Regarding the recent viral Facebook post, I would like to set the record straight since it contains false information that is detrimental and inflammatory. This post is slanderous towards our department and our officer, when in fact after reviewing the body camera footage it is found to be grossly false.

On July 23, 2022, at 3:26 P.M. the East Pennsboro Township Police were called to the 7/11 (Summerdale Plaza) for an unattended child with counterfeit bills. An 11-year-old boy entered the store, got a slushie, walked up to the clerk and pulled out a stack of fake $20.00 bills. He looked at the bills, set them on the counter and then decided against using them. He told the clerk he didn’t have money to pay for the slushie. The clerk collected the stack of bills. Concerned for the unattended boy’s safety, the clerk asked for a phone number to call his mom which he did not know. The clerk allowed the boy behind the register to sit on a chair (drinking the slushie he was unable to pay for) while they waited for the police. One of our tenured East Pennsboro Township Police Officers arrived at the business to handle the call as dispatched. The clerk handed over the fake bills to the officer. (The bills in question are for sale on Amazon. They look like real money, but state on the front, “For Motion Picture Copy Money” as they are movie prop money). The Officer called the child’s mom to come to the business to pick up the boy. The Officer went outside with the boy and waited under the awning for his mother to arrive. With the excessive heat, the officer offered for the boy to sit in the air-conditioned police car and offered to buy the boy a drink, both things that the boy refused. When the child’s mom arrived, the Officer handed the fake bills to her and was going to send him on his way. The mom handed the fake money back to the officer and said she didn’t want her son to get in trouble with it and wanted the officer to keep the fake money. The 7/11 was unconcerned for the unpaid slushie, so he departed with his mother with no legal consequences.

The inflammatory post as written by the original author, characterized this Officer as racist and abusing his authority. The post accused the officer of stealing the boy’s money and questioning him without an adult present. The post criticized the business and the clerk as well. The facts are, the clerk was faced by a young boy not accompanied by an adult with merchandise he was unable to pay for. The clerk was concerned for his welfare, nothing more. This business is on SR 11-15, near an I-81 junction. The potential for a very bad individual to have come from the interstate, or anywhere else, and harm the young boy was a concern for the clerk. The clerk had no interest the boy getting in trouble for the unpaid slushie. The clerk did not call the police for washing windows for money as accused in the post. The call was only for concern for the boy. If the boy knew the phone number for his mother, the store would have called her directly and not called the police for assistance.

The Officer only talked to the boy briefly and then called the boy’s mother. The boy was not searched, questioned, and nothing was taken from the boy as the clearly marked fake money is lawful to possess. Nothing was taken from the child, period! The Officer stood outside and waited with the boy until the mother arrived, again also concerned for the boy’s safety. The Officer offered for the boy to sit in the air-conditioned vehicle and offered to buy him a beverage from his own pocket. At no point, was the young boy in trouble from the store nor from the police.

The hateful comments that have been strewn about against this Officer, this police department, the clerk, and the business on social media are all completely without merit. The Officer’s conduct in this incident was exactly what is expected by our department. When individuals or businesses call for assistance, we respond. The actions of the well-meaning clerk to keep a young boy safe is also not deserving of what was said. I stand behind the actions of 7/11, the clerk, and the Officer in this case. I ask the public to find out the facts of any social media posting before making vile comments towards anyone.

On an unrelated note:  Our officers had an unrelated encounter with the same boy approximately one week ago. They found out the boy was trying to raise money so he could buy a bicycle. The Officer handed the boy $20.00 from his own pocket towards his bicycle fund. The accusation that our officers are racist and have a dislike for the boy because of his skin color could not be further from the truth.

- Chief Mark Green