A McCandless police lieutenant has been suspended for 10 days without pay for his on-duty behavior, a township councilman said Friday.
Lt. Jeffrey Basl was disciplined in the wake of an internal investigation prompted by complaints by Officer Melissa Delval, Councilman Steven Mertz said.
“He essentially acted like a frat boy in the police station,” Mr. Mertz said, describing it as “harassing behavior type stuff.”
The conduct involved a lewd gesture and some crude language, he said.
“If you were mad at [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh,” Mr. Mertz said, “you’re going to be mad at him, and if you weren’t mad at Kavanaugh, you aren’t going to be mad at him.”
Officer Delval also complained about police Chief David R. DiSanti Sr., who remains on leave amid the ongoing investigation into allegations against him, Mr. Mertz said.
Neither Chief DiSanti nor Lt. Basl could be reached for comment. A person who responded to a text message to Officer Delval’s cell phone wrote, “You do not have permission to use my name” and said the message would be forwarded to her attorney.
Mr. Mertz said the council vote was unanimous in favor of suspending Lt. Basl.
McCandless posted a notification on its Facebook page on Friday afternoon that said: “The current investigation regarding the conduct of Lt. Jeffrey Basl has concluded. Town Council has instructed the current acting Chief of Police to carry out the appropriate personnel action.”
Mr. Mertz said a vote was taken pending a Loudermill hearing Wednesday for Lt. Basl. A Loudermill hearing is a due process requirement that must be provided to a public employee before the employee’s job is placed at risk.
“As far as I’ve been told, they were going to post on Facebook as soon as the official notification was given to Basl and it took effect,” Mr. Mertz said. “Personally, I think that 92 percent of what he did you could find on prime time TV. The 8 percent is why I voted the way I did.”
The probe into both police officers was sparked by what Mr. Mertz described as a five-to-seven-page letter in late October from Officer Delval to the township manager, who contacted the McCandless solicitor and council. Both men were placed on leave Oct. 26.
“We’ve been paying people for 2½ months for not doing anything. It’s time to get them back to work,” Mr. Mertz said.
The letter described general conduct by Lt. Basl as well as a specific incident alleged to involve him making a lewd gesture toward a police car in which Officer Delval was sitting, Mr. Mertz said. He added that the lieutenant thought someone else was in the vehicle and that he immediately apologized when he realized it was Officer Delval.
“He talked foully to two of the people he thought were his best friends,” Mr. Mertz said. “They were like, ‘I’m sick of hearing this crap.’ ”
While no one else initially complained about Lt. Basl, Mr. Mertz said that officers who were contacted in the wake of the complaint shared their thoughts.
Officer Delval was “the one who made the complaint and got the ball rolling. [Other officers] verified that he did the things she said he does,” Mr. Mertz said. “ ‘We’ve heard him say this, we haven’t heard him say that.’ “
The same letter contained complaints about Chief DiSanti as well, according to Mr. Mertz, who declined to provide any specifics because the chief’s Loudermill hearing has not yet occurred.
Earlier this week, Mr. Mertz said, council received a “secondary letter that actually opened up four or five new witnesses” in regards to allegations against Chief DiSanti.
“Nobody actually complained until [Officer Delval],” Mr. Mertz said. “There was never a ‘Knock it off.’ There was never a ‘Stop doing this.’ There was never a ‘This is inappropriate.’ So how do you know? I guess he should have known.“
McCandless Officer Rick Ewing, president of the McCandless Police Officers Association, which represents Lt. Basl, declined comment. The union’s attorney, Eric Stoltenberg, said he was not aware of Lt. Basl receiving any notice about his status.
The police union voted 24-1 in early December in a no-confidence proclamation against Chief DiSanti. One other officer abstained.
Jonathan D. Silver: jsilver@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1962 or on Twitter @jsilverpg.
First Published: January 4, 2019, 10:39 p.m.
