Quakertown places police chief on leave

            Quakertown police claim last month's confrontation between students and police in the borough started after an attempt to detain a student for allegedly walking in the street during a protest. Lawyers for two of the five accused Quakertown Community High School students confirmed the details as part of a non-public police criminal complaint filed by the municipal police department following the Feb. 20 altercation.

            All five lawyers are working to dismiss all the charges because the students were unaware that McElree was a law enforcement official, according to Ettore "Ed" Angelo, a Quakertown attorney representing a 15-year-old girl. On Monday, Angelo asked the public to express support for dismissal to the Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan in writing or through phone calls.

            A Phillipsburg, N.J. attorney representing a male student wants the district attorney's office to recuse itself from an independent investigation of police behavior during the violent confrontation. Don Souders demands in a letter that the office can't "feasibly undertake a defensible and fair independent investigation" of Chief Scott McElree and the response of the Quakertown Borough Police Department while simultaneously identifying him as a "victim" in the prosecution of the students.

            The Feb. 27 letter also implores Khan to immediately dismiss all charges against his client, a 16-year-old boy with no prior criminal record. According to Souders' letter, no facts exist supporting criminal intent or knowledge by the five juvenile defendants that McElree was a police officer acting within his official duties when he bull-rushed into a group of high schoolers and employed a "rear-naked choke-hold" on a 15-year-old girl.

            "I am confident that you are well aware that the employment of such a choke-hold on someone in these circumstances is violative of the Bucks County Uniform Use of Force Policy No. 7..." Souders wrote. "If you refuse this demand/request, it will affirm the fact that you are desirous of maintaining positions that are inimical to justice and due process. Everyone affected hopes this is not the case."

            The letter claims McElree appeared at the intersection of Front and Juniper streets as a private citizen, not a member of law enforcement. It states that he arrived in an unmarked vehicle, was not in police uniform, did not have a visible badge or other police identification, was without a visible firearm and made no verbal announcement that he was a member of law enforcement.

            Authorities claim the boy struck the police chief multiple times with a cell phone, according to an excerpt from the complaint included in the letter. It also includes a claim that he struck McElree twice in the face and once in the ribs.

            "Not a single teenaged, high school 'protester' knew who he was," the letter states. "Nor can it be suggested, with a straight face, that they should have known he was a police officer. He was an angry individual triggered by the protesters and their anti-ICE cause."

            Seven days later, the municipality placed McElree on workers' compensation leave. Borough Solicitor Peter Nelson confirmed the designation in an email response. However, Nelson declined to address questions regarding the potential length of his leave and whether or not he was being paid.

            On Monday, the solicitor clarified that McElree is not working in either position. Nelson identified Lt. Josh Mallery as in command of the police department and Assistant Manager Doug Propst as the borough's lead administrator.

            The students remain resolute, according to Timothy Prendergast, an Easton attorney defending the 15-year-old girl placed in a chokehold. He said they maintain their innocence.

            According to Prendergast, his client -- the child of immigrants who weighs less than 100 pounds -- has been charged with felony aggravated assault. She remains on house arrest and is required to wear a monitoring device.

            According to Souders, his client – a 16-year-old boy – was asked by the officer, who pinned him on a planter, if he knew who the kids were interacting with. The lawyer said the kid had no idea.

            All five defendants have been released from the Bucks County Youth Center. The last one, a 16-year-old girl observed on video punching McElree, was released to her parents on Feb. 26 after spending six nights at the facility in Doylestown.

            Souders claims his client, a high school junior with no previous criminal history, is recovering from lower back and hip injuries suffered in the melee. The lawyer said the boy removed shards of glass – from the spectacles he was wearing during the incident – from his eye.

            Souders described his client's role in the incident as tangential. The lawyer quantified the charges of felony aggravated assault and improper physical contact with the police chief against the boy, who attends church regularly, works two restaurant jobs and hopes to serve as a U.S. Marine, as excessive, and the house arrest as unnecessary.

            A 15-year-old girl represented by Angelo is accused of punching McElree in the shoulder during the melee. Angelo described the resulting felony assault charge as ridiculous.

            "All the charges should be dismissed immediately," said the lawyer, who claimed the police chief manhandled his client. "[McElree] started the fire."

            A Montgomery Township attorney representing a 16-year-old girl claims none of the juveniles charged knew that McElree, dressed in plain clothes, was a police officer. According to Christine Cregar, her client – observed on video punching the man wearing a long-sleeved shirt – faces first- and second-degree felony aggravated assault charges.

            "The issue is with the chief," said Cregar, who spent 16 years as a public defender in Bucks County. "I don't know what he was doing."

            A GoFundMe.com account, identified as the Support QCHS Students Legal and Recovery Fund, has raised $138,045. It was created to assist with attorney fees, court-related expenses, medical costs related to the incident and support services for affected students, according to information posted on the page.