Delta Foundation ends probe of former president, cancels Pittsburgh Pride over coronavirus

The Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh completed an internal review of its former President Gary Van Horn, who has been charged with numerous counts of forgery and accused of impersonating a first responder.

The LGBTQ advocacy group turned over its findings to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office.

Delta Foundation spokeswoman Christine Bryan said the organization will not discuss the findings of the investigation.

The foundation hired law firm Leech Tishman to complete an independent review of Van Horn’s tenure after his arrest.

Van Horn was charged after two incidents involving his SUV.

On April 6, a Pittsburgh police officer noticed him directing traffic at the scene of a fire near his home. Van Horn’s white Ford SUV was equipped with emergency lights and a siren, but lacked an emergency vehicle license plate, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police.

On Sept. 27, a pedestrian reported nearly being struck Downtown by the same SUV. Surveillance showed the SUV driving with its emergency lights activated, according to the complaint

Van Horn told police he was authorized to direct traffic and have emergency lighting on his vehicle, providing several documents to back up his claim, the complaint said. Investigators said the documents contained forged signatures of Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen.

Mullen told investigators he never authorized Van Horn to use emergency lights or seek emergency license plates nor did he sign the documents, according to the complaint.

Van Horn was a member of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office’s Uniformed Reserve Division, according to his lawyer, Phillip DiLucente.

Van Horn’s trial is pending. He and DiLucente have denied wrongdoing, saying Van Horn did not forge the documents.

He resigned as president of the Delta Foundation in January.

The organization recently held an election and named Marty Healey as the new president.

The Delta Foundation also called off its premier event, Pittsburgh Pride 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pride was originally scheduled for last month. It was postponed in the spring, and now will not be held this year.

Healey said the organization views the move as a hiatus rather than a cancellation. “As Pride is something that lives with our hearts 365 days a year, we are choosing to announce the hiatus of the in-person event, as nothing can cancel the Pride and spirit that the LGBTQ equality movement embodies,” he said in a statement.

Bryan said the foundation will use the months ahead to form a new Pride committee, which will bring a new focus on diversity to future events.

“This is a time to reexamine pride,” she said. “The world is changing.”

She cited the coronavirus pandemic and the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement as world-changing events that will likely affect how Pride is held next year.

“We want to make sure we have all those different voices at the table in 2021,” she said.