Willard Schmoll

Alan Liechty

By DAVID WEISS; Times Leader Correspondent
 Tuesday, November 17, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE- A Luzerne County 911 employee testified Monday that his
bosses tried to "intimidate" him into omitting embarrassing details during a
trial for a cop accused of joking about a helicopter crash. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dispatcher Scott Davis testified that 911 employees Joe Thomas, Alan Pugh
and Jim Connors told him they did not want Davis to embarrass the agency or a
fellow dispatcher. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Yes, they intimidated me to change my testimony," Davis said. He added
that the deputy district attorney did not investigate his claims. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Davis' testimony came Monday in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas during
the trial for suspended Larksville police officer Christopher Matello. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Contacted later, Pugh said he plans to testify today and clarify the intent
of his conversation with Davis. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matello is charged with making false alarms to officials of public safety.
He allegedly told 911 dispatcher Jennifer Valkos that an emergency helicopter
en route to Larksville to transport a 7-year-old burn victim had crashed,
killing two people. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Davis did not provide details of how his testimony could have embarrassed
Valkos. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He also testified that Deputy District Attorney Joe Vullo had told him his
testimony "could make the county ... look bad." But he also said Vullo told
him to be truthful. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Afterward, Vullo said, "I told him (Davis) to tell the truth and he
admitted that today." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vullo did not address Davis' claim that he failed to investigate the
alleged intimidation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said Monday he could not comment
because the trial is ongoing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pugh, deputy director of the 911 center, said he talked with Davis last
week about a rumor at tributed to Davis. But Pugh insisted fellow employees
couldn't change Davis' testimony because 911 phone conversations are taped. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Reached at the 911 center Monday, Thomas declined to talk about the
allegations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm not going to say anything," Thomas said. "Tomorrow you could hear what
you want to hear. I didn't hear it first-hand." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Connors could not be reached for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Life Lion was dispatched by the Back Mountain Communications Center to
transport Rikkisue Shotwell from Nesbitt Hospital to a burn center after she
was injured in a Kingston Township house fire on April 5. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 During testimony, taped phone conversations from the 911 center disclosed
that the Life Lion helicopter crew told Valkos they had already landed at a
Larksville landing zone and were "shutting down" prior to her conversations
with Matello. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Davis, who testified after Valkos, said Valkos gave Life Lion the wrong
frequency to communicate with Larksville Borough emergency officials and
laughed during two phone conversations with Matello. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some of the information, however, was being relayed from other dispatchers,
including the frequency number, Davis said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Valkos also admitted that she, too, was kidding with Matello during one
part of their phone conversation. Near the end of their second conversation,
after Matello confirmed the helicopter hadn't crashed, Valkos joked, "You are
so dead" and "I'm gonna kill you," according to transcripts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Valkos, who was one of the least experienced dispatchers with six
months on the job, denied laughing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She testified that when she spoke with Matello, he said the Life Lion crew
was being taken to Nesbitt Hospital to meet with the burn victim. Valkos said
she thought they were injured and being transported and the noise she made was
one of shock, not laughter. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On the taped phone conversation when Matello said the aircraft hadn't
crashed, laughter can be heard in the Larksville municipal building. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matello said in the tape, "It sounded like you were going along with me and
then I thought you understood I was only kidding around." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In their opening statements, Vullo said he will rely on the taped phone
conversations to prove that Matello did cause alarm with his statements. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You have to decide if it is OK for a police officer to joke around and lie
in the middle of an emergency," Vullo said. "That's our evidence." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Defense attorney Mic

911 Man Testifies To Being Pressured 
Dispatcher Scott Davis Takes Stand In Trial For Cop Charged With Making False 
Alarms About A Fatal Helicopter Crash

911 Man Testifies To Being Pressured Dispatcher Scott Davis Takes Stand In Trial For Cop Charged With Making False Alarms About A Fatal Helicopter Crash