The fist matter I mentioned to Council concerns a Nazareth man who is dead because an inadequately supervised part-time Nazareth cop played cowboy. It's a death that should never have occurred.
In May of last year, Timothy Nixon, age 32, broke into a friend's home and stole his handgun. Then Nixon called his pal, admitted his crime, and said he was going to kill himself and his baby's mother as well. Nixon's friend reported the matter to part-time Officer Dan Troxell.
Nobody with supervisory authority over Troxell was on duty. Chief Trachta was at home, relaxing in his mancave. Troxell decided to arrest Nixon. He called Upper Nazareth and Stockertown, which sent four officers for assistance.
So far, so good.
That changed when more seasoned officers arrived at the scene, and noticed that Nixon was on the second floor of an apartment building.
"I don't like this," said an Upper Nazareth officer. "This is dangerous. Somebody is gonna' get hurt."
The officers suggested that a perimeter be set up for reasons of public safety. They encouraged Trachta to contact the state police, which has a swat team and negotiators. They suggested that Troxell just call Nixon, noting it would be far safer to spend a few hours talking to this guy than getting in a shootout and risking the lives of innocent bystanders.
No dice.
Instead of heeding reasonable advice from veteran officers, Troxell called them "pussies" and kicked open the door to the apartment building.
Nixon saw Troxell coming and shot himself. It was a senseless death, made more so by the actions of a hot dog who couldn't even be bothered to try to talk to this guy.
The next day, Chief Trachta attempted to cover for Troxell's ineptitude. "[W]e needed to move on this," he told The Express Times. "The police went to execute an arrest warrant, found the person deceased," Trachta misled the press.
The reality is that he allowed an inexperienced officer to help a mentally disturbed man kill himself. And the person did not kill himself until Troxell kicked in a door.
My guess is that the police reports prepared by Upper Nazareth officers, and the one prepared by Troxell, are inconsistent.
46 comments:
Hell has no wrath like an O'Hare scorned!
Really O'Hare. A guy who steals a loaded gun and plans to kill people is a victim? You blame the police officer for his death.
You Sir, are the definition of "Dueschbag".
I know Mr. Troxell and this is a disgusting attack on a good man.
Just yesterday a police officer in Bethlehem was injured serving a summons. This is dangerous work. here we have a blogger attacking a hardworking courageous police officer and making a saint out of a gun toting lunatic who planned to kill his girlfriend and her baby.
What kind of whack job are you? My God, you are a sicko!
Troxell was probably disappointed he didn't get to shoot Nixon. Another cop with no brains and too much time spent watching Dirty Harry movies.
Police don't make mistakes---and if they do,they are above the law.
i might disagree with you on this one Bern. Reasonable minds may differ on how to handle the situation, and Troxell was in a "damned if you do/don't" situation.
Looks like O'Hare's descent into madness continues..
Wait until his little love obsession
Hoffman loses his arbitration... he'll be back on the bottle in no time...
Under what circumstances can the Press or member of the public request a copy of the personnel file or disciplinary action file for a current or former cop? Can this be a simple right to know request. Seems that Cops should be held to a higher standard relative to law enforcement and ethics, however, Unions have repeatedly protected bad actors at the setriment of good cops. Seems Nazareth is not alone. Intersting how former cops talk.
3:16 Please do not compare Our Police Dept to Nazareth We appreciate Your concern but Our Dept is by far a better place to be and the incident You are using to caompare is no way close to even being the same type in incident
concerned
@ 7:46:
So, Bethlehem police officers shit doesn't stink?
How do you spell Hirko?
Blog Mentor 1 - Bernie O'Hare 0
"I know Mr. Troxell and this is a disgusting attack on a good man"
I question how good he could be. He was unwilling to pickup the phone and try to talk to someone who had a loaded gun and was suicidal. He disregarded the advice of other officers. And he and his chief appear to have prepared a false report. They attempt to make it sound as though this defendant had already killed himself when police arrived. I believe that will be rebutted by the reports of officers from other departments. This matter needs to be reviewed.
Blog Mentor - Moron
Bernie O'Hare - Laughing at him
" Troxell was in a "damned if you do/don't" situation."
No he was not. First, he should have listened to other officers who are more seasoned than he, instead of being a hot dog. Second, He should have called the guy, who might still be alie today. Third, he and his chief should have been honest about what happened =, instead of l=misleading the public into thinking the guy was dead when police arrived.
This is actually a pretty bad cop.
"Under what circumstances can the Press or member of the public request a copy of the personnel file or disciplinary action file for a current or former cop? Can this be a simple right to know request"
Those kinds of files are mostly exempt from RTK.
"This is dangerous work. here we have a blogger attacking a hardworking courageous police officer"
I sometimes think blogging is even more dangerous. I have a great deal of respect for police officers and am pro cop. I have no respect for police officers who file misleading reports, or who needlessly risk public safety with hot dog tactics.
But it was only a townie who died.
"You Sir, are the definition of "Dueschbag"
... but I'm one who can spell.
Homicidial lunatics who steal guns and threaten to kill others with same gun are not members of society that deserve to be coddled, or reasoned with . He could have taken out 2 people plus the officers.
You are not a police officer, and have no credibility on this subject at all.
If my family was taken hostage by a gun stealing psycho who arrived with a loaded gun to kill my family, I'd expect nothing less than the outcome which was handled very well.
Good job troxell.
"I know Mr. Troxell and this is a disgusting attack on a good man.
Just yesterday a police officer in Bethlehem was injured serving a summons."
Ah yes, these two are related exactly how? Oh, they aren't. You're just blindly pro-police. You are posting anonymously, and we're supposed to put stock in your resounding character recommendation? Not.
Bernie has brought up very real concerns and asked questions that deserve answers. Look's like he struck a nerve, and instigated his stalker into taking an opportunity to come out of her BatShit cave.
@9:42
If you knew what you were talking about, you might have a reason to open your pie hole.
There were no hostages. A warrant was to be served served. If there had been hostages (as you say, if it were your family), they would likely be dead as quick as Nixon did himself in. Then you would be screaming about Troxell's disregard for human life.
"not members of society that deserve to be coddled, or reasoned with ."
Police always follow a continuum of force, at least the good ones. You must sometimes se force, but never more than is necessary. In this case, the measures taken by Troxell resulted in an unnecessary death. His guilty knowledge is evident by the action he and Trachta took in misleading the public into thinking the guy was already dead.
More seasoned officers suggested a number of steps that would ensure the public safety and might just save a life: 1) secure a perimeter so that people stay out of harm's way; 2) contact PSP and ask if they have a negotiator available, as well as a swat team; 3) call the guy and talk to him.
This was all good advice from a very good police department.
The guy needed help, not a bullet.
So then Adam Lanza should have received a coddle call?
This was no Adam Lanza. He was a sick man, by himself, in a second floor apartment. He had already dimed himself. Yes, he deserved a call. Any reasonable police officer would have tried that first.
I deleted an off topi c attack at my attorney, accusing him of a felony. Mezzacrazy, you have your own blog. You can make all the accusations you want there. Don't come on here anonymously and carry on your vendettas.
He deserved to be arrested. Thats what the police came there to do.
He shot himself.
Now you cry foul.
You have an insane amount of free time on your hands, and have been disbarred for decit, dishonesty, forgery, illegal conduct, conduct involving moral turptitude, and conduct prejudical to the administration of law, with evil intent.
You havent changed.
Go back to your hovel and read the transcript.
That is what I wiould expect a sociopath to state,
You really seem to be 40 cards short of a full deck. You rally behind a woman twice convicted for summary offenses , one involving a threat to shoot someone in the ass.
Then you rally behind a disturbed loser who defaces public property with a laundry list of priors for forgery/ identity/ theft/ receivng stolen property/ theft by deception
And then you sympathize with an off the wall lunatic with a stolen firearm who travels around, threatening to kill his family.
Seems your real rage is uncontained, as the obvious fact is
you cant appear in court to defend these criminals because you are in fact of the same ilk, and lost your license because of it.
Bernie start wearing a go pro so we have an additional
Angle on your upcoming live leak debut
1:44 - get over it - all of us are sick and tired of your obsession with BErnie
s past.
Fact is it occurred over 20 years ago - Bernie has paid heavily for his transgressions - and never once has he tried to walk away from what he did - unlike you, he seems to be able to accept responsibility and move on.
If you think for one second that anybody reading about the things he has turned up in the Valley has any concern whatsoever, then you are a fool.
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
FT - FIRE TRACHTA
Being a cop is dangerous. I'd be with Troxell if there wasn't the possibility of a contrary police report from Upper Naz. Cops fixing false reports is as low as it gets. Bernie, do you have actual evidence of a contradictory police report? If not, I'm not sure I follow you on this one.
The value here is the ability to pass information that 10 years ago would have been perishable . The big picture is,are any of us as public employees held to a standard of care--of the public and taxpayers . Yes we should be and yes I do the best I can. LVR -has brought to light a kaleidoscope of issues that we are all affected by. Before I close Master Chief E,Brotzman has passed away-A BACON OF PATRIOTISM. We will miss him, He also was a retired Easton City Fire Chief.I first know of him while at Naval Fire School,Philadelphia,Pa.Wonderful man, now gone to clear skies and calm seas.
PJC: I think you mean beacon, not bacon.
What 3:35 said.
"Bernie, do you have actual evidence of a contradictory police report? "
I have not seen the reports, but am told reliably that they are inconsistent.
Happy birthday Greggy!!!!!!
Greggy for Nazareth Police Chief!!!!!!
The Easton paper is reporting that Strye doesn't believe you. He said he's investigating. But it doesn't read like he'll investigate too hard.
Strye, Trachta and Troxell's dad are drinking buddies. I don't expect much from him. But I can guarantee this matter will be thoroughly investigated. In fact, it already has.
Happy Birthday Greggy! Hope u get help and turn your life around. Godspeed
Oh Boy I was cognate of that ,thank you for your correction .This was my fault and can't get around it.My error.
Have you read the articles from Mcall and Lehighvalleylive? The Mayor has already made his decision. He claims that the complaint against Chief Trachta and Dan Troxell are one sided, but can't or won't explain the evidence to support his belief. The Mayor might want to obtain a legal grasp of vicarious liability? He has been Mayor since May 2013. I'm sure if an investigation was conducted, given the length of alleged accusations of inappropriate conducted by Chief Trachta and other officers. Some sort of documentation or record was made. Weather there are civil complaints, grievances that were filed, Unfair Labor Practices, civil law suits, or investigations by either private investigator or a county or state official. Mr. Mayor all these exams are called documentation. It can and will be used in a court of law! Criminal, civil or even both!!!
Mayor Strye has already indicated why he is unqualified to conduct this investigation.
Strye is acting cute like a guy too stupid to know his legal liability. He won't be splitting the atom anytime soon. But he'll be deposed and face a brutal examination as a witness to all he chooses to ignore. Nazareth is going to get crushed in a civil rights lawsuit. Taxes are going way up. That's what they get for electing and re-electing punks and lawbreakers. This one is going to really hurt.
"-A BACON OF PATRIOTISM"
That sounds like he is very piggy. What a Ham.
Bwahahaaaaaa!!!!
"Weather there are civil complaints,"
What does a cloudy day have to do with a legal complaint??
You druggies have to put down the hash pipes and focus on your typing.
Bwahahaaaaaaa!!!!!
Glad the would be murderer is off the streets. Thank you officer Troxell.
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