City Council fires officer in fatal accident

December 20th, 2007, posted by CindySnyder

Allentown rookie police officer Brett Guth lost his job Wednesday for his role in the collision of two police cars that left a little boy dead.

City Council voted 3-2 to fire Guth, who state police say caused the May accident when he ran a red light on the way to an emergency call. Daviay Legrand, 4, died when he was hit by one of the cars as it spun onto the sidewalk.

Police Chief Roger MacLean, with the support of Mayor Ed Pawlowski, had recommended firing Guth.

Councilmen Julio Guridy, Tony Phillips and Martin Velazquez III voted to fire the officer. Councilmen Michael D’Amore and Louis Hershman voted against it and tried to change the termination to a 30-day suspension.

Guth, who turned 32 on Monday and lives in Lynn Township, caused the May 30 accident by running a red light on his way to a report of a man threatening people with a shotgun at the Hotel Grand, state police said.

Investigators determined he did not see the red light because he was looking down at his car’s computer to confirm the address of the call.

Guth was hired in April 2006 and was still within his probationary employment period at the time of the accident. Before joining the force, he pleaded guilty to speeding citations in Lehigh, Luzerne and Carbon counties in 2001 and 2002, court records show. A 2001 drunken driving charge was dismissed after he completed a program for first-time offenders.
Source Link

Filed under:

Lehigh Valley

Tragic, accidental, but not negligent

On December 20th, 2007 Greg Palmer said:

From what information has become public, it seems that this was an accidental tragedy, but I’m not convinced that Officer Guth was negligent here.

He heard a call over his radio that someone was holding people at gunpoint, so he turned on his lights and sirens and looked down at his in-cruiser computer to find the address of the incident. As he was doing this, he ran a red light (whether knowingly or not) and caused an accident. Tragically, a little boy was killed in the accident.

I’m not sure he was negligent here; accidents do happen and sometimes no one did anything wrong. What do you think?

Circumstances

On December 20th, 2007 RobHop said:

While I understand your concerns with the procedure used to dismiss this police officer, I think it is most important to note the unique circumstances of this tragedy. The officer in question was employed under a year-long probationary period; during which any substantial lapse in judgment should be called into question.

The officer made a terrible mistake that led to a child’s death. While we would all agree he had no malice, I feel that his lapse in judgment was sufficient to face severe disciplinary action. If the only available corrective actions are a 30-day suspension or termination, then I see no alternative but to support the latter.

I have no doubt that, having learned a great deal from this ordeal, this officer could effectively serve some community. If he has quietly resigned he could move on to any neighboring police department without much fuss or controversy. Instead, he chose to escalate media attention and bring further harm to Allentown.

There is another aspect that I consider important when evaluating city council’s decision to terminate this police officer; that is the vote of a council member whose judgment I feel is beyond reproach. The hearings in this case were held in private, so we can only speculate about the testimony. The vote was a very close 3-2, with two council members abstaining. Martin Velazquez, a retiring council member, voted to dismiss officer Guth. Mr. Velazquez has been a dedicated community member and a human resources professional, so his determination is vital to this process. Having chosen to not seek reelection, his decision is far more removed from politics than any other member.

In all fairness, I should explain that I have had no conversation with Councilman Velazquez or any other member of council about their motivations for their votes.

allentown city council

On December 27th, 2007 Anonymous said:

as a regular at council meetings, with no disrespect intended for velazquez, he is just another rubber stamp on that body. council, including velazquez, has NEVER voted against the mayor’s preference. this record to me doesn’t connote the “ judgment beyond reproach” to which you refer. furthermore, velazquez has the poorest attendance record there. michael molovinsky