IS THIS ANY SURPRISE?

If there's one consistant thing about the way things work at 15-1-04, it's this ... agreements aren't often worth the paper they are written on.

Take the case of one Daniel Patrick Sharkey, for example.

Sharkey, 25, of Downingtown, was arrested by police following an January 4 incident investigated by Ofc. David Hammond. Sharkey was charged with a felony count of Criminal Trespassing and released on unsecured bail following a Feburary 1 arraignment.

On March 20, Sharkey was failed to appear for a preliminary hearing and saw his bail revoked following an arraignment later that day. He was then committed to CCP in lieu of $2,500 cash bail.

The following week, Sharkey was allowed to enter into a 90 day summary agreement, with his case continued to this past Friday. Typically, any criminal conduct while a defendant is under a summary agreement constitutes non-compliance, meaning an automatic waiver to Common Pleas Court.

See where this is going?

On April 5, Ofc. Daniel Carbo of the East Pikeland Police arrested Sharkey, charging him with PWID, DUI, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and Possession of Marijuana. He was relased on $7,500 unsecured bail after his arraignment that day in front of Phoenixville District Judge Ted Michaels.

On June 11, Sharkey waived his preliminary hearing, during which the PWID charges were withdrawn. His case is pending in front of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Sarcione (CP-15-CR-0002449-2009).

So, with a DUI case waived to Common Pleas Court AND and an active summary agreement pending in another district court, that should mean that Sharkey would be found in non-compliance with his agreement and the Trespassing case from West Chester would also get sent Uptown.

Um, no.

On Friday, despite the DUI arrest between the day of his last preliminary hearing and his subsequent court date, Sharkey was allowed to plead to a summary charge of Trespassing; in exchange, the felony count was withdrawn (15-1-04, CR-0000006-09; NT-0001008-09).

This is not the first break that Sharkey has gotten through the court systems, both in Chester and Montgomery Counties:

• March 2, 2005: Ofc. Maureen Sheeler of the Uwchlan Police charged Sharkey with TBUT and Criminal Conspiracy. He is arraigned and released on bail.
• March 29, 2005: Sharkey failed to appear for his preliminary hearing in front of Lionville District Judge Stanley Scott.
• April 2, 2005: Sharkey is arrested on the bench warrant and arraigned.
• April 5, 2005: Sharkey again fails to appear for court in Lionville.
• April 9, 2005: Sharkey is arrested on the bench warrant and committed to CCP in lieu of $2,500 cash bail.
• April 12, 2005: Sharkey appears for his preliminary hearing, which is continued to July 12, apparently after signing a summary agreement.
• May 19, 2005: Sharkey is arrested by police in Upper Merion, Montgomery County, and charged with DUI and Possession of Marijuana.
• June 21, 2005: Sharkey waives his preliminary hearing in King of Prussia District Court.
• August 9, 2005: Ofc. Thomas Jones of the Upper Uwchlan Police arrests Sharkey and charges him with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and Possession of Marijuana.
• August 23, 2005: Sharkey waives his preliminary hearing on the Upper Uwchlan case; Judge Scott automatically waives the Uwchlan theft case to Common Pleas Court based on the new arrests.
• November 3, 2005: Sharkey pleads guilty to DUI/1st Offense and Possession of Marijuana in front of Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Thomas DelRicci and is sentenced to 72 hours to 6 months in jail (CP-46-CR-0004367-2005).
• January 3, 2006: Sharkey pleads guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance in front of Common Pleas Judge William Mahon and is placed on one year probation (CP-15-CR-0004070-2005). As part of the plea agreement, the theft charges are nolle prossed (CP-15-CR-0004071-2005).
• January 10, 2008: Sharkey is arrested by police in Lower Providence, Montgomery County, and charged with Forgery, TBUT, Identity Theft, Securing Execution of Documents by Deception, Theft by Deception, and Tampering with Records.
• June 17, 2008: Sharkey's case is withdrawn in Collegeville District Court (38-1-20, CR-0000447-07). At least Sharkey didn't catch any new charges while the Lower Providence case was still pending.

How surprising is it that another defendant gets charges in the East End of West Chester, signs off on a summary agreement, catches new charges, and is still found to be in compliance with said agreement? That's a hell of a message to send to the community, now isn't it?

Of course, that's just par for the course at 15-1-04...

WCPD DETECTIVE TO RETIRE, UNRELATED VACANCY TO BE FILLED

A veteran WCPD detective will be retiring at the end of the month, while Borough Council is expected to approve the mayor's request to hire a Birmingham police officer to fill a vacancy that hadn't been filled in over a year.

Det. Nancy Martin, who serves as the WCPD's Juvenile Resource officer, will be retiring at the end of this month after 28 years with the department. Det. Martin was one of the first female officers to join WCPD. She is also the second officer to retire in the past 18 months, with Deb Capik having retired in April 2008.

At Borough Council's work session on Tuesday, action is expected on Mayor Dick Yoder's nominaton and request to extend a conditional offer of employment to Matthew Simcox, who is currently a Sergeant with the Birmingham Township police. Should the offer be approved by Council and accepted by Sgt. Simcox, he is expected to be sworn as early as July's Council meeting.

That it took over a year for Ofc. Capik's vacancy to be filled could be seen as an ominous sign for future vacancies to be filled. At present, two officers remain on long-term disability leave, while a third officer is on special assignment away from the department. With Det. Martin's retirement pending, that means that the WCPD will be, for a short period, five officers below their staffing levels.

DROWNING VICTIM RECOVERED

Within the past hour, rescuers recovered a body from the Brandywine Creek in Birmingham. The victim had been reported missing at around 13:00 this afternoon; it was initially reported that a second person was rescued from the creek after the kayaking accident near the Brandywine Picnic Park off of Route 52. Later reports now indicate that both victims did not survive - one is confirmed dead, the other is missing and presumed dead.

The names of the victims have not been released pending the appropriate notifications. More details should become available as the night progresses.

WATER RESCUE IN BIRMINGHAM

At least one person is reported missing with a second person rescued after a boating accident in the Brandywine Creek.

At around 14:10, WCFD and Birmingham Police, among other agencies, were dispatched to the Brandywine Picnic Park off of Route 52 near the East Bradford/Birmingham border for a report of a water rescue. Two victims had reportedly fallen out of a boat near the picnic park and into the Brandywine Creek. At least one of the victims was rescued out of the river; the second victim had not been located after nearly an hour of searching. At that point, according to preliminary information, the assignment progressed from a water rescue into a water recovery.

There is no further information regarding either of the two victims. More information should become available if and when it becomes available.