May 2, 2023 4 min read

The suspension of Donora police superintendent James Brice has been upheld by the borough’s civil service commission.

The commission voted 2-1 Saturday, with Kim Leaver and Brian Pivovarnik voting to uphold Brice’s suspension and alternate member Ed Locker voting to overturn it.

“It’s what I expected,” Brice said Monday. “I knew I wasn’t going to have a winner with Donora Civil Service. (Councilman) Joe Greco initiated this. He made the motion to terminate me and he’s on the (civil service commission). That’s what I expected from day one.”

Brice said he plans to appeal the decision.

“Now that it’s out of the kangaroo court, I’ll appeal it in front of a real judge in Washington County and we’ll go from there,” Brice said.

Attorney Massimo Terzigni, who represents Brice, said an appeal cannot take place until a written statement is received from the civil service commission explaining why the decision was rendered.

“Obviously, we’re very, very disappointed,” Terzigni said. “We’re still waiting on the written decision to find out why they decided the way they did. We felt we did enough to prove our case and we felt the borough did not do enough. We’re also disappointed that there was no representative of the borough there to hear this decision.”

Brice was terminated by council in August amid allegations revealed when the hearing before the civil service commission began Jan. 26. Those allegations included being intoxicated on the job, failing to respond to 911 and backup calls, allowing unauthorized accesses to police databases and failing to follow certain directives issued by council.

Locker was pressed into service to cast a vote after Greco recused himself from Saturday’s proceeding.

“We knew if I didn’t, that would be another grounds for appeal,” Greco said Monday. “I figured let them decide what they want to decide. They heard the same case that I heard. If they believe it, fine; if they don’t, that’s fine too.”

During hearings on Jan. 26 and Feb. 8, Terzigni called for Greco to recuse himself. The request was denied Jan. 26, as Greco claimed he could be impartial and holds no grudges.

In fact, the theme of the witnesses’ testimonies at the February hearing who were called by Terzigni was that Greco had a bias against Brice.

Greco has said that he felt Brice had been a good officer and reiterated that Monday.

“He was a great police officer, a great leader,” Greco said. “He got complacent in his ways, that’s all. You can only spin a web for so long. After that, you’re going to get caught up in your own web and that’s what he did.”

Officers from neighboring departments were on hand Saturday to support Brice, including Monessen Police Chief David Yuhasz and Charleroi Regional Police Chief Chad Zelinsky. Yuhasz got his start as a police officer in Donora.

“He hired me back in 2001,” Yuhasz said. “We were just there to support him.”

Brice said he is touched by all of the support he has received throughout the process. “We Support Jimmy Brice” signs have been posted in some borough yards.

“Anybody who has gone to those so-called civil service commission hearings have come up to me and said this is a joke,” Brice said. “It’s obvious that one person is doing what he can to get rid of me. The support from the community has been unreal. I’m positive that when this gets in front of a real judge, not the kangaroo court, we’ll be winners. The worst part is the taxpayers of Donora have been paying for this.”