Suspended Kane Borough police chief Brian Hillard waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Dom Cercone in Bradford on charges involving the submission of false information on official forms to the state.
Hillard, 42, of Greeves Street, Kane, is charged with unsworn falsification to authorities and tampering with public records, both second-degree misdemeanors.
Hillard was present at Cercone’s office on Wednesday, but his attorney, John Schwab of Pittsburgh, was not. The charges were brought by the state Attorney General’s Office.
According to court records, between February 2011 and July 2013, Hillard allegedly submitted false information regarding firearms certification dates for three Kane Borough Police officers on the state’s Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission’s Officer Recertification Roster.
During the course of the Attorney General’s investigation, several police officers were interviewed and told similar stories, that they relied on Hillard’s “advice and guidance” regarding the firearms certifications. Hillard told the investigators he did not qualify three officers in 2012 for firearms, but listed that they had all qualified on the MPOETC recertification roster, according to court records.
He told investigators he normally would have officers fill out the paperwork prior to taking them to the range to qualify, and said he would finish it after the officers completed the qualifications. He said “he did not know why he completed” the records and entered scores when the officers had not been taken to the range to shoot, court records read.
Hillard remains free on his own recognizance.
While the charges were filed in Kane, the preliminary hearing had been scheduled before Cercone because Kane’s district judge, David Engman, recused himself from the case.
Engman explained his reasoning, saying he had to regularly interact with Hillard as police chief in Kane, and was a former political opponent of Hillard’s for the magisterial district judge seat.
Kane Borough Council decided to suspend Hillard after the charges were filed in August. During Hillard’s suspension from the Kane Borough police force, patrolman Heath Boyer is officer in charge of the department.
