Four Shenandoah Police Officers Resign

Four Shenandoah Police Officers Resign - WNEP

Four Shenandoah police officers arrested on federal charges are officially off the force.

They submitted letters of resignation last week. Shenandoah Borough Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept the resignations.

According to the borough solicitor, Chief Matthew Nestor's resignation is effective as of December 21, the date he submitted his letter. The resignations of Captain Jamie Gennarinni, Officer Jason Hayes and Lieutenant William Moyer are effective as of December 24.

"As a result of the resignations, these four individuals are no longer employees of the borough and no longer members of the police department," said borough solicitor Michael O'Pake.

The resignations leave the borough in Schuylkill County with only three officers. State police have been helping to cover calls in Shenandoah since the chief and the others were charged earlier this month. Council is looking to hire new officers.

"They're looking at hiring part-time officers," said O'Pake. "We're reviewing applications in order to do that. We're gotten great assistance from the state police department."

Also still to be decided is how the borough will handle pensions for the officers who resigned. According to the solicitor, Moyer and Gennarini each served 12 years on the force. They can ask to begin receiving their pensions once they reach age 50. Nestor and Hayes did not serve long enough to be eligible for a pension.

All four officers were arrested December 15 on federal charges. Authorities said Nestor, Moyer and Hayes conspired to obstruct the investigation into the beating death of Luis Ramirez in 2008.

Ramirez was a Mexican immigrant and federal prosecutors have filed hate crimes charges against two teenagers, Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky, in connection with the beating death. Earlier this year, Donchak and Piekarsky were acquitted on the most serious charges filed against them at the county level.....