After 4 killings, ‘officer of the year’ remains to be on the job

In November 2008, Pennsylvania Trooper Jay Splain was honored at a county legislation enforcement banquet as a hero, the police officer of the 12 months. The purpose: He had shot and killed a suicidal man who allegedly pointed an Uzi submachine gun at him.
That was the primary killing. Splain went on to fatally shoot three extra folks in separate incidents, a unprecedented tally for an officer liable for patrolling largely rural areas with low charges of violent crime. All 4 who died have been troubled, battling medication, psychological sickness or each. In two circumstances, together with that of the person with the Uzi, members of the family had referred to as police for assist as a result of their family had threatened to kill themselves.

The most up-to-date loss of life was final month, when Splain shot an unarmed man in his Volkswagen Beetle. After studying that the officer had
Prosecutors and a grand jury concluded that Splain’s first three deadly shootings have been justified, and an inquiry into the latest one is ongoing. Rather than have unbiased outsiders look into the killings, the police company has carried out its personal investigations — which have been led by officers from his unit — elevating questions in regards to the rigor of the inquiries.
“When a police officer has shot at and potentially killed a civilian, the public will never trust the police agency to investigate itself and be unbiased,” mentioned Tom Hogan, former district legal professional of Chester County, Pennsylvania. A Republican, he helped write suggestions by the state prosecutors affiliation for unbiased investigations — a reform that many departments resist however one sought by the nationwide prosecutors affiliation and main policing teams.
In its assessment of Splain’s killings, The New York Times discovered inconsistencies between the proof of what occurred and what state police mentioned had occurred. The officer appeared to have departed from police protocols in a number of of the deadly confrontations, in line with interviews and an examination of investigative and courtroom information.
In three of the encounters, the folks killed have been in automobiles. The trooper shot two unarmed drivers as a result of they have been allegedly utilizing their automobiles as weapons, a frequent rationale, the Times present in an earlier investigation that uncovered lots of of seemingly avoidable killings by police — usually with impunity. Many giant police departments ban taking pictures at shifting automobiles as a result of it’s usually harmful, ineffective and pointless.
Splain, who’s on desk responsibility till the pending inquiry is accomplished, didn’t return calls or reply to a letter looking for remark. The different troopers who have been concerned within the shootings or who led the investigations declined to remark or didn’t reply to messages. David Kennedy, president of the state troopers union, responded on Splain’s behalf to written questions, saying he had acted with braveness and “was forced to make split-second decisions no one hopes they ever have to make.”
An undated handout picture reveals Anthony Ardo. Jay Splain, the Pennsylvania state trooper who killed Ardo, was returned to responsibility following three investigations by his personal company. A fourth inquiry is underway. (by way of The New York Times)
Cpl. Brent Miller, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police, mentioned, “We are confident we have the resources to investigate such incidents thoroughly and objectively.” He referred questions on the killings to district attorneys. Asked whether or not Splain had ever confronted disciplinary motion, Miller mentioned that any such information have been confidential.
All troopers concerned in shootings should attend specialised coaching to evaluate their bodily and psychological health earlier than returning to energetic responsibility, he mentioned, including that in some circumstances, troopers can also be required to bear use-of-force coaching on the police academy.
Splain, 41, is a patrol officer who works in largely rural swaths of Pennsylvania, the place state police hardly ever kill anybody. During his time on the pressure, he has been liable for 4 of the 9 deadly shootings by troopers within the three counties the place they occurred, in line with a Times evaluation of circumstances recognized by analysis group Fatal Encounters. The killings by Splain have been reported by native information shops, though he was talked about by title solely in a single case.
A Call For Help
In July 2007, Joseph Rotkewicz, 37, who had bipolar dysfunction, took two of his brother’s weapons right into a room of his household’s dwelling and repeatedly threatened to kill himself, pointing a gun at his head. His father had just lately died, and his girlfriend had had an affair together with his finest buddy.
For an hour, his sister, Linda Hunsicker, and a buddy, Hans Frendt, tried to speak him down, Hunsicker recalled. Then Rotkewicz fired a minimum of two pictures on the ceiling. Hunsicker mentioned her brother by no means threatened her or Frendt.
“He just kept begging me not to call the cops,” she mentioned. “I wish I would have listened.”
An undated handout picture reveals Charity Thome. Jay Splain, the Pennsylvania state trooper who killed Thome, was returned to responsibility following three investigations by his personal company. A fourth inquiry is underway. (by way of The New York Times)
Emergency operators instructed her to go outdoors; the 2 males stayed indoors. Rotkewicz used electrical tape to strap an Uzi to his neck and chest, so the barrel pointed up at his chin, Frendt later mentioned.
About 5 p.m., a minimum of a dozen state troopers confirmed up, Hunsicker recalled; a specifically skilled SWAT-style negotiating workforce sometimes responds to such conditions. Police tried as soon as to name the home, however Hunsicker had introduced the cordless cellphone out together with her.
Pennsylvania State Police rules name for troopers coping with somebody who’s mentally ailing to “take steps to calm/de-escalate the situation, when feasible,” and to “assume a quiet, nonthreatening manner.”
Hunsicker mentioned nobody had used a bullhorn or tried different methods to resolve her brother’s disaster peacefully. Instead, Splain and one other trooper finally entered the home. Frendt, nonetheless inside, later instructed the deputy coroner that the troopers ordered him to depart, the coroner’s report mentioned.
On his method out, he heard one among them demand that Rotkewicz drop his weapon, adopted by two gunshots, the report mentioned.
Splain shot Rotkewicz twice within the chest, information present. Pennsylvania State Police later mentioned that Rotkewicz had pointed the Uzi at Splain.
For this, his unit named him trooper of the 12 months. In a letter later nominating Splain for the Lehigh County officer of the 12 months, his commanding officer wrote that Rotkewicz had a “history of mental disease” and was “threatening his life and the lives of others.”
Splain had seen Rotkewicz holding the Uzi beneath his chin, the letter mentioned, but it surely didn’t point out any electrical tape. The letter then mentioned Rotkewicz “ignored repeated orders from Trooper Splain to stop and drop the firearm” and “lowered the gun forward” towards the trooper.

In a courtroom submitting years later, a lawyer for state police acknowledged that Rotkewicz had affixed the Uzi “to his chest and neck by means of the black-colored electrical tape.” Although it’s potential Rotkewicz broke the tape, the forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem wrote, “The tape has been wrapped several times about the neck and is kinked in several areas.”
The Pennsylvania State Police sometimes assign a lead investigator from the identical troop’s main case workforce to steer the prison inquiry. At the time, Splain labored out of the headquarters of Troop M — the identical barracks because the lead investigator.
Joseph Kuhns, a criminologist on the University of North Carolina in Charlotte who did a research for the Major Cities Chiefs Association on investigations of police shootings, referred to as it “highly unusual” to assign officers from the identical unit to look at a taking pictures.
For virtually 10 years, state police resisted Hunsicker’s efforts to acquire the police investigative report so she might discover out what occurred to her brother. In a courtroom submitting, her lawyer mentioned the police’s refusal to supply the report was an effort to “cover up wrongful conduct.” She didn’t know the title of the officer who killed her brother till a Times reporter instructed her.
James B. Martin, a Republican who’s the longtime district legal professional of Lehigh County, mentioned that, after assembly with the lead investigator, he had dominated the taking pictures justified — a choice he referred to as a “no-brainer.” He mentioned he didn’t recall any claims that the gun had been taped to Rotkewicz.
Martin noticed nothing fallacious with permitting police to analyze themselves.

A Pennsylvania state trooper has fatally shot 4 folks in separate incidents since 2007, a unprecedented tally for an officer liable for patrolling largely rural areas with low charges of violent crime. Trooper Jay Splain stays on responsibility. https://t.co/fjHIwqXwVS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 30, 2021
“The Pennsylvania State Police is a troop of 4,500 very well-qualified police officers who do an excellent job, and their integrity, as far as I’m concerned, is beyond reproach,” he mentioned.
A Different Choice
On a Saturday in May 2017, Anthony Ardo threatened to kill himself by blowing his head off with an explosive. Addicted to medication for years, the 47-year-old was reeling after a breakup and being evicted by his mom, Jean Monaghan. After she referred to as 911 looking for assist for him, Splain and a junior trooper, Eddie Pagan, got here to her household farm and persuaded her to lure him again.
Ardo pulled up however then appeared to reverse his Buick Reatta, in line with the officers’ accounts. Rather than let him go, the troopers ran out the again door and acquired of their two patrol automobiles, hidden from view. They trapped the Buick between their cruisers, hopped out and drew their firearms, the troopers instructed police investigators.
Within seconds, the troopers started taking pictures, in line with Monaghan. Lawyers for Monaghan mentioned they imagine that Splain, who fired 9 occasions, killed Ardo with the final three bullets. The troopers later mentioned they feared for his or her lives, in line with courtroom filings, as Ardo, sitting within the driver’s seat, gave the impression to be lighting one thing round his neck. That turned out to be a standard aerial firework.
In an interview, the lifeless man’s mom puzzled why the officers hadn’t tried to de-escalate the state of affairs by stepping away. “They rushed him and didn’t even give him a chance,” mentioned Monaghan, who mentioned she watched the confrontation from her window and later filed a wrongful loss of life lawsuit. She added, “They were in no way in harm’s way if they would have just backed up and left him alone.”

Within an hour of Ardo’s taking pictures, a state police lieutenant referred to as John Morganelli, the district legal professional in Northampton County and a Democrat, to ask how the prosecutor needed to deal with the investigation, in line with a grand jury report later made public. Morganelli determined his workplace would take the lead and assigned a county detective.
But the lieutenant quickly instructed Morganelli that his bosses “would not yield the criminal investigation,” the report mentioned.
Apparently due to that dispute, nobody interviewed both trooper for a couple of month. During that point, the 2 males talked to one another and watched dashcam movies of the taking pictures, they acknowledged later. Law enforcement specialists warn that permitting officers to share data earlier than interviews can cause them to align their tales.
Splain disclosed his earlier deadly taking pictures to Pagan, each males mentioned in depositions. “Most of the conversations revolved around him giving me advice as to how to handle the stress,” Pagan mentioned.
State police assigned an investigator from Troop M’s main case workforce to steer the inquiry. Superior officers later instructed the grand jury that they depend on investigating troopers to report any potential conflicts of curiosity.
Trooper Michael Everk, the lead investigator, declined to remark for this text. He had labored with Splain on a marijuana bust, state police newsletters present. While interviewing the troopers, Everk referred to Pagan as “Eddie” a number of occasions as an alternative of talking extra formally, as he did in different interviews.
Morganelli introduced the case to a grand jury, which concluded that the taking pictures was justified. But the jurors additionally issued a second, public report accusing state police leaders of a “somewhat arrogant view of superiority” over different legislation enforcement businesses. The panel additionally discovered investigators gave troopers “special treatment” that’s “not generally afforded to others who are the subject of a criminal investigation.”
The subsequent 12 months, Splain was moved to Troop L in Lebanon County.
‘The Gravest of Situations’
Pier Hess Graf, the Lebanon County district legal professional, hosts an annual fundraiser, “Back the Blue,” for a Pennsylvania nonprofit that helps the households of slain officers. Her husband is a state police corporal.
Advocates of reform say such obvious conflicts of curiosity spotlight the necessity for unbiased, arm’s-length prison investigations into killings by police. Some police departments now name in district attorneys from neighboring counties; others have unbiased items to analyze fatalities. In current years, states together with California, New Jersey and New York shifted many of those investigations to the state legal professional normal’s workplace.
But final 12 months, Graf oversaw an investigation into one other deadly taking pictures involving Splain. At the time, her husband was primarily based in the identical barracks.
Early on March 16, 2020, Charity Thome, 42, who had psychological sickness and drug habit, fled officers after she was caught attempting to interrupt into her former dwelling, information present.
Officer Ryan Haase of the North Lebanon Police Department began pursuing her Honda Accord; he quickly instructed dispatchers he was ending the chase as a result of, with few automobiles on the highway at that hour, the girl was not endangering the general public.
But then Splain and a rookie, Trooper Matthew Haber, joined him. Thome led police on a “lengthy high-speed chase,” Graf mentioned later, with “no regard for traffic lights, signs, police sirens, other vehicles on the roadway or the safety of the general public.”
Many police departments ban high-speed pursuits of nonviolent offenders, particularly if officers know who they’re and might discover them later. Instead, information present, Splain carried out a dangerous maneuver to pressure Thome to cease.
An undated picture offered by Gina Ardo reveals Anthony ArdoÕs automotive. He was behind the wheel and gave the impression to be lighting one thing round his neck when Pennsylvania troopers opened fireplace. (Gina Ardo by way of The New York Times)
The Accord spun out right into a area. Thome then drove into Haase’s SUV. The two troopers jumped out of their car, weapons drawn. “Stop, stop, get out of the car, show me your hands,” Splain recalled shouting, in line with a police interview quoted in a lawsuit filed by Thome’s household.
He fired first, adopted by the rookie. Thome, hit seven occasions, died virtually immediately, in line with the lawsuit.
In an April 2020 information launch describing the killing, Graf mentioned Thome “accelerated forward and drove into” the officer’s car. The launch additionally described Splain and Haber as saying they feared a number of outcomes, together with Thome reversing and working over officers or persevering with “to ram” the SUV.
But Haase estimated her pace to be 5 mph, including that he was extra fearful about harm to his car than about his security, in line with his interviews with police included within the lawsuit. Neither car’s air luggage deployed, the lawsuit mentioned; {a photograph} confirmed that the SUV suffered minimal harm.
No police instructions may very well be heard in a dashcam video. Splain instructed police 30 seconds had elapsed between his leaving the automotive and taking pictures. The video, included within the lawsuit, reveals it took only some seconds.
“Their job was to talk her out of the vehicle and into safety,” mentioned Thomas Kline, a lawyer for Thome’s household. “And instead, they did just the opposite, which was to fire multiple rounds of bullets into her pinned-down vehicle, leaving her defenseless and tragically dead.”
Agency coverage says Pennsylvania state troopers mustn’t shoot at shifting automobiles except the driving force “poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury,” or if taking pictures is the final resort to stop a suspect in a violent felony from escaping.
In the discharge, Graf mentioned she had assigned her detective bureau to supervise the investigation, which concerned a number of businesses. It drew on the state police inquiry, which was led by an investigator primarily based out of the identical troop as Splain, the Times discovered.
Graf had decided that the taking pictures was justified after a couple of month — a comparatively quick conclusion in contrast with comparable inquiries reviewed by reporters. In response to questions from the Times, Graf didn’t deal with any potential battle of curiosity and mentioned she stood by her choices.
“Law enforcement involved in this case committed the most serious human act — they took a life,” Graf mentioned within the information launch asserting her ruling. She added, “They did so knowing the use of deadly force is necessary in only the gravest of situations.”
The 4th Killing
Andy Dzwonchyk, a 40-year-old metallic employee who had as soon as been named “loudest laugh” and voted president of his highschool class, was unraveling by November.
Amy Hastings, his girlfriend of 20 years, had left, weary of his drug use. She obtained a safety order after he badgered her to come back again and talked of killing himself in entrance of their two sons if she didn’t return. “Andy never threatened me or the kids,” Hastings mentioned.
About 10:40 p.m. Nov. 7, Hastings referred to as 911 as a result of Dzwonchyk saved texting, in violation of the order. Two troopers confirmed up, together with Splain.
While Hastings talked to them, Dzwonchyk, who was caring for his or her sons, texted once more, saying he wanted a thermometer for one boy, who was sick, Hastings recalled. She went inside as a result of it was chilly. Then Dzwonchyk, who lived down the highway from the place she was staying, drove up.
The troopers tried to arrest Dzwonchyk in his automotive, however a battle ensued, in line with a police spokesperson at a information convention the subsequent morning. Trooper David Beohm mentioned one officer had gotten caught contained in the car, which superior and reversed, dragging him, though he was not injured.
“It wasn’t like a real fast back-and-forth,” Beohm mentioned.
Dzwonchyk’s 1999 Beetle was a stick shift, making it tough to go ahead and backward shortly. Attempts to subdue Dzwonchyk with a Taser didn’t work, in line with the spokesperson. Only then, he mentioned, did the opposite officer fireplace his weapon.
That was Splain.