Featured Post

PINNED POST. CLICK HERE: Keeping these 3 videos of officer-involved domestic violence fatalities on top. Blog best navigated from computer.

Officer-Involved Domestic Fatalities - 1 Officer-Involved Domestic Fatalities - 2 [WA] Tragedy Will Occur If They Don't Have ...

Custom Search

Friday, January 9, 2009

[PA] OH PEOPLE OF BETHLEHEM (Pennsylvania)

"A Bethlehem police officer charged with stalking and harassing his wife appears to be off the hook. A judge dismissed the most serious charges against Charles Weigold..."

Oh people of Bethlehem, you are letting this happen. You are lethally passive and apathetic, watching, waiting, accepting these events quietly.

Previous posts:
Bethlehem police officer guilty of harassment
Charles Weigold had dispute with his wife; he's still on administrative duty.

Allentown Morning Call, PA
January 9, 2009
A Bethlehem police officer who pleaded guilty Wednesday to harassment charges in a dispute with his wife remains on administrative duty... Charles Weigold, 49, of Lehigh Township, will pay a $1,000 fine and court costs, said Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner. While Weigold's guilty plea ends the criminal case against him, Weigold will remain on administrative duty until police complete an internal investigation... [Full article here]

Bethlehem cop pleads guilty to harassing wife, will pay fine
The Express-Times
Thursday, January 08, 2009
EASTON | A Bethlehem police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he violated a court order not to contact his wife after she filed a protection from abuse order against him, records say. Charles Weigold, of Lehigh Township, tried to contact his wife through his children, records say. Weigold was originally charged with stalking, making terroristic threats and harassment. Those charges were withdrawn Wednesday by Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner and a single charge of harassment was filed. Taschner said the withdrawn case hinged on the testimony of Donna Weigold, who recanted her statement...Weigold is still currently employed by the Bethlehem Police Department... [Full article here]

Most Serious Charges Dropped Against Bethlehem Cop
WFMZ
01-07-2009 05:40 PM ET
A Bethlehem police officer charged with stalking and harassing his wife appears to be off the hook. A judge dismissed the most serious charges against Charles Weigold. Instead, Weigold will pay a fine of more than $1,100 for misdemeanor charges... [Full article here]

OLDER:
Bethlehem police officer facing divorce after threatening wife

by Colin McEvoy
Friday August 01, 2008, 6:18 PM
Almost two weeks after threatening his wife with a "bloodbath" during an argument, Bethlehem police officer Charles Weigold is facing a divorce. Donna Weigold filed divorce papers this week against her husband, who told her last month she would "look better with a bullet between (her) eyes"... [Full article here]

officer-involved domestic violence recant

2 comments:

  1. BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER CHARGED WITH STALKING
    ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL
    BY JOE MCDONALD AND PAMELA LEHMAN | OF THE MORNING CALL
    JULY 24, 2008

    A BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER, AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM AN AREA HOSPITAL, WAS ARRESTED WEDNESDAY ON CHARGES STEMMING FROM A CONFLICT EARLIER IN THE WEEK WITH WIFE.

    CHARLES W. WEIGOLD JR., 49, OF DANIELSVILLE, IS CHARGED WITH STALKING, HARASSMENT AND TERRORISTIC THREATS AND IS FREE AFTER POSTING $10,000 BAIL SET BY DISTRICT JUDGE MICHAEL J. KOURY JR. OF WILSON.

    WEIGOLD'S STATUS WITH THE BETHLEHEM POLICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT BE VERIFIED WEDNESDAY.

    AT HIS ARRAIGNMENT WEDNESDAY, WEIGOLD TOLD KOURY HIS POSITION WITH THE DEPARTMENT WHERE HE HAS WORKED FOR SIX YEARS WAS "QUESTIONABLE." WEIGOLD ALSO SAID HE HAD VOLUNTARILY COMMITTED HIMSELF THE PREVIOUS NIGHT TO LEHIGH VALLEY HOSPITAL-MUHLENBERG.

    ON TUESDAY IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT, WEIGOLD AND HIS WIFE, DONNA, 47, WHO LISTS HER ADDRESS AS "CONFIDENTIAL" IN COURT RECORDS, GOT TEMPORARY PROTECTION-FROM-ABUSE ORDERS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.

    SHE SAYS MONDAY HER HUSBAND JAMMED A CLIP INTO HIS HANDGUN AND TOLD HER A "BLOOD BATH" WAS IMMINENT; HE SAYS SHE SPRAYED HIM IN THE FACE WITH BLEACH DURING ANOTHER ARGUMENT.

    SHE ALSO FILED A COURT PETITION TUESDAY, CLAIMING HER HUSBAND CALLED HER SON NUMEROUS TIMES IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET HER TO DROP THE PROTECTION ORDER. THAT LED TO HIS ARREST WEDNESDAY ON THE HARASSMENT CHARGES.

    AT THE ARRAIGNMENT, WEIGOLD USED $10,000 IN CASH THAT HE WITHDREW FROM AN ACCOUNT IN HIS AND HIS WIFE'S NAMES, WHICH SPARKED A HEATED EXCHANGE BETWEEN ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACQUELINE TASCHNER AND DEFENSE ATTORNEY BOHDAN ZELECHIWSKY OF BETHLEHEM WHILE KOURY WAS OUT OF THE COURTROOM.

    TASCHNER SAID WEIGOLD WITHDREW THE CASH MONDAY AND ARGUED IT WAS PART OF A PATTERN OF "HARASSMENT" AGAINST HIS WIFE. KOURY DISAGREED AND PERMITTED WEIGOLD TO USE IT TO STAY OUT OF PRISON. KOURY ALSO ORDERED WEIGOLD NOT TO HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH HIS WIFE AND REQUIRED HIM TO WEAR AN ELECTRONIC GPS MONITOR.

    BEFORE THE ARRAIGNMENT BEGAN, WEIGOLD CHATTED WITH A COUNTY DETECTIVE ABOUT THE SEPT. 11 TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND SHOWED REPORTERS A LARGE TATTOO OF THE TWIN TOWERS ON HIS LEG.

    WEIGOLD TOLD KOURY HE HAD BEEN A SERGEANT IN THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, WHERE HE SERVED 20 YEARS.

    ZELECHIWSKY SAID WEIGOLD NEVER HAD ANY TROUBLE WITH THE LAW BEFORE AND HAD NOW FOUND HIMSELF IN AN "UNFORTUNATE SITUATION" THAT WAS "TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER."

    TASCHNER SAID EVENTS IN THE WEIGOLD HOUSEHOLD HAVE BEEN ESCALATING AND REPEATEDLY DESCRIBED WEIGOLD AS A MANIPULATIVE PERSON WHO "THINKS HE IS SMARTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE."

    HTTP://WWW.MCALL.COM/NEWS/LOCAL/ALL-B4_4WEIGOLD.6516286JUL24,0,2320.STORY



    BETHLEHEM OFFICER'S ARREST SOUGHT
    HE ALLEGEDLY BROKE PROTECTION ORDER FILED BY WIFE.
    THE MORNING CALL
    BY TYRA BRADEN
    JULY 23, 2008

    THE WIFE OF BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER CHARLES W. WEIGOLD JR. SAYS HE JAMMED A CLIP IN HIS HANDGUN AND TOLD HER A "BLOOD BATH" WAS IMMINENT.

    WEIGOLD SAYS HIS WIFE, DONNA, SPRAYED HIM IN THE FACE WITH BLEACH DURING ANOTHER ARGUMENT.

    THE COUPLE ENDED UP IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT ON TUESDAY, WHERE EACH GOT A TEMPORARY PROTECTION-FROM-ABUSE ORDER AGAINST THE OTHER. THE ORDERS COME ON THE HEELS OF AN EARLIER ORDER THAT DONNA WEIGOLD WAS GRANTED AGAINST HER HUSBAND ON MAY 13. SHE ASKED THAT THE ORDER BE DISMISSED ON MAY 15.

    HOURS AFTER THE ORDERS WERE ISSUED ON TUESDAY, DONNA WEIGOLD FILED AN INDIRECT CRIMINAL CONTEMPT PETITION, CLAIMING THAT BEGINNING AT 9 A.M. TUESDAY, CHARLES WEIGOLD CALLED HER SON 23 TIMES, TRYING TO GET HER TO DROP THE PFA. "HE CALLED MY SON AND TOLD HIM THAT IF I DON'T CALL HIM AND DROP THE PFA, HE'S GOING TO KILL HIMSELF," SHE SAID IN THE PETITION.

    THE CONTEMPT PETITION ASKS THAT AN ARREST WARRANT BE ISSUED AGAINST CHARLES WEIGOLD, WHO REMAINED ON ACTIVE DUTY AS OF TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

    LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON, COUNTY DETECTIVE FRANK JORDAN GOT AN ARREST WARRANT FOR WEIGOLD FROM DISTRICT JUDGE MICHAEL J. KOURY JR. OF WILSON, CHARGING HIM WITH HARASSMENT, TERRORISTIC THREATS AND STALKING RELATED TO THE INCIDENTS WITH HIS WIFE.

    HEARINGS TO DETERMINE IF THE LATEST ROUND OF ORDERS WILL BE EXTENDED ARE SET FOR AUG. 4.

    IN THE MEANTIME, THE TWO ARE UNDER COURT ORDER NOT TO ABUSE, THREATEN, HARASS OR STALK EACH OTHER. DONNA WEIGOLD, 47, LISTS HER ADDRESS AS "CONFIDENTIAL" IN COURT RECORDS. HER HUSBAND, 49, IN COURT RECORDS NOTES HE LIVES IN DANIELSVILLE, WHERE THE ALLEGED ABUSES OCCURRED.

    DONNA WEIGOLD IN HER WRITTEN VERSION OF EVENTS SAID HER HUSBAND "GOT MAD" ON SATURDAY BECAUSE HE DIDN'T LIKE THE PAJAMAS SHE WAS WEARING. SHE GAVE THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT.

    HE YELLED AND SWORE AND "TOLD ME I NEEDED TO LEARN TO LISTEN TO HIM AND OBEY HIM." MATTERS ESCALATED, SHE SAID, AND HER HUSBAND SAID "THAT IT'S TIME FOR SPRING CLEANING AGAIN" AND THAT SHE WAS A "SLOB" WHO DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DO THINGS CORRECTLY.

    SHE SAID SHE WAS HOLDING A BOTTLE OF BLEACH AND SQUIRTED IT INTO THE AIR.

    DONNA WEIGOLD SAID HER HUSBAND SAID HE WOULD KILL HER. THE COUPLE'S 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER CALLED LEHIGH TOWNSHIP POLICE. "HE THEN TOLD ME TO TELL THE POLICE IT WAS JUST A VERBAL ARGUMENT."

    DONNA WEIGOLD SAID SHE TOOK HER CHILDREN TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY, AND HER HUSBAND SHOWED UP. TOLD BY SOMEONE AT THE PARTY THAT HE WAS NOT WELCOME THERE, HE LEFT BUT CALLED HIS WIFE AND "TOLD ME I BEST GET Â? HOME AND CLEAN THE REFRIGERATOR." SHE CALLED POLICE FOR AN ESCORT TO THE HOUSE SO SHE COULD GET SOME OF HER BELONGINGS.

    "HE FLIPPED OUT WHEN HE SAW THE POLICE AND SAID THAT I DIDN'T LEARN AND THAT I NEVER DO ANYTHING RIGHT. I TOLD HIM THAT HE ALWAYS THREATENS ME."

    ON MONDAY MORNING, DONNA WEIGOLD SAID, HER HUSBAND KISSED HER AND ASKED IF THAT WAS BETTER THAN FIGHTING. "I SAID YES, BUT I WANT TO BE MY OWN PERSON. WHEN HE GOT READY FOR WORK, HE TOOK HIS GUN, HELD IT UPRIGHT AND PUT THE CLIP IN IT RIGHT NEXT TO THE BED. HE SAID THAT WHEN HE SEES ME AND GETS FACE TO FACE WITH ME, THERE'S GOING TO BE A BLOOD BATH."

    DONNA WEIGOLD SAID THAT SOMETIME EARLIER -- SHE DID NOT PROVIDE A DATE -- HER HUSBAND HAD SAID, "I WOULD LOOK BETTER WITH A BULLET BETWEEN MY EYES."

    CHARLES WEIGOLD'S RECOLLECTION OF WHAT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT. IN HIS WRITTEN ACCOUNT, HE SAYS THAT WHILE HE AND HIS WIFE WERE ARGUING, SHE "INTENTIONALLY SPRAYED ME IN THE FACE WITH" BLEACH. ABOUT THREE MINUTES LATER, HE SAID, HIS WIFE SPRAYED HIM WITH ANOTHER CLEANING SOLUTION. HE SAID THE COUPLE'S DAUGHTER SUMMONED POLICE, AND WHEN THEY ARRIVED, "I TOLD THEM I WANTED AN AMBULANCE TO COME TO HAVE MY EYES WASHED OUT."

    AN AMBULANCE SQUAD SHOWED UP, HE SAID. WEIGOLD SAID HE TOLD POLICE HE WANTED TO HAVE HIS WIFE ARRESTED. POLICE TOLD HIM THEY HAD SPOKEN WITH A MEMBER OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S STAFF AND WERE TOLD THAT DONNA WEIGOLD WOULD NOT BE CHARGED.

    WEIGOLD IN COURT RECORDS ALSO SAID THAT ON MAY 11, HIS 19-YEAR-OLD SON "JUMPED ON TOP OF ME FOR NO REASON AT ALL. EVENTUALLY, HE GOT OFF OF ME AND I GOT UP AND MY WIFE THEN PUNCHED ME IN THE STOMACH. I DID NOT CALL POLICE ON THIS INCIDENT."

    IN THE PROTECTION ORDER DONNA WEIGOLD HAD OBTAINED EARLIER, SHE SAID HER HUSBAND ON MAY 12 WAS CALLING HER NAMES AND YELLING THAT HE WANTED THE HOUSE TO BE CLEANED SO HE COULD SELL IT. SHE SAID SHE CALLED ONE OF HIS CO-WORKER FRIENDS, WHOSE NAME SHE DID SUPPLY. BOTH WENT TO WORK THAT DAY, BUT THAT EVENING, SHE SAID, HE BEGAN SWEARING AND SCREAMING, SO SHE CALLED TOWNSHIP POLICE. SHE SAID CHARLES WEIGOLD GOT INTO HIS CAR, WHICH WAS BLOCKED BY POLICE CRUISERS, AND LEFT BY DRIVING ACROSS THE LAWN.

    MORNING CALL REPORTER JOE MCDONALD CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.

    HTTP://WWW.MCALL.COM/NEWS/LOCAL/ALL-B6_3PFA.6515002JUL23,0,4820787.STORY

    ReplyDelete
  2. BETHLEHEM COP ACCUSED OF MAKING THREATS TO BE EVALUATED
    LEHIGHVALLEYLIVE.COM
    BY COLIN MCEVOY
    WEDNESDAY AUGUST 06, 2008, 11:44 AM

    A NORTHAMPTON COUNTY JUDGE ORDERED A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION TODAY FOR A BETHLEHEM POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF THREATENING HIS WIFE WITH A "BLOODBATH."

    CHARLES WEIGOLD, 49, REQUESTED LENIENCY IN HIS BAIL CONDITIONS, BUT SENIOR JUDGE LAWRENCE BRENNER SAID HE WOULD ONLY CONSIDER THEM AFTER WEIGOLD SUBMITTED TO AN EVALUATION BY THE COURT PSYCHOLOGIST.

    WEIGOLD JOINED THE BETHLEHEM POLICE DEPARTMENT IN JUNE 2002 AFTER WORKING FOR THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR 20 YEARS. BETHLEHEM HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR JEAN ZWEIFEL SAID WEIGOLD IS ON PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.

    WEIGOLD'S ATTORNEY, BOHDAN ZELECHIWSKY, SAID GPS MONITORING REQUIREMENTS AND A STIPULATION THAT WEIGOLD NOT SPEAK TO HIS THREE CHILDREN WERE EXCESSIVE AND UNFAIR.

    "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN A MISDEMEANOR CASE WHERE THERE'S GPS MONITORING WHEN THERE ARE NO ALLEGATIONS OF PHYSICAL ABUSE," HE SAID.

    WEIGOLD WAS CHARGED WITH HARASSMENT, STALKING AND MAKING TERRORISTIC THREATS, AFTER AN ARGUMENT IN WHICH HE ALLEGEDLY SHE HIS WIFE WOULD "LOOK BETTER WITH A BULLET BETWEEN (HER) EYES."

    ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY JACQUELINE TASCHNER SAID THE BAIL CONDITIONS WERE NECESSARY BECAUSE WEIGOLD TRIED TO MANIPULATE HIS CHILDREN TO GET HIS WIFE TO TALK TO THEM.

    DONNA WEIGOLD SAID HER FAMILY, PARTICULARLY THEIR 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, FELT SAFER KNOWING THE GPS MONITORING WAS IN PLACE.

    "MY DAUGHTER ASKED, 'MOMMY, DOES DADDY HAVE THAT DEVICE?' BECAUSE SHE CAN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT," DONNA SAID, WHILE CHARLES SILENTLY SHOOK HIS HEAD.

    "SHE CRIES AT NIGHT," SHE SAID. "SHE TOLD ME IN HER HEART, SHE MISSES HER FATHER, BUT SHE KNOWS THIS WAY, WE'RE ALL SAFER."

    BRENNER SAID WEIGOLD'S 21-YEAR-OLD SON, ALSO NAMED CHARLES, WOULD BE ALLOWED CONTACT WITH HIS FATHER IF HE WANTED IT. HIS 19-YEAR-OLD SON, JASON, APPEARED IN COURT AND SAID HE DID NOT WANT CONTACT WITH HIS FATHER.

    HTTP://WWW.LEHIGHVALLEYLIVE.COM/BETHLEHEM/INDEX.SSF/2008/08/BETHLEHEM_COP_ACCUSED_OF_MAKIN.HTML

    ReplyDelete

Please post updates or email them to behindthebluewall@gmail.com. No cop-hating or victim-hating comments allowed. Word verification had to be added due to spam attacks on this blog.