New Details On What Led To 2 Bristol Twp. Officers Losing Jobs, 4 In Trouble

An arbitrator’s decision has revealed more details on what led to two Bristol Township police officers losing their jobs and four being punished.

The information came out as part of the arbitration between the Bristol Township Police Benevolent Association and Bristol Township. The arbitrator was attorney Walt De Treux.

Bristol Township police in June 2020 brought disciplinary actions against officers Shawn Lyons, Charles Pritchett, Kevin Jackson, John Lancieri, John Yeiter, and Joshua Bausch. Lyons and Pritchett were the two officers discharged from their jobs, according to public records.

The discipline and dismissals stem from a February 2020 incident at the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5’s private bar in the city while the lawmen were out for a night on the town. Early in the morning, the officers were together at the cop bar when Pritchett allegedly shared Officer Jason Mancuso’s personal cell phone number with a “clearly-intoxicated” parking enforcement officer for the Philadelphia Parking Authority who had been upset about a four-year-old interaction he had with a Bristol Township cop following a traffic crash. The parking enforcement officer described the officer he interacted with and it was believed by the group to be Mancuso, who was at home at that moment in bed with his sick toddler and pregnant wife, according to the statement of facts included in the arbitrator’s early September 20-page decision.

The drunken parking enforcement officer called Mancuso’s cell phone three times, sent two texts, and attempted a FaceTime call while “standing with and around the six officers.” Lyons ended the FaceTime call before it went connected, the report stated.

“Around 2:47 a.m., [Mancuso’s] cell phone rang, but he did not answer it because he did not recognize the number. Approximately 30 seconds later, it rang again. When Officer Mancuso answered, the caller said, ‘I’m coming to Dickerson to put a bullet in your head.’ Officer Mancuso lives on Dickinson Drive. A third phone call went to voicemail with the message, ‘Yo, you handled my accident. Call me back [phone number removed]. Let’s go, brother. Yeah, bro.’ Officer Mancuso did not listen to the voicemail until several hours later. He next received two texts, one calling him ‘a p***y,’” the report stated.

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The investigation into the incident found that Mancuso was “rattled” by the contact and worried, but he didn’t want to wake or upset his pregnant wife. He went and grabbed his firearm from his gun safe and laid awake in bed. The next day Mancuso reported the incident to his police supervisor, who connected the contacts to the number of the parking enforcement officer using the department’s in-house database.

The supervisor sent the memo on the threats along to his bosses.

Police Chief Robert Coulton ordered an investigation by township Detective William O’Keefe, and the parking enforcement officer relayed details of his interaction with the Bristol Township officers, officials said.

Bristol Township police obtained surveillance video from the police union bar that showed the officers involved. At that point, Bristol Township police turned the investigation over to Bucks County Detectives, who were to determine whether a crime occurred, the report found.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the county detective’s investigation, but declined to press charges. The matter was also brought to the attention of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and no charges came from that office as of this week.

“We have reviewed this matter to make a charging determination. While, reprehensible, inexcusable, and callous, the officers’ accused of this conduct lacked criminal intent, and therefore no crime was committed,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub told LevittownNow.com last September.

Bristol Township police continued an administrative investigation, leading to the June 2020 issuance of a notice of possible wrongdoing to the six officers, public records stated.

The officers wrote statements and took part in interviews during the internal investigation.

In July 2020, Coulton issued a statement of charges to each officer. Lyons and Pritchett were to be discharged from their high-paying public service jobs in the township and the other four officers were to face varying levels of suspension.

“The chief justified the varying levels of discipline by citing to the officers’ varying degrees of involvement, alleged false statements, and expressions of remorse,” according to the arbitrator’s report.

All of the officers filed grievances over their discipline.

Yeiter and Bausch were able to settle their grievances prior to arbitration. Numerous hearings on the matter were held on the grievances of Lyons, Pritchett, and Jackson. Their complaints were denied. Lancireri’s grievance was partly denied and partly sustained. The arbitrator ordered the township to reduce Lancieri’s suspension from 20 days to 10 days after noting he only “passively participated.” The township had to compensate him for 10 days of unpaid leave, records showed.

The grievants claimed Mancuso had purposefully lied and fabricated the threat, but the arbitrator said their “attack” was “both confusing and inconsistent.”

The arbitrator wrote that some of the officers were “untruthful” in their statements to investigators.

The arbitrator further said the county detectives did not question Mancuso’s credibility and District Attorney Matt Weintraub called him “an officer of the highest caliber … a man of integrity … one of the good guys.”

The township in a statement called the incident a “twisted prank”

“Individuals who subject co-workers to ridicule and harassment, giving  out the private cell phone number and home address of a fellow officer to an angry, drunken stranger  have no place in our police department. These actions run contrary to our law enforcement mission and negatively impact the entire police department,” Coulton said in a statement to LevittownNow.com.

Bristol Township Council President Craig Bowen commented on the arbitrator’s decision: “We are pleased that the Arbitrator saw how egregious the Officers’ behavior was both that evening and during the investigations. We cannot tolerate officers who show a complete disregard for the rights of others including another officer.”  

Sources inside the police department said the cloud of the discipline actions have hung over the agency since last year. Coulton advised officers of the arbitrator’s decision in a memo recently.

The police officers’ union did not respond for a request for comment.

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