LC's Aw Hell File

[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.