Three Bucks sheriff’s deputies fired as probe continues

Three Bucks County sheriff's deputies were fired Tuesday for failing to report an alleged assault of a handcuffed suspect by a fourth deputy, sources said Wednesday.

The fired deputies are James McAndrews, William Klein and Corp. Dave Prudish, a source said. Sheriff Edward "Duke" Donnelly declined to comment on personnel matters.

The three deputies are prosecution witnesses in the case of deputy Sgt. Gary Browndorf, said county Chief of Trials Bob James. Browndorf faces trial in April on charges of assaulting a suspect, filing a false report about the incident and lying about it at a preliminary hearing.

The firings "were purely administrative," James said. "They [the firings] are not related to anything they did that was unlawful. They remain witnesses in the prosecution of Gary Browndorf."

The three deputies and Deputy Daniel Boyle were with Browndorf on July 26, to arrest Philip Romanek, 29, of Levittown for an alleged parole violation on a DUI conviction.

Browndorf, 55, punched Romanek while he was handcuffed and being held by "as many as three deputies," according to the grand jury presentment,

The deputies made the arrest at the Bristol Township house of Romanek's girlfriend, Samantha Doneker, 36, after they found him hiding in the attic, according to the presentment.

After the arrest, Browndorf filed aggravated assault charges against Romanek and Doneker. Those charges and his testimony about the incident were false, the grand jury found.

The grand jury was convened after Domanek's mother reported Browndorf's alleged assault to county detectives.