriend, Michael John Shaffer, 32, tried to shoot her Oct. 3 in her Hagevo Road home.
Township police responded regularly to the trailer, but each time Bodziak refused to testify against Shaffer.
Gephart reportedly got tired of it after a July 22 incident. “He said, ‘We are not going to come out there anymore. We are sick of it,’ ” Bodziak said.
When police did not respond Oct. 3, she filed the complaint against Gephart.
“It alleges he told her not to call again, because she refuses to follow through,” township Solicitor Michelle Tokarsky said.
Shaffer and Bodziak had separated, but Shaffer returned to the trailer Oct. 3 for some belongings – including a shotgun – said Bodziak’s attorney, Richard Russell of Johnstown.
They began arguing, and Shaffer allegedly knocked Bodziak to the floor, pointed the gun at her head and pulled the trigger. Shaffer did not know Bodziak had removed the ammunition, Russell said.
Paint police did not respond to her 911 call, Bodziak said.
“I called and they didn’t come,” she said.
Court documents say Bodziak called Shaffer’s probation officer, who summoned police. Shaffer was arrested at a friend’s home in Hooversville. He was arraigned Oct. 12 on charges of simple assault, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment and harassment.
He remains in Somerset County Jail after failing to post a $10,000 bond.
It’s not the first time Paint police failed to answer a 911 call, Russell said.
“We are waiting to see what the municipality does,” Russell said. “They have done sufficient investigation to reveal this is not an isolated incident.”
But Tokarsky and supervisors’ Chairman Jeffrey Eash said that’s news to them.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Tokarsky said. “No one else has ever raised the issue.”
“I don’t know of any,” Eash agreed.
www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_298224650.html
Lorraine Bodziak, 44, filed a complaint against Officer William Gephart after her ex-boyfriend, Michael John Shaffer, 32, tried to shoot her Oct. 3 in her Hagevo Road home.
Township police responded regularly to the trailer, but each time Bodziak refused to testify against Shaffer.
Gephart reportedly got tired of it after a July 22 incident. “He said, ‘We are not going to come out there anymore. We are sick of it,’ ” Bodziak said.
When police did not respond Oct. 3, she filed the complaint against Gephart.
“It alleges he told her not to call again, because she refuses to follow through,” township Solicitor Michelle Tokarsky said.
Shaffer and Bodziak had separated, but Shaffer returned to the trailer Oct. 3 for some belongings – including a shotgun – said Bodziak’s attorney, Richard Russell of Johnstown.
They began arguing, and Shaffer allegedly knocked Bodziak to the floor, pointed the gun at her head and pulled the trigger. Shaffer did not know Bodziak had removed the ammunition, Russell said.
Paint police did not respond to her 911 call, Bodziak said.
“I called and they didn’t come,” she said.
Court documents say Bodziak called Shaffer’s probation officer, who summoned police. Shaffer was arrested at a friend’s home in Hooversville. He was arraigned Oct. 12 on charges of simple assault, terroristic threats, reckless endangerment and harassment.
He remains in Somerset County Jail after failing to post a $10,000 bond.
It’s not the first time Paint police failed to answer a 911 call, Russell said.
“We are waiting to see what the municipality does,” Russell said. “They have done sufficient investigation to reveal this is not an isolated incident.”
But Tokarsky and supervisors’ Chairman Jeffrey Eash said that’s news to them.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Tokarsky said. “No one else has ever raised the issue.”
“I don’t know of any,” Eash agreed.
www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_298224650.html