Leetsdale Council Suspends Police Officer

Leetsdale Council members voted 5-0 Thursday night to suspend longtime borough police Officer Wayne Drish without pay due to felony criminal charges filed against him last month in Beaver County.

In April, was charged with hindering prosecution of another person and other charges related to a drunk-driving incident last summer. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June.

Thursday night's vote upholds a suspension ordered earlier by Mayor Peter Poninsky. Councilman Tom Brown and Council President Roger Nanni were absent.

Also Thursday, Councilman Michael Bajsec reported that borough representatives have met with Crown Communications Inc., a Canonsburg-based communications tower construction and engineering company, to discuss the possibility of erecting a cell tower in the municipality’s industrial complex. 

Bajsec stressed that the conversations were preliminary, saying the borough was investigating the matter. 

If constructed, the tower would encompass a 50-foot-square area and could potentially generate as much as $60,000 in revenue for the borough within the project’s first five years.