PITTSTON AREA NEWS

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First Posted: 8/14/2014 Wednesday was a bad day to be Leo A. Glodzik III.
In addition to an FBI raid on his business interests and a city shutdown of his Wilkes-Barre towing company due to alleged code violations, the state Department of Environmental Protection handed down an order requiring Glodzik to take action on a dilapidated railroad bridge over the Susquehanna River that he purchased in 2007.
The bridge crosses the river between the Coxton Railroad Yard in Duryea and Exeter Township.
Glodzik, 43, of Wilkes-Barre, is appealing a theft conviction handed down earlier this year after a jury found he removed $2,100 in cash from a vehicle he towed to his city garage on Jan. 29, 2013, having been told the vehicle was involved in a drug arrest. The money was left in the vehicle as part of an FBI sting operation.
FBI Public Affairs Specialist Carrie Adamowski confirmed agents were at another Glodzik enterprise, LAG Transport in Duryea, on Wednesday &#8212; and that no one had been taken into custody &#8212; but could not comment on why agents were at the property.
Efforts to reach Adamowski were unsuccessful on Thursday.
DEP&#8217;s administrative order is addressed to L.A.G. Wrecking, c/o Pilar Glodzik, a relative. But it was Leo Glodzik, doing business as L.A.G. Wrecking Inc., who purchased the span from the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority for $500.
Wednesday&#8217;s order gives L.A.G. Wrecking 54 days to submit a permit application proposing to &#8220;remove or modify&#8221; the bridge in accordance with DEP requirements. If such a permit is approved, L.A.G. then has 180 days to take action.
The sale was made with the understanding that Glodzik bought the bridge to tear it down for scrap. But there was nothing in writing stipulating that it be demolished.
In April of this year, DEP informed Glodzik that an inspection revealed the bridge to be &#8220;in a state of decay,&#8221; and that deterioration of its stone piers placed the structure &#8220;in imminent danger of collapse&#8221; and creating &#8220;an immediate danger of a stream obstruction and hazard to life or property.&#8221;
According to DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly, who provided a copy of the order to The Times Leader, L.A.G. Wrecking has indicated it does not have the financial means to fix or tear down the bridge.
The state of Glodzik&#8217;s business interests seemed in question on several fronts, as the city of Wilkes-Barre shuttered his LAG Towing on Carey Avenue, declaring the building unfit for human habitation due to violating code for lack of services.
&#8220;The fire department was notified about substantial flooding in the basement of the property caused by a hole in the roof and water seeping through the walls,&#8221; city spokeswoman Liza Prokop wrote in an e-mail Thursday. &#8220;Because of the amount of water, they cut power to the building. Code enforcement was notified and they posted the notice until the issue is abated.&#8221;
Efforts to reach Glodzik, including calls, text messages and a visit to his home, were unsuccessful.
Calls to Glodzik&#8217;s defense attorney, Joseph Sklarosky Sr., went unreturned on Wednesday and Thursday.
In a July 17 interview with The Times Leader, Joseph Sklarosky Sr. insisted that his client was not the target of a federal investigation, refuting claims by Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce to the contrary.

DEP pushes Glodzik for action on abandoned bridge