Testimony heard in Sycamore woman无毛视频檚 death after 911 dispatcher refused to send help
Mike Jones
Mike Jones
The Greene County 911 emergency dispatcher center in Waynesburg
Diania Kronk
news@greenecountymessenger.com
The most serious charges were dismissed against three Greene County emergency officials accused of withholding documents from police investigating why a 911 operator refused to send help to a Sycamore woman suffering medical problems the day before she died.
Senior District Judge Robert Redlinger dismissed a felony conspiracy charge and two other misdemeanor counts against Gregory Leathers, Robert 无毛视频淛eff无毛视频� Rhodes and Richard Policz during their preliminary hearing Oct. 27, although he ordered them to stand trial on misdemeanor charges of tampering with public records and obstruction of justice.
The three county emergency management officials were charged this July and accused of impeding the investigation into the death of 54-year-old Diania Kronk in 2020 over why emergency dispatcher Leon Price refused to send an ambulance when the woman无毛视频檚 two adult children called 911 begging for help for their mother. When then-Greene Regional police Chief Zachary Sams began investigating the situation, he alleged that he ran into roadblocks with Leathers, Rhodes and Policz when he filed a search warrant a week after the woman无毛视频檚 death on July 2, 2020, looking for audio recordings of the 911 call and records explaining training and standard operating procedures at the dispatch center.
Sams, who is now the chief detective for the Greene County District Attorney无毛视频檚 office, testified during the preliminary hearing that he was rebuffed when he made initial contact with the trio July 7, 2020, at the 911 operations center, although all agreed for him to return the following day to get the information he sought. But when he came back the next day, the documents were still not available and he got the sense that the supervisors were not being forthcoming with information. He filed a second search warrant that night and went back to get the documents, which he said were begrudgingly provided to him on a disk.
Price was charged this June with involuntary manslaughter and other counts related to Kronk无毛视频檚 death. But shortly after those charges were filed, Sams said he was contacted by Denise Desmet, a former 911 operator now acting as a whistleblower, who claimed there were additional documents he did not receive. When Sams returned to the operations center with a third search warrant this July, he asked for a binder and book that contained additional directives, including a 2017 memo advising emergency dispatchers that they should always call Greene Regional police when there are also requests for an ambulance, which wasn无毛视频檛 done in Kronk无毛视频檚 case.
That document appeared to be the foundation for filing charges against the three men. Leathers was the county无毛视频檚 emergency management coordinator at the time and now serves as Waynesburg Borough无毛视频檚 mayor; Rhodes was and remains the 911 coordinator; and Policz was the 911 operations and training coordinator, but now serves as emergency management director.
Attorneys for the three defendants argued that their clients complied with the search warrants and handed over exactly what Sams was asking for, or they complied with additional requests if some documents weren无毛视频檛 included in the initial searches.
无毛视频淚t was not hidden, it was not destroyed, it was not altered,无毛视频� said attorney Tina Miller, who represented Policz. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 perplexed by why search warrants were served in the first place when it无毛视频檚 standard for police departments to ask for (911) tapes. 无毛视频� If there had just been communication, but (Sams) never interviewed anyone.无毛视频�
Harry Cancelmi, who represented Rhodes, said there was no proof the men intended to conceal information from Sams, while Dave Pollock, the attorney for Leathers, said the supervisors made a 无毛视频済ood faith effort无毛视频� responding to the search warrants.
District Attorney David Russo said the multiple search warrants that were needed to retrieve information about policies, standard operating procedures and directives indicated the supervisors weren无毛视频檛 forthcoming with the information.
无毛视频淎 second warrant had to be issued for documents, and they still didn无毛视频檛 get them all,无毛视频� Russo said.
Redlinger immediately dismissed the three conspiracy charges, one of which was a felony, but agreed to order the men to stand trial on two misdemeanor counts of tampering and the one charge of obstruction. The three men are free on unsecured bond, and Policz had to leave the hearing early because he was needed to help coordinate a search and rescue operation elsewhere in the county.
All three Greene County commissioners attended the marathon preliminary hearing, which lasted more than six hours and mainly focused mostly on the actions by emergency officials during the investigation. But it also included heart-wrenching testimony from Kronk无毛视频檚 two adult children who called 911 begging for help.
Robert Kronk testified that his mother was experiencing mental health issues and was incoherent, making strange noises and turning yellow while lying in bed inside her Browns Creek home near Sycamore around noon July 1, 2020. He messaged his sister, Kelly Titchenell, who then called 911 and reported to Price that their mother was seriously ill.
无毛视频淥ur mom was laying here dying,无毛视频� Kronk recalled telling Titchenell. 无毛视频淲e need 911.无毛视频�
Titchenell, who drove from her home in Mather to her mother无毛视频檚 house near Sycamore after hearing from her brother about the situation, testified that she told 911 无毛视频渕y mom was gonna die无毛视频� and that they needed an ambulance. According to court documents, Price declined to send an ambulance because he could not get assurances that Kronk would go willingly with paramedics. Robert Kronk said he couldn无毛视频檛 call 911 himself because of the poor cell service in that area, so he waited with his mother for a few more hours, but help never arrived.
无毛视频淣obody. Not a soul,无毛视频� he testified.
He went back to his mobile home on the property and fell asleep, but went back to his mother无毛视频檚 house around 11 a.m. July 2. He went into her bedroom and found her dead, which investigators said was caused by internal bleeding.
无毛视频淢om, wake up,无毛视频� Kronk recalled telling his mother when he went into her room. 无毛视频淪he never woke up again. I started screaming and crying. I called my sister (and told her) 无毛视频楳om无毛视频檚 dead!'无毛视频�
They contacted 911 again, and this time Greene Regional police, paramedics and the county coroner arrived. Kronk told Greene Regional police Officer Spencer Griffith that it was 无毛视频渁bout time无毛视频� someone showed up, prompting Griffith to ask what he meant.
无毛视频淲e called yesterday, and no one showed up,无毛视频� Kronk said.
Griffith testified during the hearing he was surprised to hear that since 911 is directed to contact police every time someone in their coverage area, which includes Morris, Perry and Wayne townships, calls for some sort of emergency regardless of the nature. In fact, the Greene Regional Police Department无毛视频檚 office in Nineveh is barely more than a half-mile from Kronk无毛视频檚 house where she died. Griffith notified Sams about the situation, and the department opened an investigation into the matter.
It无毛视频檚 not clear why Price did not send help, but Desmet testified that it wasn无毛视频檛 his choice to make, according to their training.
无毛视频淏asically, he knew better. You无毛视频檙e a dispatcher, nothing else,无毛视频� Desmet said about the reasoning Price allegedly gave on the phone call with Titchenell about why he couldn无毛视频檛 send an ambulance. 无毛视频淵ou take that call and send EMS, because time is of the essence.无毛视频�
Price, 50, of Waynesburg, is facing misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice and two counts of official oppression. He is free on $15,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled to go before Redlinger for his preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Nov. 22.