Sources: Police captain fired from borough force
SHENANDOAH – New details are emerging regarding the borough employee fired at Monday night’s council meeting.
Multiple sources confirmed to the Sentinel that Captain Cody Applegate was the employee fired.
Borough officials also confirmed that the use of two different employee numbers between this month’s meeting was in error, that the employee is one-and-the-same.
Council voted 6-0 to terminate Employee 0135 at Monday’s meeting — Katie Catizone was absent — while they voted 5-1 to demote Employee 0153 at last month’s meeting from the rank of Captain to Patrolman. Mike “Zeckie” Uholik abstained and Michael Whitecavage dissented.
That disciplinary action was rescinded unanimously at a special meeting days later.
Borough officials have been mum on details regarding the actions. Solicitor Shane Hobbs said after Monday’s meeting that there is no criminal investigation into the matter.
While the department of the employee subject to Monday’s vote was not announced, Council President Joe Boris told Mayor Andrew Szczyglak of the vote as the mayor returned from a phone call “because you are in charge of the police force.”
Multiple sources close to the situation confirmed Applegate was subject to the votes.
At the September meeting, Mayor Andrew Szczyglak asked council if the demotion would allow the employee subject to last month’s vote, identified as a police captain, to return to work. Captain Travis Bowman, the department’s only other captain, was present at the meeting in uniform.
Captain is the second highest rank in the Shenandoah Borough Police Department and Applegate was elevated to the position in November of last year, when a second captain position was created to serve as dayside supervisor.
Borough officials would only confirm that the employee subject to the votes taken both last month and this month were the same.
The firing leaves the force with four full-time officers and four part-time officers.
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