Springdale Borough Police Chief Derek Dayoub said he would not resign during a Monday borough council meeting, dismissed community members who have criticized him as a “small group of naysayers” and criticized Public Source’s reporting on allegations of misconduct against him over almost two decades.
“In recent weeks, I’ve been subjected to public criticism, public attacks and an anonymous online petition which means absolutely nothing,” Dayoub said, referring to a petition that has gained more than 440 signatures seeking his removal.
“A change.org petition, an anonymously started petition … is not an investigation. It is not a court ruling. It is not a personal evaluation. It’s not a vote of the borough’s electoral board. It is not proof of wrongdoing,” Dayoub said.
He said he has received “overwhelming support” from community members in recent weeks.
Four residents spoke at Monday’s meeting to criticize the borough police and Dayoub; none spoke in support.
“I personally have been treated with professionalism and respect by members of our police department in the past, but current events and reporting on the chief and the department’s history compel me to question the council’s decision-making and ability to enact accountability,” said Amy Sarno, a local school board member and volunteer with Indivisible Allegheny Valley, a group opposed to the borough’s collaboration with ICE.
Kaitlin Mueller said a lot of residents don’t feel safe in the borough.
“I feel kind of scared,” she said. “Chief Dayoub, I think maybe you feel a little bit scared too, which is why you got to talk a lot longer than three minutes about this.” The borough allows members of the public to comment for only three minutes, and earlier this month charges were dropped against a resident arrested at the speaker’s lectern who was wrongly accused of speaking too long.
The petition seeking Dayoub’s removal was dismissed by multiple council members, who said they could not verify that its signers live in the borough.
“Honestly, I don’t pay attention to petitions … there could be maybe 10 signatures from people living in the borough and 250 of them could be people outside of the borough,” Councilor Joe Kern said.
Council President Mike Ziencik said only “No” in response to questions posed by a Public Source reporter after the meeting and then went into a private room.
Councilor Dan Copeland said people seeking action against Dayoub “can wish all they want, but it’s just the way that it is.”
Dayoub was hired as a full-time officer in Springdale in 2013. Before that, a Public Source investigation found he faced a handful of civil lawsuits while he was an officer in Washington County’s Smith Township. He was accused of using excessive force by multiple plaintiffs, was charged with criminal assault after an encounter with a teenage McDonald’s employee, and was fired from the township after the chief accused him of falsifying a report.
The civil cases were settled or resolved out of court and the criminal charge was dropped after Dayoub cooperated with a grand jury investigation into another matter.
While Dayoub was a Springdale officer, a woman filed a Protection From Abuse petition against him, which a judge later extended into a two-year no-contact order. Other residents came forward to accuse Dayoub of intimidation and retaliation.
Public Source sent Dayoub a detailed list of allegations prior to publishing the investigation, and he declined to point reporters toward any specific inaccuracy or further context. He responded generally to the allegations described in the report, calling them “150% incorrect.”
Monday he called Public Source’s reporting “absolutely poor” during a 10-minute speech to council and residents.
“Incomplete context, omitted facts and accurate legal outcomes are never reported,” he said. He left without acknowledging Public Source’s questions.
Community members: Springdale’s work with ICE continues
Dayoub has drawn criticism this year for signing a cooperative 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leading to the borough police’s participation in the federal immigration crackdown. That effort appeared to be active as recently as Monday morning, when, according to community members, a Verona man was detained by ICE and Springdale personnel patrolling together.
Daniel Alberto Cavicchioni-Rojas was on his way to his landscaping job along with some coworkers when he was taken into custody by ICE Monday morning, according to an online fundraising plea written by his brother.
Cavicchioni-Rojas entered the United States with Temporary Protective Status (TPS) from Venezuela, according to the GoFundMe text, which has not yet been published but was shared with Public Source. The Trump administration ended TPS for Venezuelans last year.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not answer questions about Cavicchioni-Rojas’ detention posed on Monday.
Sarno said Cavicchioni-Rojas was detained while riding in the same vehicle as Randy Cordova Flores, who spent months in an ICE detention facility after he was detained by a joint Springdale Borough and ICE in February.
Dayoub has declined to comment multiple times to Public Source inquiries about the agreement to assist ICE. The borough denied Public Source’s request for records pertaining to payments from the federal government to the borough associated with the program.
Butler County billed ICE for $194,500 in financial incentives from ICE, an April Public Source report revealed, and a memo sent from ICE to Washington County’s sheriff described “reimbursement opportunities” and performance awards available to cooperating police agencies.
Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.
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