Emmaus Council Agrees to pay $7,498 to Replace Police Car

Emmaus Borough Council last night unanimously agreed by a 7-0 vote to pay $7,498 toward the cost of replacing the Emmaus Police cruiser destroyed

The police car, a Dodge Charger known as car 103, has been out of commission since the incident, and Chief David A. Faust is requesting a replacement cruiser, Budget and Finance Chair Brian Holtzhafer told council during his committee report at Monday night’s meeting.

The Police Department’s insurance will only cover $19,419 of the $26,917 cost of a new police vehicle, explained Holtzhafer. The Budget and Finance Committee recommends that council cover the $7498 difference out of the borough’s contingency account, he said.

Councilman Brent Labenberg questioned why the borough was left with any expense at all if the police cruiser was damaged during an intentional collision. “Somebody rammed into us and we have a $7,000 expense,” Labenberg said. “Why isn’t the person who hit us paying for it?”

Holtzhafer said that he thought the borough was left with a bill, in part, due to the cost difference between the 2007 Dodge Charger that was destroyed and the 2012 Dodge Charger replacing it. “We are getting a better car than we lost,” he said.

said that because the police car was damaged during a criminal act, the other driver’s insurance would probably not pay any monies toward the totaled police car. Instead, he said, the borough would be most likely to recoup the damages through the courts – a process he said could literally take years.

“That would be one of the things that the attorneys would be looking for,” Pepe said. “That would come from the District Attorney’s office as he is prosecuting the case.”

Prior to the vote, Labenberg said: “It just stinks that somebody intentionally destroyed our police car and we are left with the bill.”

There is approximately $40,000 in the borough's contingency account, Holtzhafer said.