Review finds ‘major concerns’ in handling of York County officer’s case

The complaint was brought last November by the estranged wife of Robert Vicosa, a former police officer in Maryland's Baltimore County.

• The Associated Press
  BioRecent Stories

  

  The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.

(York) — The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has ended an investigation into a woman’s complaint on how local police in York handled a court order she sought to protect their two daughters from their father, who eventually murdered the children and his girlfriend before taking his own life.

In a statement issued Thursday, the office announced the complaint against York Area Regional Police Chief Timothy Damon had been withdrawn, the York Daily Record reported.

“Our office’s investigation of this matter has now been closed and the criminal history records law precludes our office from speaking publicly about the details of our findings, the office said in the statement. “That being said, our office has provided a detailed letter to the District Attorney to review and outlined our major concerns with certain lapses and decisions leading up to this tragic situation.”

The complaint was brought last November by the estranged wife of Robert Vicosa, a former police officer in Maryland’s Baltimore County. It claimed Damon blocked a court order she sought to protect the girls from Vicosa, according to reports.

Damon could not be reached for comment Thursday. Harold Goodman, an attorney for the woman, told The Baltimore Sun that he planned to “vigorously pursue civil rights and other civil claims” for her and on behalf of the two children “against police and others, to vindicate their rights.”

In her complaint, the woman wrote that a Pennsylvania judge granted her an emergency protection order on Nov. 14. Early the next day, she said two York Area Regional Police Officers told her Damon had put a stop to this order, and she was given no explanation for why that was done.

Around that time, authorities had been looking for Vicosa and the girls for four days after his estranged wife reported that he had held her and assaulted her at his home outside York, according to court documents.

Vicosa, his daughters and his accomplice were spotted on Nov. 18. Pennsylvania State Police alerted Maryland State Police that a vehicle matching the description of an SUV linked to alleged felony offenses including child abduction and carjacking was heading toward the Maryland line. Troopers tried to stop the SUV and a short time later, it went off the road, struck a culvert and stopped in a grassy area.

When Maryland state troopers reached the SUV, they found all four people inside had gunshot wounds. All died. Investigators have said they believe Vicosa was the shooter.