Part two of the court documents.

Carla Fritz is suing West Penn Township. She is also the wife of former Police Chief James Bonner.

Two former Minersville officers charged for civil rights violations and false reports. I read the indictment.

Who is Andres Rivera and why is he hanging around a 21 year old?

Rachel Rossi is suing the West Penn PD. She is also related to an elected official in the community.

Chief James Bonner is fired from the West Penn Police Department - but that is just the beginning.

Welcome back to PA trench news, your independent news reporting of Southern PA.

Its be 754 days of rain.

In Berks County

The South Heidelberg PD are looking for a black sedan with front end damage that was involved in a hit and run accident on 09/25/24. The accident happened in the area of Bernville Rd and Brownsville rd. The black sedan fled the scene on North Heidelberg Rd towards Bernville. Anyone with information, please contact Officer Baxter at 610-670-9885. Anyone who has tried to hang a left off of Brownsville Rd on to Bernville rd surely knows that the blind hill is extremely dangerous. Its a miracle that accidents don't happen daily there.

In Lebanon County

An alligator was spotted in a body of water. Officers and firemen worked tirelessly to capture the animal. Facebook went wild speculating where the alligator came from. Some said that it was a lost emotional support pet, while some counted their alligators to make sure that none were missing. In the end, this dramatic sighting turned out to be.....a pool floatie. A pretty good replica if I do say so myself.

In Schuylkill County

911 was called to Schuylkill Valley High School on 09/30/24 by personnel reporting that a student was in possession of a hand gun. the school began their lockdown procedures and the student was taken into custody. It was reported that the 16 year old student was in possession of a Glock replica BB gun. Just a reminder again to all of those folks out there, that not only are students being charged with crimes that involve bringing pew pews to school but parents are as well. Ask the parents of Colt Gray. Colt Gray is the young man who attacked 4 people at a school in Georgia. His father Colin Gray is now facing the same charges as the son for the death of these 4 people. Very soon we are going to be reprising the "its 9pm, do you know where your child is?" adds and replacing it for "Its 7am, have you checked your childs belongings for firearms and replicas?

In Leesport

A 14 year old is missing. Reagan Covolesky was last seen 09/22/24. Please state she may travel to other areas in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York. Reagan's hair may be dyed a reddish brown color, and she may have a temporary rose tattoo on her left hand. She may be seen wearing earrings and stud piercings in both of her nostrils. Reagan may be in need of medical attention. Anyone with information is asked to please call Northern Berks Regional Police at 610-655-4911.

In Reading,

Someone leaked an e-mail regarding the Reading Parking Authority. Seems like there are accusations of discrimination, harassment misused break time and racism. FB users call for change while others chime in stating that this is just another department in the good graces of Mayor Eddie Moran. Looks like the next board meeting is on 10/16/24. I found this information on the website. Meetings are public and anyone from the public can attend as long as the meeting rules are followed. On the agenda for the last meeting was retaining RKL forensic accounting. According to their website, RKL is proud to be a leading financially oriented professional services firm serving the public transportation industry. It looks like the board meetings were recorded through COVID but it stopped in 2022.

In the first reporting of this video I mentioned lawyers.... you know those scary people who come after you. That's a joke. To explain where the lawyers come from, I have to explain some general information about the legal system. There are two types of ways you can be held responsible in the court of law. Criminally and Civilly. The goal of the criminal justice system is to identify a crime, and hold a person or persons responsible for that crime. This is just a general over view.

The goal of the civil court system is to right a wrong. Often in the form of monetary compensation. Lets jump back about 20 years to 1995 and briefly talk about OJ Simpson. OJ Simpson was charged with the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman in criminal court. OJ and his fleet of lawyers took these charges to trial to have a jury decided if OJ had committed these murders or not. The jury acquitted him of murder, meaning they found that there was reasonable doubt that OJ Simpson murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. This trial is where the famous line comes from "If the glove dont fit, you must acquit."

In 1997 OJ Simpson was back in court facing civil charges for the wrongful death of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. In a civil case, the jury must decide if it was more likely than not that OJ Simpson was involved thereby deeming him liable. If a jury finds you liable in a civil court case, then they impose a penalty for your actions. In OJs case, the penalty was $33.5 million dollars.

Okay we've made it through this lesson, back to the Stern Family.

The commonwealth of PA investigated the police officer and announced on April 18th 2024 that the officers would not be charged for the death of Damon Stern - This is the criminal part.

For the civil part, the family has retained lawyers Kevin O'Brien and Shaka Johnson from Stampone, O'Brien, Dilsheimer Holloway Injury Lawyers to represent them in a civil action against the City of Reading and the police. Meaning..... that they believe that it is more likely than not that the City of Reading and the police department are liable for the death of Damon Stern and that they will be seeking monetary damages.

Money is never going to bring back Damon Stern and that is the sad fact of all of this. Just like when someone goes to jail, it doesn't magically erase the crime. However, money is a way to remind individuals or institutions that egregious actions have consequences. The process of filing a lawsuit allows everyone, including the public to see how institutions are run and to highlight errors in those practices. Money will not make this family whole again, but it may provide just a little bit of comfort for them and generations to come. Paying out money is often a great motivator to individuals and institutions to make policy changes so this doesn't happen again.

The shooting death of Damon Stern was investigated by the Berks County District Attorney's office. On April 18th 2024, Berks County DA John T Adams called a press conference to announce that he will not be charging the police officers. I looked for the official press announcement on Berks County DAs website, but was unable to find it. Here is an article regarding the announcement.

My first impression of this statement is "inaccurate at best." But when you dig down to the nitty gritty of criminal law, you may find a portion of it has to do with the mindset of the person causing the action and I believe that is where the law is on the side of the office. We can watch the body cam footage and see this incident from a perspective but we cant put ourselves in the perspective of the office, on this night, with the exact information he had.