Former Rescue Squad Chief Pleads Guilty

The former chief of the Bucks County Rescue Squad has struck a deal with prosecutors.

Scott Mel Bahner, 49, of Bensalem, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning before Bucks County Judge Wallace Bateman to charges of theft by unlawful taking and access device fraud.

The deal between prosecutors and Bahner means he will have to pay $127,942.48 restitution.

The judge ordered Bahner’s retirement account from a previous job frozen as restitution is sorted out.

Bahner was accused of using the Bristol Township-based Bucks County Rescue Squad’s credit card and issuing checks for his own gain over roughly nine years.

Bucks County Detectives alleged in court papers that Bahner issued 70 fraudulent checks issued to himself and his wife, made $40,710.67 in unauthorized personal purchases on squad credit cards, and using the organization’s funds to pay for repairs to his son’s Mazda.

In court papers, detectives wrote that Bahner “was less than truthful” when talking to them.

The nonprofit rescue squad first discovered the theft in October 2018 and contacted authorities.

In 2019, LevittownNow.com reported after reviewing public records that Bahner allegedly misled Bristol Township on the hours he worked as a community service officer at the police station and running errands for the department. Police Chief Robert Coulton sent Bahner a letter on October 30, 2017 outlining allegations and documents relating to hours he worked for the municipality, separate from his squad chief job. The police chief said that Bahner was not on-site for 1,777 hours of 2,503 hours he submitted for payment.

After receiving the letter, Bahner repaid the money voluntarily via check in November 2017 and resigned from his job with the police department, according to township documents and a copy of the check.

Bahner stepped down from his chief role at the Bucks County Rescue Squad in 2018.

Bahner’s resignation from the Bucks County Rescue Squad came as Bristol Township Council was eying a plan to remove the medical response service as the primary provider for a large portion of the community. Council later tabled the plan after an uproar from the Bristol Borough and township community.

“Bucks County Rescue Squad has implemented extensive revisions to its purchasing and accounting processes to ensure maximum financial integrity. Bucks County Rescue Squad now conducts monthly audits through its accountants to ensure that all payments are for legitimate purposes with verification of proper authorization from at least two officers,” the rescue squad said in a statement earlier this year.

“And, as it has since 1962, Bucks County Rescue Squad will be there to respond with skill and compassion,” they said.

Lou Hornstine, Bahner’s attorney, declined comment on the case.

Bahner will be sentenced in the new year.

Earlier this fall, Morrisville Ambulance Squad former treasurer and operations supervisor Ruth Roxy Rookstool, 59, of Morrisville, was sentenced to 15 to 36 months in prison for a scheme involving that organization. The Morrisville squad’s former Chief Brian Eckert, 42, of Falls Township, was sentenced in October to four to 23 months of house arrest.

Editor’s Note: Lou Hornstine has previously served as the business attorney for LevittownNow.com and its parent company but has no editorial influence over news articles published.