Washington Police Chief Who Hit Home Failed To Notify Owner

Drosnock's carefully landscaped home.

Thursday's story about Washington Tp Police Chief Scott Miller's January 5 one-vehicle accident stirred quite a bit of interest, both here and at a Facebook page called Slate Belt Watch. He left the scene with all kinds of debris strewn about, including items that clearly identified him. He left without making any attempt to advise the owner of the property of the damage he had done.

That owner, Mike Drosnock, was in his Kesslersville Road home, sound asleep, at the time of Miller's visit. He tells me he's a sound sleeper. He awoke on January 6, day of the Epiphany, to see that a pilgrimage had arrived at his residence, not from the Three Magi, but Washington Tp police chief Scott Miller and a towing service.

"It looked like a tank came through my landscaping!" he told me. Whatever had hit him scraped the side of his house, taking out a window and bending a very important pipe leading to his pellet stove, which had been running. It completely destroyed the landscaping he had carefully planted, shearing off three trees. It tore apart stones embedded into his landscaping. It ripped a pump away from its cistern. Flying debris even damaged some of the shingles on his roof.

In my Thursday story, I said Miller had rolled his truck. Drosnock believes the truck never actually tipped over.

Some of the damage done

From a light coating of snow that had fallen, Drosnock could see that whatever had hit his home  had come nearly 75 yards from Kesslersville Road. He could see footprints from the driver, which appeared to go in circles. But there were no footprints leading to his porch. No one had tried to contact him or even leave a note. Under state law, a driver who damages another person's property has an obligation to notify this victim as soon as possible with the driver's name, address, information relating to financial responsibility and the registration number of the vehicle being driven.

Why does this matter? Drosnock can tell you why. One of the items that Chief Miller hit was a pipe from Drosnock's pellet stove. It bent the pipe and actually moved the stove, which was in operation. Hot ashes. Had the stove gone over, Drosnock would be dead today. A repairman who later visited the scene told Drosnock that, had the pipe been bent in a different way, it would have fed noxious fumes into the home, killing him.

Scott Miller

Drosnock should have been notified immediately.

Drosnock called 911.

Two Slate Belt Regional Police (SBRP) officers came to his home. They could see what had happened.

"We don't have any report about this," they told him.

By this point, Drosnock had his suspicions. He was looking at the debris littered all over his lawn. They included a lot of construction tools, golfing equipment and certain items that could only belong to a police officer. (I have been asked not to identify the objects found. ) In addition, Drosnock found one or more receipts issues to a Scott E Miller.

When Drosnock called the SBRP later, their tune had changed.

"We got it all figured out," they assured him.

"Everything's been taken care of."

At this point, Drosnock disclosed his suspicion that a police officer had hit his home.

"We'll call back."

Drosnock decided to visit SBRP in person. He knew by this time exactly who Scott Miller was, and wanted to know what police were doing about it.

"Did you give him a field sobriety test?" Drosnock asked.

"No, the officer at the scene determined it wasn't necessary," he was told.

This is contrary to my information, gathered from two police officers who have been talking to other police officers. According to them, SGT Andrew Daly and another officer met with Miller. There is bodycam footage creating grounds to believe Miller had been drinking. One officer tells another that he detected the odor of alcohol on Miller's breath. I was informed that Miller was requested to submit to a blood test. If that is true, and the BAC (blood alcohol content) is below the legal limit, then Chief Miller has no reason to worry. On the other hand, if this was omitted, then there definitely is a coverup.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Right before he left SBRP, Drosnock received a call or text from a neighbor who noticed someone on his property, picking up items from the accident. Drosnock returned to find Chief Miller, collecting his stuff. He never bothered to ask for permission to go onto Drosnock's property, but was apologetic.

Miller had come in a black and unmarked police vehicle

I have called Miller about this matter, but he has declined to speak to me. Where was he coming from? Had he been drinking?

I do know that Miller was charged on 4/14/10 in Ocean City MD with driving under the influence. At that time, he as a police officer in Washington Tp, Wilson Borough and for the Bangor Area School District.

In Maryland, when someone is charged with DUI, the arresting officer hands him an Order of Suspension, which becomes effective on the 45th day after arrest. I do not know whether these Orders are handed to out-of-state drivers. If so, Miller's license would have been suspended in early June of that year.

On June 28, 2010, Miller pleaded guilty, but the judge placed him on a program called "probation before judgment."  After successfully completing probation, the charges are dismissed but they stay on your record forever. It appears Miller successfully completed this program because the charges were dismissed. There was no suspension.

The following year, in 2011, Miller was charged with assault, terroristic threats and harassment following a domestic dispute with his then wife. According to a criminal complaint, he had grabbed his wife by the hair several times, choked her, pushed her to the ground, into kitchen cabinets and across a table. She filed for protection from abuse, and Miller was ordered to give up his firearms.

The charges were ultimately withdrawn.