Delco D.A. raids Chester police evidence room

The Special Investigations Unit of the Delaware County District Attorney's Office conducted a raid on the Chester Police Department's evidence room this afternoon, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office confirmed.

Spokeswoman Emily Harris could not say what sparked the raid or what investigators recovered, other than to say county investigators had received a formal complaint about missing evidence. Chester police Commissioner Joseph Bail Jr. did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Chester Mayor John Linder's spokeswoman, Summer Freeman, said the search warrant for the raid was sealed, but confirmed that county investigators are looking into allegations of missing evidence at the police department. She said the mayor did not initiate the investigation.

The Chester Spirit, the local weekly newspaper, wrote last week about some of the evidence-room controversy.

Things haven't been easy in Chester for a long time, but last week was a particularly rough one for Delaware County's only city. I did a story on a former police officer and Vietnam veteran who was shot in the face by a stray bullet while driving through Chester's streets in the middle of the afternoon last Monday.

Then, 6ABC did this story on a violent incident between a Chester police officer and an apparently disturbed woman which made the rounds on YouTube.

Daily News reporter William Bender contributed to this report.