A Bucks Digital Media, LLC/Lower Bucks Source Investigative Report
Morrisville Borough officials in recent weeks as part of the ramp up to the municipal primaries have spoken freely and openly about being transparent and honest with taxpayers and residents.
“I want to point out this we’re a very transparent council There’s stuff we’re not allowed to say It’s just we’re we’re not allowed to It’s it it that’s why we have executive sessions But for the most part if you approach us and ask us questions I mean I know for myself I’m I’m a very honest person If someone asks me a question I’m I’m going to give you an answer,” said vice president of council Scott Robinson.
Council President Helen Hlahol has said and repeated this mantra as well. So has Mayor Gary Wallace, who before being appointed to the position, had zero experience managing and overseeing a police department.
Yet Wallace signed off on closing an internal investigation into Robinson and now retired police officer Chris McIntyre who with the help of a local man were harassing and threatening then working Police Corporal William “Billy” Smith who retired after serving the borough for 24 some years quietly and without any public acknowledgement, .
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First and foremost, there is a 7-page investigational document with recommendations conducted by Mary-Ellen H. Allen, Esquire. According to the internal investigation, early in 2023, Smith filed an employee-related complaint with borough officials alleging:
McIntyre and Robinson “engaged in a conspiracy to end his employment” as a police officer and/or cause him direct physical harm citing safety concerns for his family and other Morrisville Borough Police officers.
The main thrust of the safety/harm concerns surrounds Jesse Wright, a lifelong childhood friend of Robinson and McIntyre. Wright, according to the investigation, was more than likely motivated to act on both men’s part due to their personal animus against Smith. Wright was arrested for threatening Smith and current police officer Bradley Smeltzer.
Lower Bucks Source has recounted the suspension of Smeltzer and its aftermath in stories directly related to this story. This is the apparent motivation for the treasure trove of internal documents sent to Lower Bucks Source anonymously over the last several months.
Wright, in 2024 pleaded guilty to a slew of misdemeanor counts for threatening Smith and served time in the Bucks County Correctional Facility. He appeared late in the year at a Borough Council meeting, directly contradicted his plea and sentencing and claiming his innocence in the matter. His appearance and claims so disgusted one former borough official that they sent a clip of his “rant” to Lower Bucks Source for review. Wright was also accused of breaking his partner’s nose because he was drunk and she wouldn’t let him into their home.
McIntyre, according to the report, spent much of his on-duty time accessing Smith-authored internal police documents and reports for “no legitimate reason.” In an interview with Allen, he admitted that he and Robinson talked about Smith often. Robinson denied talking about Smith in recent years, despite other witnesses’ testimony.
According to the investigator’s findings and report, McIntyre accessed reports involving his childhood friend Wright more than 30 times. He admitted to suggesting he hire an attorney to seek civil as well as criminal charges against the now-retired Cpl. Smith. His attorney declined to comment on this story Monday afternoon.
Subsequent to the report’s findings, McIntyre was allowed to officially retire just days before a settlement with Morrisville Borough for $50,000.00 was reached. This settlement was unknown to anyone outside of the borough administration. Hlahol is the main borough official who signed off on the settlement negotiated by labor attorney Chris Gerber, according to copies of the agreement obtained by this publication. During his time as a police officer in Morrisville, McIntyre apparently earned the nickname “The Cop who Hops” due to an alleged injury he suffered while “on the job.”
In Allen’s report, she cites myriad sources she interviewed and documents she obtained that show Robinson and McIntyre spent much of their free time focused on Smith’s police-designated work activities. She described a “toxic environment” among the police department ranks, so much so that even to this day the acrid stench remains, despite the best efforts of current Chief of Police Rich Ciampa, who according to sources, wished the borough could get past its recent negative history.
Allen’s findings are “damning if not appalling,” a source with intimate knowledge of the investigation told Lower Bucks Source recently.
On February 21, 2023, Wallace in response to an Email from Smith sent to then Borough Manager Judith Danko wrote the following ” …on the matter of the internal investigation into allegation (s) of harassment by Cpl Mcintyre the matter is closed with a finding of insufficient evidence.”
The September 2023 conclusion and recommendations authored by Allen say something completely different (please see images below).
The initial reporting concerning the suspension of Smeltzer and the borough’s lack of “transparency” concerning the allegations made against him, the anonymous source said late last week, is why voters need to ask themselves is what they really want for leadership in the riverside borough trying desperately to escape its past?
Images of internal documents obtained by Lower Bucks Source
Images of internal investigative document Pg 1 obtained by Lower Bucks Source
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