Downingtown officer facing more serious charges

Philly PD withdraws summary, files 2 misdemeanors, including resisting arrest

By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

Scott A. Neuhaus A seven-year Downingtown police officer, originally cited for summary disorderly conduct on Feb. 8, was arraigned on more serious charges in Philadelphia this morning, Feb. 21, according to court records.

Scott A. Neuhaus, who was placed on administrative leave following his Feb. 8 arrest by Philadelphia Police at a downtown strip club, has now been charged with resisting arrest as well as disorderly conduct, court records said. Records said Neuhaus was released on his own recognizance, and a hearing was scheduled for March 24 before Philadelphia Municipal Court President Judge Marsha H. Neifield.

Efforts to contact Neuhaus, 40, of Coatesville, and his wife, Jill Neuhaus, were not immediately successful.

Downingtown Police Chief James R. McGowan said Philadelphia Police contacted him Wednesday afternoon to inform him that the summary citation had been withdrawn and replaced by two misdemeanor charges. McGowan said he had no information on what prompted the change. “We were not involved in any decision-making on any charges brought by Philadelphia Police,” he said.

McGowan said he was initially notified by Philadelphia Police about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, that Neuhaus had been involved in a domestic assault and resisted arrest at Delilah’s, a Philadelphia club which bills itself as “a gentlemen’s club and steak house.” McGowan said Neuhaus, who worked previously for the Coatesville Police Department, would continue to be paid during an internal investigation; however, his electronic access to all department materials was immediately curtailed.

In a Facebook posting, on Feb. 10 Jill Neuhaus, the defendant’s wife, lashed out at the media. “I was there WITH him in a parking lot and he received a ticket for cursing in public,” she wrote, calling the citation the equivalent of a traffic ticket. “Anybody that knows Scott, knows he’s not like the way the media is portraying him.” Neuhaus, who began working as the school resource officer for the Downingtown schools in the fall, is also well-known in the area as a youth football coach.

The Downingtown police chief said the department’s internal investigation would afford Neuhaus an opportunity to defend himself. A decision on Neuhaus’s future with the department would ultimately rest with Borough Council, McGowan said, explaining that he would make a recommendation based on the results of the investigation.