Frederick Ziegler, the Douglass Township supervisor already charged with stealing municipal property for his own personal use, has been rearrested on refiled charges of the unlawful use of a Montgomery County Court subpoena and attempted intimidation of a witness in the initial case against him.  

        Last Thursday, Zielger appeared before District Justice Maurice Saylor for an arraignment on four felony and two misdemeanor counts for forgery, as well as charges of unsworn falsification to authorities, tampering with public records and obstruction of administrative law.

        Authorities claim he attempted to intimidate Pete Hiryak, the township's lead administrator and a witness against Ziegler in a separate case. 

        Ziegler, who turned himself in at the court on Swamp Pike, remains free on $100,000 unsecured bail set by the judge.  "I don't see a reason to put the defendant in jail," Saylor said during the hearing.

        Ziegler, 62, who lives in the 100 block of Henry Road, agreed to meet law enforcement officials later Thursday at the Pottstown Borough police department for processing.

        Additionally, the defendant is not permitted to have any contact with township officials, supervisors or Solicitor Paul Bauer except during official meetings.

        Vincent DiFabio, Ziegler's attorney, told the court he has advised his client to refrain from going to the township building for any unofficial reasons.

        According to Saylor, Ziegler is not permitted to have any "illegal police contact."

        Saylor ruled that Ziegler, a former Douglass Township Police chief and a former investigator for the Montgomery County's Extradition Unit, will get to keep his firearms.

        Jeffrey Wright, special agent with the attorney general's office, argued that considering the nature of the charges, Ziegler should be required to surrender all of his weapons to authorities until this matter is resolved.  The judge estimated that Ziegler owned "probably 30 weapons.

        One of those is an AR-15, according to John Flannery, senior deputy attorney general with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office.  Flannery said that security at recent township meetings has increased, according to information provided by police Chief Barry Templin.  Ziegler's guns are stored safely at his home in a locked case, according to DiFabio.

        The defendant told Saylor he has "no intent whatsoever of harming anybody. That's not in my character. You've known me for years."

        The defense attorney argued that since the prosecution provided no evidence and that no township employee feared for his life, no evidence existed for Ziegler to surrender his guns

        "I do not see that this became a heated argument," DiFabio said during the hearing. "I don't believe any township employee ever feared for their lives. One may have felt threatened about losing his job."

         According to the affidavit of probable cause, Ziegler improperly obtained subpoenas from the Montgomery County Prothonotary's Office and intimidated Hiryak, who will be required to testify against him in the robbery case, on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. 

          The criminal complaint describes "the continual unannounced visits and questioning" by Ziegler, of Hiryak, as "direct retaliation for the manager's involvement in the initial criminal case" against the supervisor. 

        On Sept. 29, Ziegler presented a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court subpoena to Barry Leatherman, chief of the Boyertown Borough Police Department, "seeking any and all records pertaining to a complaint" filed by Dave Pachella, of Pachella Arms, a gun dealer located at 44 North Reading Ave. in Boyertown, "regarding a firearm sold to Frederick Ziegler," according to the document. 

        Leatherman, provided Ziegler with a police report regarding the purchase, according to the document which was initially filed Dec. 8 in the court of District Judge Maurice Saylor, but withdrawn two days later. 

        Authorities allege Ziegler unlawfully changed information on the document to make it appear legitimate.

        Leatherman told investigators he believed the subpoena, which Ziegler obtained through the civil suit he filed against Douglass Township and its officials earlier this year, was authentic because it included the county's raised seal, according to court records. 

        Angie Salamone Focht, the Prothonotary's first deputy, told authorities the file number on the subpoena was in the wrong format and that a search of the county's computer database did not discover a case that corresponded with the number, the affidavit states. 

        On Sept. 29, Ziegler, accompanied by supervisors Chairman John Stasik, Jr., demanded an impromptu meeting with Hiryak at the township building, according to court papers. 

        In the meeting, Ziegler announced he was conducting his own investigation, and that the supervisor began to question the manager about his personal and professional life, authorities claim.  With two out of three supervisors present, Hiryak felt compelled to answer the questions, the document states. 

        On Oct. 1, Ziegler again returned to the township building at 1320 East Philadelphia Ave. and demanded another meeting with Hiryak. The supervisor wanted to discuss allegations of Ziegler stealing shotguns from the Douglass Township Police Department and buying a rifle at Pachella Arms without paying for it, according to the affidavit. 

        It states that Ziegler showed Hiryak a copy of the allegedly forged subpoena and receipts from the gun dealer, along with a copy of the report he obtained from the Boyertown police. 

         Hiryak told authorizes he "felt uncomfortable, cautious, and on guard speaking to Ziegler" on Oct. 1.

        On Thursday, DiFabio identified two local residents in the court willing to testify as character witnesses for his client.  Ziegler told the judge his intent was to address these charges, "bring them to a conclusion and get on with my life."

        A preliminary hearing in the most recent set of charges has been scheduled for Jan. 23 before Saylor.

        The judge said he would recuse himself from the case, and request that Collegeville District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar consolidate this one with the earlier set of charges.

         On Tuesday, Jan 20, Rebar is scheduled to officiate the preliminary hearing for the initial case against Ziegler, which includes eight felony counts and 14 misdemeanor counts from multiple alleged criminal incidents during a 15-month period.

        Saylor recused himself from that case soon after it was filed on Sept. 2, 2014.

        In a separate case, a preliminary hearing against Ziegler, involving charges that he stole municipal property for his own personal use, has been continued for the fourth time. 

        In that case Ziegler faces eight felony counts and 14 misdemeanor counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property from multiple alleged criminal incidents during a 15-month period between August of 2012 and November of 2013, according to charges filed Sept. 2, 2013 by the Pennsylvania Attorney General. 

        Bail for Ziegler was set at $5,000 unsecured in that case.

        A new date for the hearing in the original case against Frederick W. Ziegler has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25 before District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar, according to information posted on the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web Portal.