Delaware and Montgomery counties will pay for damages after standoff at Trainer house

Gary Krobath, who alerted police to the killer at his home, is being put up in a hotel with his wife and getting a food allowance.
Gary Krobath, who alerted police to the killer at his home, is being put up in a hotel with his wife and getting a food allowance. (LAURENCE KESTERSON / Staff Photographer)
By Mari A. Schaefer, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: July 09, 2011

The Delaware County District Attorney's Office has agreed to compensate a Trainer man for damage to his home that occurred when a SWAT team attempted to capture killer Mark Geisenheyner there Monday.

Geisenheyner had gone to the home of Gary Krobath, a friend, after shooting five people Saturday night in a Douglass Township, Montgomery County, farmhouse. Three of those people have died.

Krobath tipped off police to Geisenheyner's presence at his home, triggering a seven-hour standoff that ended with Geisenheyner's death and extensive damage to Krobath's rented property.

Delaware County district attorney's officials said their office and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office were treating Krobath and his landlords, Jack and Pat Elliott, as crime victims.

"We put [Krobath] up in a hotel with a food allowance," said Delaware County spokesman Michael Mattson. "Our office along with Montgomery County will supplement any shortfalls insurance won't cover."

The Delaware County District Attorney's Office would not say specifically where the funds to reimburse Krobath and his landlords would come from, only that taxpayers would not foot the bills.

Krobath said he and his wife were staying in a Ramada Inn and were receiving $25 a day as a food allowance.

Krobath, who has a criminal record, owes the county more than $10,000 in court costs from criminal cases, according to court records.

He also owes $600,000 in a civil judgment to a bicyclist he pushed into the path of a car during a fight in 1997. The cyclist was seriously injured.

"When I was younger, I was stupid," Krobath said Friday, "and I messed up."

Erica Parham, assistant Delaware County district attorney, said her office was required to help crime victims, even those with checkered pasts.

"We don't get to pick our victims," she said.

Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149, mschaefer@phillynews.com,

or @MariSchaefer on Twitter.

Index by Keyword
|
Index by Date
|
About Philly.com
|
Contact Us
|
Terms of Use & Privacy Statement
|
Copyright 2013