Cecil police officers accused of falsifying records for DUI arrest

Two police officers from Washington County have been charged with tampering with evidence, altering police reports and other violations in connection with a 2018 DUI traffic stop.

The state Attorney General’s office said Cecil Township Officer Shawn McNaughton and Sgt. John Holt included false information in police reports in order to avoid charging a drunk driver.

The driver is not identified in a grand jury indictment but is referred to as John Doe. A note in the indictment says the statue of limitations is expired on any charges related to the initial traffic stop.

The grand jury report states that the driver’s wife called 911 on Sept. 9, 2018, to report the he’d left a social event after consuming alcohol. Just after 4 a.m., McNaughton pulled the driver over for driving without using headlights.

According to the grand jury report, at multiple points during the traffic stop, the driver asked police to contact a Cecil Township official, who also was not identified in court records.

McNaughton and Holt administered standard sobriety field tests and eventually took the driver to the police department for a chemical breath test at 4:51 a.m. It registered 0.151 blood-alcohol content, nearly twice the legal limit.

Following the breath test, the driver again asked McNaughton to contact a “senior township official,” according to the grand jury report. Telephone records show a four-minute call made just after 5 a.m. to the official from the driver’s phone.

Township supervisors said the official in question is Cecil Police Chief Shawn Bukovinsky, who they said has been cleared by the attorney general’s office of any wrongdoing.

During questioning by a special agent from the attorney general’s office, McNaughton said the official requested details of the incident, and advised McNaughton that the decision to charge the driver was “left to McNaughton’s discretion,” according to court records.

McNaughton said at no point did Bukovinsky direct him not to charge the driver, who ultimately had his vehicle towed from the site of the traffic stop. He was driven home by Holt.

The grand jury identified several inconsistencies in McNaughton’s report as well as the log and edits made to the report’s computer file:

• At 4:38 a.m., the report was created with the call type listed as “Traffic Complaint (DUI Arrest).”

• At 4:40 a.m., McNaughton added the driver’s name to the report.

• At 5:10 a.m., less than five minutes after the phone call with Bukovinsky, McNaughton entered that the incident had been officially cleared at 5:15 a.m., and added the details of the vehicle to the report. He also changed the call type from “DUI Arrest” to “Warning.”

• McNaughton wrote in the report that the drivers’s breath test results were within the legal limit, and that McNaughton suggested the driver have his vehicle towed and accept a ride home from Holt.

• At 5:48 a.m., McNaughton changed the call’s cleared time from 5:15 a.m. to 4:25 a.m., directly contradicting the information logged during the driver’s chemical breath test. Later that morning, Holt approved the report.

McNaughton and Holt are both charged with obstructing the administration of law, unsworn falsification to authorities, tampering with evidence, tampering with public records and conspiracy. They have been placed on administrative leave, township officials said.

Attorneys for both men could not be reached for comment.

“We appreciate the dedication our police officers demonstrate daily. We are also committed to transparency and accountability,” Cecil’s Board of Supervisors said in a statement released to media. “No elected officials in Cecil Township were implicated or referenced in the criminal complaint … Out of respect for the ongoing external investigation and the outside authorities in charge of it, we can’t provide any additional details at this time.”

A July 3 preliminary hearing is scheduled in Judge Louis McQuillan’s Canonsburg court.