Aliquippa police chief placed on paid leave

An accusation is being investigated, city says

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Aliquippa police chief has been taken off the job indefinitely as city officials investigate an accusation that has not been publicly disclosed.

Aliquippa council’s 5-0 vote to place Chief Donald A. Couch Jr. on paid administrative leave came in the middle of a meeting Wednesday.

The chief was sitting in council chambers as usual when the matter was raised in the form of a motion. “I think it came as a surprise to him,” city solicitor Myron Sainovich said Thursday.

The decision to put the chief on leave comes amid an ongoing investigation of the slaying May 13 of a 33-year-old teacher, Rachael DelTondo. Mr. Sainovich said the chief’s leave has nothing to do with that investigation.

“The rumor mill is reporting there is some link between the murder investigation and this suspension, but I can say that they are not related,” Mr. Sainovich said. “The DelTondo murder case is an entirely separate issue.”

He wasn’t as sure about an ongoing grand jury investigation of possible corruption in Aliquippa.

“I don’t believe it has anything to do with that. I want to say that there is no connection to the [grand jury investigation] but I can’t be 100 percent certain there’s absolutely no overlap,” the solicitor said.

Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier said recently that the Pennsylvania State Police served a search warrant in March on the Aliquippa municipal building “and left with financial records from the city.”

“The allegation in the warrant was regarding a possible theft,” Mr. Sainovich said. “They were looking at police, fire, pension, salaries. We’re not sure who the target is because part of the search warrant — about six or seven pages of it — was sealed.”

The chief’s paid administrative leave began immediately after council’s vote Wednesday. Councilman Matthew Mottes made the motion, which was seconded by Arthur Piroli Jr. Mayor Dwan Walker voted in favor as did his brother, Councilman Don Walker, and Councilwoman Vickie Fratangeli.

Mr. Mottes on Thursday declined to say why he made the motion and said the matter had not been discussed in closed-door executive session before the public meeting.

He said he would not answer questions about why he made the