MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- A police officer from Schuylkill County finds himself on the other side of the law. Authorities accuse the cop of not reporting a crash he was involved in.
Officials say police officer Joseph Hahn has been on the job for less than a year. The probe involves a crash involving Hahn's personal car earlier this week near Jim Thorpe.
According to Mahoning Township police, Joseph Hahn was cited for several items, including not reporting the crash to police, careless driving, having an open container of alcohol in the car, and driving too fast.
Police say Hahn lost control on Route 209 and crashed his car into a stone wall. He was able to drive the vehicle about a mile. When police spotted the car, Hahn was nowhere to be found. He showed up at a police station about five hours later.
We went to Hahn's home, no one answered the door.
Hahn works part time for departments in Foster Township, Shenandoah, and Frackville.
Dan Chester is a neighbor of Hahn's and said he's surprised about the allegations.
"He should be penalized like anyone else you know? He shouldn't be able to get away with it just because he's a police officer. He should be penalized like everybody else. He should be fined or whatever has to be done."
If convicted, Joseph Hahn could be fined up to $300.
Tiffany Koncsler lives in Shenandoah.
"That`s not right. He should be treated as everyone else should be. Because he's an officer, he is supposed to be better than everybody," Koncsler said.
Frackville Sergent Marvin Livengood is Hahn's boss when Hahn worked in the borough. He said he's surprised about the crash allegations.
"He always came in on time. He`s a very good employee."
Most of the police departments Hahn works for say they've temporarily taken him off the schedule until the legal process plays out.