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Pressure on Big Ben could be key

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‘Jersey Boys’ heads to Scranton Cultural Center Jan. 17-22

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Luzerne County jury Thursday delivered a mixed verdict in the corruption case of an ex-part-time police officer and career firefighter accused of covering up a friend&#8217;s car crash, acquitting John Fronzoni of two charges while deadlocking on a third.</p><p>The jury in the three-day corruption trial in Luzerne County Court returned the verdict after more than four hours of deliberations, finding Fronzoni not guilty of witness intimidation and hindering apprehension. It deadlocked on a count of obstructing the administration of law, resulting in a mistrial on the charge.</p><p>State prosecutors have the option of retrying Fronzoni on the charge, though it wasn&#8217;t immediately clear following the verdict whether they would. Senior Deputy Attorney General Bernard Anderson declined to comment to reporters on his way out of the courtroom.</p><p>Anderson had alleged the 37-year-old Larksville native urged responders at a 2014 early morning wreck involving his friend, William Ritsick, to falsify reports in an effort to prevent Ritsick from being investigated for driving under the influence.</p><p>Fronzoni, who has been on administrative leave from the Courtdale and Edwardsville police departments since charges were filed more than two years ago, declined to comment after the hearing, but his attorney indicated Fronzoni&#8217;s law enforcement career could remain on hold for awhile longer as Anderson&#8217;s office mulls refiling.</p><p>Pike said he spoke to officials from at least one of the boroughs who showed interest in bringing Fronzoni back on the job, and added Fronzoni is pursuing legal action regarding his termination from the Larksville Fire Department.</p><p>During trial, jurors heard claims that Fronzoni was an outspoken union steward whose efforts drew the ire of Larksville Borough Council members. Pike, after the verdict, said Fronzoni won multiple grievances and labor disputes filed on behalf of the union and &#8220;that began to annoy people.&#8221;</p><p>Borough officials were waiting for Fronzoni to slip up, Pike alleged, and seized their opportunity with the crash.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s why they came after him,&#8221; Pike said.</p><p>Pike alleged Fronzoni arrived on scene as a volunteer firefighter after leaving a charity event at his bar, unaware it was Ritsick behind the wheel, and assisted like he would in any other situation, though he noted Fronzoni would probably handle the situation differently if given the opportunity.</p><p>&#8220;I think he would,&#8221; Pike said. &#8220;No one wants to go through this.&#8221;</p><p>Police said Ritsick, 46, crashed head-on into a telephone pole at about 2 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2014. He told jurors Wednesday he wasn&#8217;t intoxicated, but acknowledged he had drank two beers and had taken Xanax prior to getting behind the wheel.</p><p>Anderson had said Ritsick was &#8220;a prime suspect&#8221; for DUI, but Pike argued there was no evidence of such a charge, it was simply a car into a pole. The incident, he said, was overblown in an effort to get Fronzoni out of borough officials&#8217; hair.</p><p>&#8220;This is a witch hunt. Plain and simple,&#8221; he said in his closings earlier Thursday.</p><p>Reached Thursday evening, Larksville Police Chief John Edwards said he couldn&#8217;t comment on the allegations. Borough Solicitor Jack Haley couldn&#8217;t be reached.</p><p>Fronzoni, Senior Deputy Attorney General Bernard Anderson alleged, arrived on scene and started calling the shots. He intimidated rookie Courtdale police officer Greg Johnson, kept Ritsick hidden in the back of his personal vehicle, personally tracked down a tow truck driver to remove Ritsick&#8217;s disabled car, and ultimately drove Ritsick from the scene, Anderson said.</p><p>&#8220;Mr. squared away Marine. I think he&#8217;s used to taking charge.&#8221; Anderson said in his closings. &#8220;Larksville is his town. When he shows up, he&#8217;s in charge. It&#8217;s that simple. And John showed up. And he took control.&#8221;</p><p>Anderson, whose office prosecuted the case on referral from Larksville police and the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s Office, said the case centered around Ritsick, whose sobriety claims Anderson questioned in his closings.</p><p>&#8220;He said he only drank two (beers),&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;Everybody only drinks two. It&#8217;s up to you whether you want to believe that.&#8221;</p><p>Anderson told jurors the claims Fronzoni was victimized by borough officials &#8220;had nothing to do with&#8221; what happened after the wreck. He labeled Fronzoni&#8217;s behavior that night as &#8220;corrupt,&#8221; and said being an ex-Marine isn&#8217;t a free pass to break the law.</p><p>&#8220;Someone can&#8217;t get out of a DUI because they&#8217;re friends with someone in the neighborhood, but that&#8217;s what happened,&#8221; Anderson said.</p><p>Fronzoni, though, testified he had no reason to believe the crash was alcohol-related or to intervene on behalf of Ritsick, whom he said he only knew casually.</p><p>Fronzoni, taking the stand Wednesday in his own defense, denied wrongdoing beyond admitting he told a medic to write she had &#8220;no patient contact&#8221; with Ritsick. The designation only applied to physical contact, which Larksville EMT Lori Amos didn&#8217;t have, he said.</p><p>A firefighter who he told not to complete a form couldn&#8217;t have finished it with the information available at the time, Fronzoni argued, and another firefighter who said he overheard Fronzoni saying, &#8220;This never happened,&#8221; caught the remark out of context.</p><p>&#8220;What I said was, &#8216;I wish this never happened,&#8217;&#8221; Fronzoni said, adding he felt sorry for Ritsick because the crash happened around the holidays and Ritsick was dealing with a sick family member.</p><p>Initially charged in the case, former Larksville police officer Michael Thomas saw his charges dropped by District Judge James Tupper early last year. Tupper had said he found no evidence of wrongdoing by Thomas, who later resigned from the department.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">John Fronzoni and his attorney, John Pike, arrive at a preliminary hearing in January 2016. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_TTL012616fronzoni2-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>John Fronzoni and his attorney, John Pike, arrive at a preliminary hearing in January 2016. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Jury delivers mixed verdict in ex-cop’s cover-up case involving a crash