Charges filed against 3 men in connection with lawsuit that accuses 911 dispatcher of not sending help for dying woman
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — Three more people are facing charges in connection with a federal lawsuit in Greene County that accuses a 911 dispatcher of failing to send help for a dying woman.
Greg Leathers, Richard Policz and Robert Jeffrey Rhodes are charged with tampering with public records, tampering with or fabricating evidence and obstruction.
The three men work or worked in management for Greene County emergency management, investigators said. Leathers, currently the mayor of Waynesburg, is the former county 911 director. Policz is the county's EMA director and 911 director, and Rhodes works in a management role for 911.
According to the criminal complaint, the three men are accused of conspiring to "knowingly and purposefully conceal, withhold, omit, obstruct or pervert the release of documents" from the department.
Leon Price, who is the 911 dispatcher, surrendered in June in the case and is charged with involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, official oppression and obstructing the law.
The Greene County District Attorney's Office said the dispatcher denied medical services in 2020 to Diania Kronk when there were three ambulances available for dispatch. She died the next day from internal bleeding.
District Attorney Dave Russo alleges Price's actions were reckless and resulted in the woman's death. He said Price violated protocol and the county's procedures by refusing to dispatch an ambulance to help the dying woman.
Now, Leathers, Policz and Rhodes are accused of failing to provide policy memo binders to investigators, the criminal complaint said. The three are responsible for training actions and implementation at the 911 center and their guidelines. Investigators said a whistleblower came forward about the information.
According to the criminal complaint, they are accused of concealing the existence of "binders" containing SOP, standard operating procedures, or training documents.
"[They] described them as being 'binders,' that there was no consistency between them, and that they were enforced under the threat of penalty from management," the criminal complaint said.
The criminal complaint said the "statements were corroborated by several others claiming whistleblower status."
In June, the Greene County district attorney said he was looking into the county's 911 management.
"Initially, we had filed search warrants to gain information in the Kronk investigation," Russo said. "We found out through a whistleblower that not all of the information was provided to us. We gave this information of this person confidential status. We issued three more search warrants - one was on 911 to get the remaining information that we were told that was provided there. The other two were issued on the county."
KDKA's Jennifer Barrasso: "Why do you think they are behaving like this? Just not cooperating, not handing over things, why?"
Russo: "That's a good question. We are just trying to get to the bottom of it. We had a woman that died which initiated the investigation. It's our responsibility to try to get to all the information to get to the bottom of why that occurred."
The charges against Leathers, Policz and Rhodes were filed Monday. They turned themselves in to police Thursday and were arraigned and released on $25,000 bond.
"My mom, Diana Kronk, didn't deserve this. I'm shocked," Kelly Titchenell, Kronk's daughter, said. "What is wrong with Greene County? They all need to be held accountable and I'm going to fit this till the end. I'll get justice for my mom."
Leathers and Policz are also named in the federal lawsuit.
KDKA-TV asked Greene County what discipline was taken against Price in 2020 but has not received an answer.
The attorney representing Greene County in the federal lawsuit tells KDKA-TV that the county is still addressing the matter with Price and his union under the collective bargaining agreement and applicable law.
