LC's Aw Hell File

[Lady Cop]

This won't end well

i couldn't sleep. thought i'd wake up to hear he's dead.

better news:

he surrendered.

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. -

Update: An armed standoff in Bucks County involving a New Jersey police officer is over after nearly 10 hours.

Our 69 News crew at the scene says the standoff between Clifton Township officer Richard Klementovich and police ended without incident a few minutes before midnight on Sunday.

in custody

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Wow, cool

[Lady Cop]

Phillyburbs.com.

June 18

A New Jersey police officer who fired at police and barricaded himself inside the Doylestown Township home he formerly shared with his ex-wife and children on Father's Day blamed his job and steroids for his problems.

“I get angry,” Richard Klementovich e-mailed his ex-wife. “Angry at this job and law enforcement. And it's them who I will take out my anger on.”

Klementovich kept police at bay for 10 hours from inside the former family home at 25 Bittersweet Drive, firing numerous shots at police from alternating windows, destroying two police vehicles and damaging an armored car.

“They will do the job I couldn't and take my life,” his email goes on, according to court records. “I hope whomever comes to our house is ready to die tomorrow because I will be Jill.”

Police said Klementovich was referring to his ex-wife, Jill Major.

A coworker at the Clifton police department where Klementovich spent the last 14 years said the 42-year-old and his wife went through a bitter divorce last year. The couple purchased their home in Doylestown Lea at the corner of Bittersweet and Windsor Way in 2006, however, court records indicate the property was transferred into her name only in December.

Police said Klementovich contacted his wife earlier on Father's Day to arrange to meet her and their two elementary-age children for a meal in an unnamed restaurant. However, instead of going to the restaurant, Klementovich went to the house on Bittersweet Drive, police said.

He barricaded an interior staircase and at 1:44 p.m. called 911 to report a civil dispute at the home, according to court records.

When a Doylestown Township officer arrived at the home he spotted a manilla envelope in the driveway with a note attached, police said. The note explained he had scoped rifles, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, that he was a cop and he “was ready to die.”

Moments later, about 1:58 p.m., the officer heard numerous gunshots. Two borough police officers soon arrived and faced a hail of bullets. One bullet caused shrapnel to wound Doylestown Cpl. William Doucette's face. Doucette was later treated at Doylestown Hospital for minor injuries and released.

Soon SWAT units from across the county were called in and the standoff began. Police escorted numerous residents from their homes and closed the neighborhood to incoming traffic.

A reverse 911 call system advised residents to lock their doors, close their drapes and shelter in their basement.

Negotiators from the Central Bucks Special Response Team were able to make sporadic communication with Klementovich throughout the day. Doylestown Township acting police Chief Dean Logan said Clifton police joined the negotiations Sunday afternoon.

More gunshots were exchanged with police about 4 p.m.

Then Klementovich's parents shared a text message from their son with police which they received at 4:35 p.m., according to court records.

“Tell the police I have a surprise for them, this is the way I want to die.”

About 5 p.m. a third and final round of gunfire was exchanged with police. Then sporadic negotiations continued, police said.

In the email to his ex-wife, Klementovich apologized to her for “personal shortcomings,” according to court records. He said he was on steroids and mentioned dying several times.

But in the end, Klementovich surrendered to the very men he was allegedly trying to kill and hoping would kill him.

At 11:45 p.m., after 10 hours, he climbed out a second floor window onto the roof wearing a bulletproof vest and gas mask, jumped down to the lawn and was arrested. He said nothing as he was escorted into the Doylestown Township police headquarters in the township municipal building.

He was arraigned before District Judge Robert Gaffney on 13 counts of attempted murder and related offenses early Monday morning. Gaffney ordered Klementovich to undergo a mental health evaluation and set bail at 10 percent of $1 million.

[Duchess]

I feel sorry for the damnedest people.

[Jimbone]

Boy, that could have gone a whole lot worse. Maybe some humanity remained in him when he snapped...

Two other points... nice head and face tattoos on the perp, and an ironic name for the street this all went down on.

[Lady Cop]

I feel sorry for the damnedest people.

i felt sorry too. a lot of cops, after years of seeing what they (we) see, do "snap". suicides, divorces, alcoholism, none of those things uncommon sadly. the job takes a toll on one's humanity, as Jimbone mentioned.
you can't spend years on that job and not be affected in your very soul.
i'm glad he didn't kill a brother cop. and now he'll probably be in prison a long time. he'll be a suicide risk.

[Jimbone]

You know LC, what has always amazed me is the recognition that public service jobs like police, fire, and ems are extremely stressful and potentially damaging to a persons mentality. People who do the jobs know that is a risk, but are the most difficult to convince that the readily available resources to manage that risk should be utilized.

Critical incident counseling in particular was developed by fellow first responders, so it's not like they are outside shrinks trying to understand something they have no clue about. Beyond that, standard occupational counseling has also come a long way, with programs developed by those in law enforcement and emergency services specifically. But convincing the invincible that they should talk to someone every once in awhile isn't so easy.

Thank God this guy didn't kill his wife and kids first, or any other LEO's.

[Lady Cop]

this cracked me up. just another day at work.

[Maggot]

Some people just need to continue on down the road...........look the other way.

[RJs-Ex]

Is that cop standing by the car snickering?
Hahahaaa - I hope so!

[Lady Cop]

Is that cop standing by the car snickering?
Hahahaaa - I hope so!

he looks to me like he's thinking OH SHIT WHY ME??

he's going to have to transport her to jail, hospital or looney bin.

[Lady Cop]

poor judge!

orlando sentinel

Looks like Broward County Judge John "Jay" Hurley may want to keep a bottle of antibacterial soap at his bench when he presides over first appearance court.

When a Lauderdale Lakes man in bond court Tuesday morning said he missed a hearing because he was sick, the judge asked for medical documentation and was handed a pharmacy bag.

"OK, hold on a second, you got prescribed condoms?" Hurley said. "I wouldn't say that's being sick. We are not going to use that for an excuse, let's go to plan B."

But a second look into the bag yielded proof enough that the man was sick.

"This is what we call too much information," Hurley said. "Good Lord," he said while looking at the prescription bottles.

"Well there's no doubt he received medical treatment on that day," said Hurley, who ultimately decided to refer the case to Circuit Judge Sandra Perlman.

"There's a lot of things that need to be figured out and I don't want to be the person who figures it out," he said while reading the label of a prescription bottle.

Hurley excused himself to wash his hands.

"It was a bag full of venereal diseases," Hurley said once he returned.

[Lady Cop]

England, Cornwall





Police officers look on in despair as their van is trapped in a narrow lane.
The landlord of The Fisherman's Arms, where the van got stuck, said it was common for vehicles to get wedged there.