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WILKES-BARRE — Four days into his new job, Mayor Tony George did something he said should have been done weeks earlier. He fired a police officer who had pointed a loaded handgun at other officers in the roll-call room.
George disclosed the reason for the termination Tuesday during a scheduled meeting with the Times Leader’s Opinion Board.
He did not identify the former officer. But through an unfair labor practice complaint the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association filed Feb. 22 with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, the newspaper confirmed Kyle Rogers was terminated Jan. 8. The complaint reported the PBA filed a grievance on behalf of Rogers a week after his disciplinary termination.
Rogers, who was hired as a police officer in Harveys Lake Borough about one month ago, could not be reached for comment. Calls to Sgt. Phil Myers, president of the Wilkes-Barre PBA, and union attorney Anthony Caputo of Harrisburg were not immediately returned.
George said the gun incident was the last straw for the officer who was hired in February 2014 and had problems before the incident with the gun, which occurred in early December 2015.
“It wasn’t just because he drew the gun. It was his fourth discipline in three or four months,” George said. He would not discuss the other incidents.
Tom Leighton was Wilkes-Barre’s mayor from 2004 to January of this year. He did not immediately return a call to the Times Leader Tuesday evening seeking comment.
The gun was Rogers’ duty weapon, and he pointed it at two officers who said something to him in the roll-call room when they were bidding for jobs for 2016, George explained.
“He said he was goofing off, which doesn’t make it right,” said George, a former police chief and city councilman. “You don’t point a loaded gun at anybody, goofing off or not. That’s one of the things you don’t do.”
Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial disagrees with George’s assessment of the officer he refers to as “a good kid.”
Musial said Rogers had been hired by his department about a month ago after being thoroughly vetted.
“Before hiring him, I called the district attorney’s office and they said the case was closed,” Musial said. “There was no criminal activity and no law was broken.”
Musial said, although he was aware he might be raked over the coals for the decision to hire Rogers, he stands by it.
“I went by the facts, just the facts,” he said. “He has proven to be a good worker and a professional.”
Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said the gun incident had been forwarded to the DA’s office, but the office declined to bring charges.
“We determined that it wasn’t a criminal matter,” Sanguedolce said.
The union is contesting the firing, George said, alleging Rogers was not given a “Loudermill” hearing to present his version of the events to the administration before a decision was made about his termination.
“They’re saying he wasn’t given due process, but they had a Loudermill hearing,” George said. “They just didn’t do anything with it.”
During his campaign last year as Democratic candidate for mayor, George ran on a “law and order” platform, promising to make the city safe, crack down on crime and stop the deterioration of neglected neighborhoods due to what he claims was Leighton’s focus on the downtown.
“That was one of my first duties, ‘cause it’s law and order — not just on the streets, it’s in City Hall and in the police department,” said George.
The department had taken some hits under the previous administration, including the filing of felony charges against an officer on the force and a retired officer caught up in a fraud scheme involving the Wilkes-Barre City Employees Federal Credit Union. George appointed the first female chief, Marcella Lendacky, a move that did not sit well with the union. The PBA issued a 13-page letter to the mayor and the city council, outlining concerns officers had about Lendacky’s leadership.
George offered unwavering support for his choice as chief. “Marcella does an excellent job,” he said.
“She ran night shift and that was the best platoon that was going on at that time,” George said.
“Unfortunately, there was no structure in the police department. For some reason, for the past 12 years it slowly dwindled down,” he added, referring to former Leighton’s three terms as mayor.
George said Rogers’ termination should have happened much earlier, and that the officer should have received more severe discipline than suspensions and reprimands for other previous incidents.
“They left it for me,” he said. “It’s easier — wait three or four weeks and let somebody else do it.”
Times Leader reporter Geri Gibbons contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office and Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial.