PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Sources say federal officials are investigating Ridley Township authorities amid allegations laid out in a federal lawsuit that a top police official tampered with drug investigations and asked officers to lie to prosecutors.
In the lawsuit, two Ridley Township officers, Sean Brydges and Gerard Scanlan, say police Capt. Scott Willoughby skimmed money seized from drug busts, replaced it with cash from newer drug busts, and tried to get the pair to lie to county prosecutors about evidence and investigations.
Brydges and Scanlan, who were both recently suspended from the Anti-Crime Unit, say they repeatedly told Commissioner Bob Willert and Township Manager Edward Pasani about the wrongdoing, who then told them the information would remain confidential. Instead, they say Willoughby found out and retaliated by “reducing and denying” work hours and overtime, and bad-mouthing them to others in the department and in the community.
The two officers also allege Willoughby tipped off a local bar before a raid by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
They claim emotional distress, conspiracy, defamation and invasion of privacy, though the lawsuit doesn’t specify what they seek in damages.
Willoughby, Willert and Pasani have not been charged with a crime.
The township manager issued the following statement:
“The Township of Ridley is in the process of reviewing the allegations of the Complaint and our attorneys will respond. However, the township can assure our residents with certainty that the reassignment of these and other officers was part of a restructuring of the police department both for the safety of our residents and to control the police budget. Department overtime over the last five years has increased more than 200%, with an increase of more than 30% in just the last year. These officers previously handled cases both within and outside Ridley Township. The Commissioners decided that it would be best for the safety of our residents, and the township’s budget, to utilize all of our officers in Ridley Township. Neither of these officers was demoted, nor was their pay reduced."