DA Files Summary Charges Washington Tp Police Chief For Failure To Notify Homeowner of Accident

Scott Miller

Northampton County Detective Paul E. Hulbert has filed two summary citations against Washington Tp Police Chief Scott E. Miller. One is for driving at an unsafe speed and the other for failing to notify police of an accident resulting in damage. They were filed after an investigation into a one-vehicle crash on January 6 at Michael Drosnock's home along Kessersville Rd in Plainfield Township.

During a news conference yesterday announcing these charges, District Attorney Terry Houck said he began an investigation after receiving several anonymous calls as well as media inquiries.

This investigation reveals that on January 5, Chief Miller and his girlfriend were at Big Woody's for about eight hours. His credit card receipts show that he paid for both food and alcohol. Because there is no video surveillance at the restaurant, there is no way to confirm exactly how much Miller drank. A bartender was interviewed, but was unable to recall much because it was a football night and the place was busy.

Miller left between 11:30 pm and midnight, driving a 2008 white Nissan Titan. At that time, it was snowing. This is about 10 minutes from the accident scene.

Miller denied any damage

According to DA Houck, the damage at Drosnock's home was extensive. He believes Miller either rolled or came close to rolling his truck. His truck was totaled. Damages to the truck included the following: driver and passenger side front fender and hood; dented and broken headlights; paint scraped off; driver and passenger side mirrors gone; driver and passenger side door;  grill missing; entire passenger side dented and punctured through the body panel; passenger side bed dented and torn from cab to rear wheel; rear wheel broken; rear window blown out, etc.

Miller called Lane's Towing around 12:16 am, and remained at the accident site for about an hour, when Slate Belt Regional Police (SBRP) arrived. They were called to the scene by Lane Towing, not by Miller. Lane was unable to extract Miller's truck and called for a bigger tow. The towing company decided on its own to call police at around 1:15 am. Chief Miller never contacted police.

Two police officers, SGT Andrew Daly and Officer Joshua Lowe, responded. They have less than three years's seniority, and Houck believes this may have been Daly's first call as a supervisor.

When they arrived, Miller had wintergreen chew or dip in his mouth. One of the officers was still able to detect the odor of alcohol on Miller's breath. He made this observation twice. Both officers also noted slurred or "mush-mouthed" speech, but this dissipated over time.

Miller denied he had been drinking on two occasions. He even denied it after being asked if he was sure. Amazingly, Miller also denied there was any damage. Miller was asked where he had been, and never said he had been at Big Woody's. He first said he was headed north, and then said he came from Forks.

Both officers were wearing body cameras. They determined the accident was reportable because the vehicle needed to be towed from the scene. 

There was also significant damage to Drosnock's property. In addition to a hole in his front yard caused by Miller's truck, there were broken house shingles, the pellet stove pipe was bent and moved, 6' tall trees were sheared, a cast iron pump with stone planters was damaged.

According to SPRP policy, body cameras must remain activated when responding to calls. But several times, both officers turned off the audio portion. This happened when they were with or around Miller. But when the audio was on, one officer could be heard saying he smelled alcohol, while the other officer said he did not. Both noticed the slurred speech.

Miller never staggered or fell. According to officers, he did not appear to be incoherent. The area was covered by snow, slippery and hilly. They conducted no field sobriety tests because it was too slippery. Houck notes that officers could have performed a HGN or VGN (horizontal gaze test), but failed to do so. Officers also failed to administer a portable breath test (PBT). They failed to ask follow-up questions to determine if Miller was capable of driving safely. Officers failed to issue any summary citations, even though the accident report indicates Miller was driving too fast for conditions and there were indications he had been drinking. Houck indicated a PBT should have been administered.

Officers called LT Jonathon Hoadley as well as Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). At that time, PSP were responding to a highway accident and advised there would be a wait. So SBRP decided to handle the matter.

When officers left the scene, neither they nor Miller left an accident notification with Mr. Drosnock, the homeowner, who was asleep in his bed at the time. Drosnock would eventually learn what had happened when he woke up.

Houck ruled out a DUI charge. "The passage of time and loss of potential evidence, if it existed at all, prevented us from establishing a factual basis or probable cause to charge Mr. Miller with this offense," he concluded. "Could things have been done differently? Yes." But he lacked sufficient evidence to bring a prosecution based on the investigation done by SBRP. The passage of time prevents him from getting that evidence now.

Houck notes that, at least while the body cam audio was on, Miler's status as a Police Chief in an adjoining municipality was never discussed.

Q: Why is it that no effort was made whatsoever to contact the homeowner? There could be a fire going on. There could be noxious fumes from the pellet stove.

A. That's a question you'd have to ask them. ... [T]hey said they thought the house was vacant, but I know at the scene, at least one of the officers said he believed there were occupants in the home because he said he saw curtains."

Q. All he would have to do is look in the garage and he would see a car and a truck parked there.

A. Yeah, that's a question you'd have to ask them. They should have. There's no question about it.

Q. Had there been a fire, he'd [Mr. Drosnock] be dead. Today. ... Why wouldn't any action be taken against the SBRP officers who left the scene without making any effort whatsoever to contact the homeowner?

A. Well I don't know that there won't be any action taken. That's an internal disciplinary thing, but there's nothing there that indicated they committed a crime.

Q. What about recklessly endangering the life of another?

A. I don't think what they did was reckless endangering. I don't think they knew at the time that ... they thought at the time that the house was hit in any way.

Houck would go on to say that the police response to this accident was "inadequate." He said the department needs better training.

Q. You would agree that when anybody hits a home, and police are on the scene, they really should make an effort to find out if anybody's inside?

A. Well, that's the police's job, Bernie. ... In situations like that, your investigation should be exhaustive. You shouldn't make assumptions. That gets people killed. That gets police killed.

LT (now Acting Chief) Hoadley told WFMZ-TV69 that there was an internal investigation, and no action was taken against the officers.

Clearly, this was a cover-up. What these officers did, and more importantly, what they failed to do, disgraced an otherwise honorable profession. I understand the desire to help a brother police officer. That should never extend to shielding him from his crimes, especially when this could easily have resulted in someone's death. 

My previous stories:

Washington Tp Police Chief Rolls Truck ... and Leaves Scene

Washington Police Chief Who Hit Home Failed To Notify Owner

DA Opens Investigation Into Police Chief's Crash