DV Journal

Even with the fire at SPS Technologies in Abington largely under control as of Wednesday morning, Abington Township Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas McAneney declined to guess how long it will take to clean up the property.

“It’s a series of old buildings, some dating back 100 years,” said McAneney. “It’s going to be a work in progress.”

The fire, which began Monday evening with an explosion, seemed to be suppressed on Tuesday morning, only to flare up again, filling the sky with thick black smoke.

Authorities issued a shelter-in-place recommendation, which they later changed to an evacuation recommendation for the homes on nearby streets. Because of the wind direction, those homes lay mostly in Jenkintown, rather than in Glenside.

A drone photo of the SPS fire site. (Courtesy of the  Abington Police Department)

But both orders were rescinded as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.  While schools in Jenkintown, Abington and Cheltenham remained closed on Wednesday, the Jenkintown SEPTA station reopened, and train service resumed.

“We also understand the frustration our residents are experiencing with the ongoing order to shelter in place,” said Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy. “We appreciate their patience.” These “difficult decisions” were made “all erring on the side of protecting our citizens.”

Jenkintown Police Chief Tom Scott said a large contingent of law enforcement came into the borough to help with the evacuations and keep the empty houses safe.

“Obviously, the shelter-in-place and evacuation were a big impact on our community. We wanted to be sure we did it right,” said Scott. “We are working to get that building cleared today. There’s a hazmat team from Delaware County. We will continue to monitor that site. That will not stop, weeks or a month from now. This is going to be a long-term operation.”

A flare-up could happen again, he said.

Abington Fire Marshal Chris Platz said, the investigation into the cause of the fire continues. The buildings are some 600,000 square feet, he said, and the entire property is 32 acres.

“It’s going to be a long process. I wish we had some answers,” Platz said. “Our suppression is going on nonstop.” Firefighters worked “throughout the entire night.” People from SPS have been with them, assisting, he said.

But the fire was not officially suppressed yet, he said on Wednesday morning.

Township officials knew various chemicals were inside and had trained with SPS officials routinely. They knew where the chemicals were stored and aimed water on those spots to stop them from igniting, he said.

Molloy read a statement from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) saying they remain on site. They’ve conducted air and water sampling.

“Low levels of chemicals of concern were found in Tookany Creek,” he said. But “samples taken from the Delaware River do not detect any chemicals of concern. At this time, drinking water supplies are not at risk.”

The DEP did not respond Wednesday when DVJournal asked which chemicals were found in Tookany Creek.

The creek and the river will continue to be monitored. And nothing of concern was detected in the air and the DEP and EPA will continue monitoring it. He noted environmental safety and hazards posed by the chemicals at the factory, which made bolts and fasteners for the aviation industry, were residents’ main concerns.

SPS was founded as Standard Pressed Steel in the early 1900s. It was subject to EPA’s Corrective Action Program, according to a 2015 report.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello praised the firefighters who battled the blaze amid frigid and windy conditions.

Dean grew up in Glenside and her father-in-law worked at SPS during World War II.

“Generations have worked there,” she said. She thanked the firefighters from more 60 fire departments who are “largely volunteers.”

“Putting themselves at risk for our health and safety, protection of life, protection of property,” said Dean. “Our community is so darn proud of everything you have done.”

She noted ATF and EPA were involved. “This is an ongoing very serious situation and it is our responsibility to work together,” said Dean.

DiBello noted neighboring counties have also helped, as well as Montgomery County’s hazmat emergency management teams. “The support is incredible. I want to thank all the volunteers.”

To the affected residents, DiBello said, “Keep in mind these teams are working very hard. They’re working for you.”

Asked if SPS might move away, Dean said, “These are really very important jobs, important for national security.” She said she would work to keep the company, which employs about 200 people, here. DiBello also said the county is going to do whatever it can to keep SPS here.

Asked about the lack of volunteer firefighters, Dean said she fights for programs to encourage volunteer firefighters. DiBello said the county had passed an ordinance to give volunteer firefighters a tax rebate.

“We desperately need them,” said DiBello. “When a fire happens, people run away, but volunteer firefighters run toward it.”

If residents find debris in their yards, they should call 911 and not handle it.

For updates on the SPS situation residents can check a new township website.  Molloy also asked everyone to sign up for www.readymontco.org, to get county alerts.

It’s been all hands on deck, as 68 area fire companies responded to a major, four-alarm fire at SPS Technologies that started at around 9:30 p.m. Monday. Parts of the building were still burning by late afternoon Tuesday, and thick black smoke was seen rising after a flare up.

The company at 301 Highland Avenue, formerly Standard Press Steel, makes bolts and fasteners for airplanes at its 560,000-square-foot facility.  A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Witnesses told firefighters there was an explosion within the building. Several more explosions were heard coming from the plant. Flames could be seen shooting from it.

All 60 employees immediately fled the building. No one was injured. Officials said a sprinkler system was not working.

Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy speaks at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

The scene is still active, and officials asked residents to avoid the area. Later, police set up a perimeter to keep would-be onlookers out.

“We thought we had this fire under control, but we continued suppression efforts until about 10:30 this morning,” said Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. “When you look at the size of this building, some 500,000 square feet, and multi-layers, the difficulty to access, our firefighters out in that weather, it’s very difficult for them to completely extinguish this fire.”

Chemists from SPS worked with township and state officials to identify the chemicals present. Molloy said the company uses “harsh chemicals” during its processes of making items for the aeronautical industry.

At 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, Abington officials asked residents and businesses in the area to voluntarily evacuate to the Cheltenham High School auditorium because the smoky air had become too dangerous. Some 247 homes on Stewart Avenue; Runnymede Avenue; Florence Avenue between Runnymede Avenue and West Avenue; Highland Avenue between Hillside Ave and West Avenue; Rodman Avenue between Walnut Street and Runnymede Avenue; Hillside Avenue between Florence Avenue and Walnut Street; and Myrtle Avenue between Runnymede Avenue and Rodman Avenue. Those are mostly in Jenkintown because of how the wind was blowing. Emergency responders were going door-to-door to assist residents, who were told to bring two days of prescription medications or medical devices, identification, a change of clothes, food, plus food, and leashes for their pets.

Those within a mile of the fire but not on the streets marked for evacuation were asked to continue sheltering in place.

Molloy said the state Department of Environmental Protection and hazmat officials gave them a time window for when it would be safe to evacuate. He noted that while police cannot force people to evacuate, many did after learning the risks of remaining.

At the direction of the Abington Fire Marshal, Montgomery County Hazmat Team and the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management, the Abington School District, Jenkintown School District and all private and parochial schools were closed on Tuesday. Jenkintown schools are closed again on Wednesday.

Nearby residents were told to continue to monitor the township website, social media, and news outlets for updates.

The Abington Township Police Detective Division, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and  the township Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the cause of the blaze.  Hazmat crews and the state DEP are monitoring the air and water near the fire site. The City of Philadelphia also sent inspectors to gather air quality samples after complaints from the Fox Chase section. However, no hazardous substances were found in that area.

The Hopewell Veterinary Clinic offered to board dogs, cats or other small pets for people who needed to evacuate. It can be reached at (215) 379-2536.

On Nov. 11, 1994–30 years ago Monday– Eddie Polec was murdered by a group of suburban teenagers who came into the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia looking for blood.

Polec, 16, was bludgeoned to death with baseball bats and kicked with steel-toed boots, according to testimony. Polec was an innocent bystander waiting for his brother on the steps of St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church when the marauding boys, mainly from Abington High School, caught up to him as he ran from them. One threw a baseball bat, knocking him to the ground, where they continued to beat him with bats and kick him as he pleaded for his life.

The brutal murder shocked the Delaware Valley and drew national attention.

It had taken the police about 45 minutes to arrive, even as scores of neighbors called for help as the group of suburban teenage boys terrorized the community.

Officers found Polec, who was a senior at Cardinal Dougherty High School, on the steps of the church where he’d been an altar boy, unconscious, beaten and bleeding, cradled in the arms of a teenage girl.

At the time, the city’s 911 system was blamed for slow police response. Instead of filing a lawsuit against the city, Eddie Polec’s parents, Kathy and John, asked the city to overhaul the 911 system that failed their son that night. With public outcry over Polec’s death, former Mayor Ed Rendell, later governor, called for sanctions against the 911 operators.

John Polec declined to comment for this article.

Many people were shocked by the murder since it didn’t fit the city-suburban stereotype.

According to testimony at the subsequent trial, an Abington girl was in a parking lot at the Fox Chase McDonalds when some boys threw a cup of soda into her car window. From that incident, a rumor spread through Abington High School that Fox Chase boys had sexually assaulted an Abington girl.

The following Friday night, a group of teenage boys armed with baseball bats entered Fox Chase, ready to rumble.

“From a statistical standpoint, groups of young men are always going to a risky cohort for murder,” said Thomas Hogan, the former Chester County District Attorney, an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank. “This ‘iron law of crime’ has been true throughout time and cuts across all geographic, racial, and economic lines. So, while the facts of the Polec murder are terrible, they are neither surprising nor unpredictable.”

“I remember the case because I grew up in Abington, and I was [Montgomery County] first assistant DA at the time,” said lawyer Bruce L. Castor Jr., who became the Montco DA. “Ed Rendell took a lot of heat over the 911 failures, but my recollection is that he inherited that system, and the Eddie Polec murder led to major upgrades in equipment and training for dispatchers.”

Defendants Nicholas Pinero, then 18, of Abington; Bou Khathavong, then 18, of Rosyln; Dawan Alexander, then 18, of Crestmont; Carlo Johnson, then 20, of Elkins Park;  Thomas Crook, then 20, of Hatboro; and Anthony Rienzi, then 18, of Warminster, stood trial for some five weeks in a Philadelphia courtroom. The six were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy. Johnson, Alexander and Pinero were also charged with aggravated assault.

Another defendant, Kevin Convey, then 19, of Meadowbrook, had pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, and Convey testified against the others.

A jury convicted Pinero, Crook and Rienzi of third-degree murder. Alexander was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and Johnson and Khathavong were convicted of conspiracy but cleared of homicide.

Assistant DA Joseph Casey used a baseball bat, found in the church parking lot, as an effective tool, banging it loudly to show the jury how the assailants had used it to strike Polec.

The jury also saw gruesome pictures of Polec’s mangled body.

“People are hardwired to search out the root causes for why vicious crimes occur, particularly when the violent criminals are young and from relatively good backgrounds,” said Castor. “When teens commit ‘unimaginable’ crimes of violence shocking to the conscience, there is this human urge to figure out ‘what went wrong?’ and try and explain it. Not to ‘fix’ the problem, you understand, though people claim that. It is so people can differentiate themselves from ‘what happened with those kids.’  To tell themselves and one another that those things won’t happen in their family because ‘our kids’ are not like those kids. Of course, their kids are like those kids.

“This desire to find a cause for evil manifesting itself is a coping mechanism — a means of being able to sleep at night by conning yourself that evil will not visit your home and your life. You see, evil is out there, and nobody knows when or where on whom it will strike. Parents can do everything ‘right,’ and evil will still find a way,” said Castor.

“And those kids who murdered Eddie Polec? They’re out of prison by now going about their lives in their 40s, and Eddie? He’s still dead.”

Some drivers honked. Others made rude gestures. But a gathering of Trump supporters in the heart of deep-blue Montgomery County certainly caught people’s attention on Saturday — the same day the former president was appearing at the western Pennsylvania site of July’s assassination attempt.

While Donald Trump appeared in Butler, Pa. at the same venue where a would-be killer’s bullet grazed his head, an enthusiastic group of supporters showed up in Abington to wave Trump signs and American flags, and to boost the candidacies of local Republicans as well.

Abington committeewoman Jamie Maerz said she is for Trump because, “Trump is for strong borders, our country was safe, and we were able to afford our groceries and gas. Ever since the Biden-Harris administration took effect– and you know unelected bureaucrats are running our county behind the scenes—we’ve never been so unsafe. Our military is at its weakest, our country is at the weakest, we’re more divided than ever.”

Gerrie Woodson

Abington Township Republican Organization Chair Joe Rooney was also on hand. Rooney, who is running for state representative for the 153rd District, said he’s been campaigning hard all around Abington, Rockledge, and Upper Dublin to unseat Democratic incumbent Rep. Ben Sanchez.

A Democratic Abington School board member shook his hand recently, telling the Republican, “You are relentless,’” Rooney said. “I’m a Marine, so saying you are relentless is a nice compliment.

“I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, and I’ve been doing this since before the primary. The number one question I get from most people is: ‘Who’s our representative right now?’”

John McAuley, communication director with Black Republicans of Philadelphia, was filming the rally. He said supporting Trump “is just common sense. He already proved he was a good leader.

“I think our community is tired of inflation and high energy. Our schools are horrible. I think they care more about our kids’ genders than educating them properly. Our infrastructure is horrible. Our roads are trash. The Democrats get funding, and they keep the money. It doesn’t take 100 years to change these urban neighborhoods.

“My job is to show my people you have other options,” said McAuley. “You don’t have to go Democrat straight down the line. These conservative values, the nuclear family, these Republican ideologies are what we should be following.”

Joe and Beth Rooney

Pat Smith, a local Abington resident, said she supports Trump because of his policies. “Putting America first,  cutting taxes, letting free enterprise thrive, being energy independent…It’s a win-win for everybody. It’s an expanding pie. It’s not just a piece of the pie. Where you cut taxes, more people have money, they can invest, they can grow businesses, there are more jobs, we can export things…There’s not anything negative about this guy. He’s fantastic. He has a proven track record, too.”

Abington committeewoman, Bernadette Wilkinson, said, “My husband is from Ireland. He came over here legally. My grandparents all came from Italy. They came here legally. And $640,000 has been given to the illegals, and there is no money left from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to give to the poor people who are affected by Hurricane Helene. They’re destitute. It’s not right, and that bothers me.”

Philadelphia resident Gerrie Woodson said inflation under Biden-Harris is a reason to support Trump.

“He’s a man of humanity, and he cares for the American people. He wants it to be like it once was.  Things are bad now,” said Woodson.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: X@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

Three illegal immigrants from Argentina were arrested for burglary in Radnor last week, while a fourth alleged gang member escaped police.

Radnor Police Superintendent Chris Flanagan said Abington Police had alerted his department to suspects driving around upscale neighborhoods and breaking into homes.

Flanagan said the burglars used a “high-tech” device to disable alarm systems and ring the doorbells of homes they were targeting. Residents of a house on the 500 block of Huston Road were home at the time of the break-in but were not harmed, police said.

Matis Sanchez-Diaz, 30; Miguel Guzman-Pardo, 43; and Yanara Venegas-Rodrigues, 23, are charged with burglary, criminal trespass, loitering and possession of instruments of crime, police said. All three are in the U.S. illegally after overstaying tourist visas.

They are in George Hill Correctional Facility and held on $200,000 bail. A fourth suspect remains on the loose. The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office did not respond when asked if the defendants would be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A spokesperson for ICE did not return calls.

Radnor police were notified by Abington Police about the suspected burglars on Jan. 19. At 5:35 p.m. that day, they responded to a burglar alarm malfunctioning at a house on Huston Road and noticed a rear glass door had been forced open.

They stopped a car that was driving less than a mile from Huston Road and found burglary tools and the alarm jammer, police said. The vehicle is believed to have been involved in various burglaries in the area, including in Lower Merion, through license plate reading technology in Radnor Township.

Officer Stephen Henry stopped the car when Henry and other officers noticed broken glass in it, similar to the glass from the broken door. They arrested the three defendants.

A fourth suspect, Alejandro Vincento Gallardo, escaped. Police described him as a Latino male, about 5-foot-tall and in his 20s. He was wearing a black jacket and black pants.

He was last seen running in the area of north I-476. If you see him or have information about his whereabouts, please call the Radnor Township Police at (610) 688-5600.

Please follow DVJournal on social media: Twitter@DVJournal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal

Carjackings have become an epidemic in Philadelphia.

The numbers tell the story. In the past three-plus years, carjackings within the city have risen from 224 in 2019 to 840 last year. As of February 7, there had been 154 carjackings so far this year, an average of better than four per day. If that trend continues, the city will be on pace to record nearly 1,500 carjackings in 2022.

Concerns have arisen about the carjackings and associated violent crimes spilling over into adjacent communities.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub says he is not seeing that happening, at least not yet. Part of the reason is the fear of tougher enforcement and the likelihood of jail time.

“I hate to put this out into the universe for fear of a jinx,” he said, “but we have not seen an increase so far. I’m hoping that remains the case.”

The Delaware Valley Journal asked Weintraub what he believes is causing the spike in carjackings beyond Bucks County’s borders.

“I think there’s just an air of permissiveness or laxity in certain jurisdictions that do not exist here in Bucks County,” he said. And hopefully, without trying to take too much credit that’s not due, the message has been conveyed pretty loudly and clearly, that if you’re going to commit a crime of violence in Bucks County we will investigate you, we will arrest you, and prosecute you and send you to jail for a long time.”

Weintraub says he believes criminals understand the ramifications of being charged with a violent crime in Bucks County.

“There certainly is an underground communication network among the criminals,” he said. “They know where the borders are, and there are some by chance that comes across borders. We have some of our own criminals to deal with in Bucks County, but we have not been negatively impacted by spillover from counties with lesser enforcement.”

Former Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan shares Weintraub’s view that the carjacking issues plaguing Philadelphia have not spilled over into surrounding communities, at least for now.

“We don’t have anywhere the volume of carjackings that they are having in Philadelphia,” he said. “However, it is starting to become a problem. It is a problem mostly in the areas that immediately border Philadelphia.

“The reason it is not a problem in the collar counties so far is the criminals don’t pay that much attention when they’re very close to a border, (but) they definitely know the difference between when they’re in the heart of Montgomery County and when they’re in Philadelphia. And they know if they get caught carjacking in Philly, there is going to be very little penalty. If they get caught carjacking in any of the collar counties, they’re going to state prison for a really long time.”

Hogan says he believes carjackings are spiraling in Philadelphia for two reasons.

“The carjackings are being used for drive-by shootings,” he said. “You jack the car when you’re about to do a drive-by because you certainly don’t want to do it in your own car; surveillance will pick it up. And the other reason they are carjacking cars is that they are always running from the police.

“And Philly has a pretty strong no-pursuit policy. So, what they’re going to do is, they’re going to run from the police in these carjacked cars, and then they’re going to ditch the car.”

Patrick Molloy has spent his entire career in law enforcement in Abington Township. He has been the township’s chief of police since February 2018.

“We’ve had three carjackings (recently),” he said. “They range from back in mid-November until just this past Sunday afternoon. One was in North Hills, one was at the Willow Grove Mall and the last one was in Jenkintown by the Acme.

“I’ve been here 28 years, and I don’t remember any carjackings in my career,” he said.

Molloy says closing classrooms in response to COVID-19 contributed to the problem.

“I think a number of issues may be converging,” he said. “Not the least of which would be the fact that we have a bunch of juveniles who should have been in school and had informal guardians in the high schools and middle schools keeping tabs on them or helping them out. We have a bunch of idle kids who are supposed to be in front of a computer, going to school.

“I think the second thing is this new bail reform which has sent a message that despite having a violent crime committed, or committing a crime with a gun (suspects), oftentimes receive low cash bail to no cash bail,” Molloy said.

“You see a backlog in the courts because of COVID. And the backlog is having people who should have been in court and receiving their sentences or some kind of probation or monitoring from the criminal justice system, that’s not happening,” said Malloy.

In contrast to Philadelphia’s no-pursuit policy, Molloy says his officers will pursue a carjacking suspect, but not at the risk of public safety.

“We have a risk matrix where it comes to pursuits,” he said, “and certainly nothing is worth a third-party innocent victim getting T-boned because we’re chasing somebody for a property crime, or it just doesn’t fit within our policy. There are a number of variables that take place when we’re making a decision.

“We will pursue, that’s partially correct, but we also don’t advertise the fact that we’re going to terminate that pursuit because the risk of injury to the public outweighs the benefit of apprehension,” he said.

Follow us on social media: Twitter: @DV_Journal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJourn

From a press release

While Walt Whitman once penned “good fences make good neighbors,” stormwater knows no boundaries. Such was the case for the Jenkintown Creek that runs through Abington Township and Cheltenham Township.

Since 2014, the Jenkintown Creek has been a priority focus area for Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) restoration efforts. One of TTF’s recent projects along Jenkintown Creek is the Conklin Recreation Center project, which is also part of Cheltenham Township’s Pollution Reduction Plan.

“An agreement was negotiated with Abington Township crediting Cheltenham for treating Abington’s stormwater by way of this project,” said Robert Zienkowski, Cheltenham Township Manager. “Cheltenham Township is a founding member of TTF and has a longstanding relationship working with TTF and other partners on water quality and stormwater management issues.”

A volunteer plants a new tree.

The restoration removed 235 feet of straight, piped concrete in order to let the Jenkintown Creek flow freely through the constructed wetland. With the TTF watershed being 98 percent developed, it has been difficult for communities to manage stormwater in the area. As communities develop and build, there is less ground to absorb stormwater; however, the Conklin Recreation Center restoration alleviates some of these issues.

In the fall of 2019, construction began to remove the piping next to the Charles D. Conklin Jr. Pool and Recreation Center in Cheltenham Township. Next, the stream had to be rerouted into a zig-zag pattern that follows the natural lay of the land. In addition to allowing the water to flow freely, this design prevents erosion as it slows the flow of water against the banks. Sediment can also drop out of the water into the creek bed to reduce pollution.

The COVID-19 pandemic put the project on hold until the following year. In the fall of 2020, volunteers planted flowering and ground-covering perennials, large grasses, shrubs and trees, on the banks of the newly restored tributary. The plants keep soil from eroding, hold in moisture, and prevent trash from entering the creek.

“The now naturally flowing Jenkintown Creek and wetland planted with native, deep-rooted plants not only improves water quality, it creates habitat in addition to slowing down and cleaning 40 acres of stormwater,” said Julie Slavet, Executive Director of TTF. “There are now fish in the creek, and more bees, birds, and butterflies visit, turning this site into an outdoor environmental classroom.”

In addition to making the area more environmentally friendly and visually appealing, the freely-flowing creek is much safer than the pipe, which had fast-moving water and ditches of dirty water.

Water in the Jenkintown Creek comes mostly from rain running off of more than 40 acres upstream in Montgomery County, including roads, residential properties, condominium complexes and commercial properties. This $183,662 project and others in the watershed impact the Tookany Creek, which flows into Tacony-Frankford Creek, and then connects into the Delaware River.

“This new green stormwater infrastructure improves the water quality of 42 acres of developed drainage area around the rec center, which had been directly discharging to the Jenkintown Creek,” said Anne Leavitt-Gruberger, administrator for the Montco 2040 Implementation Grant Program and manager of the County Planning Section of the Planning Commission. “This project directly ties to township goals as well as goals explicitly laid out in the county’s comprehensive plan.”

TTF and Cheltenham Township designed and managed the project, which was funded by the Montgomery County Planning Commission and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Temple University also partnered up with TTF and Cheltenham to develop the project’s concept and proposal, and provided assistance with water quality monitoring.

A ribbon cutting at the Charles D. Conklin Jr. Pool and Recreation Center was held on June 19, 2021. Many community members attended the event, including Cheltenham Township Ward 7 Commissioner Irv Brockington.

“The community members and families enjoying Conklin Pool this summer offered many positive remarks about the project and the revitalized natural system,” said Brockington.

Follow us on social media: Twitter: @DV_Journal or Facebook.com/DelawareValleyJournal