Will past lawsuit keep Philly police official from top Radnor post?

An old lawsuit has created a fresh headache for a longtime Philadelphia Police Department official who's in line for a coveted new job.

Chief Inspector William Colarulo was seemingly all but assured of being named Radnor Township's police superintendent during a township meeting on Monday.

That plan was put on hold after the seven members of Radnor's Board of Commissioners received anonymous e-mails that raised "several issues" about Colarulo, said Robert Zienkowski, township manager.

The e-mails referenced a racially charged lawsuit that was filed more than a decade ago against the city by three former Philly cops: Raymond Carnation, William McKenna and McKenna's brother Michael.

"Everybody was taken aback, like, 'What is all of this?' " Zienkowski said.

The board - at Colarulo's urging - decided to postpone voting on the superintendent's job until Feb. 14, Zienkowski said.

"This is a very important position," he said, "so you don't want to have a cloud hanging over it."

Colarulo emerged as the favorite for the superintendent's job from a field of dozens of applicants from police departments in New York, New Jersey and Ohio, Zienkowski said.

The former Philly cops - all of whom are white - claimed they faced retaliation after they complained in 1998 about racially discriminatory treatment of black officers in North Philadelphia's 25th District, where Carnation and the McKenna brothers worked.

Colarulo was the captain of the district at the time. According to court documents, Carnation claimed Colarulo had vowed to make his life "a living hell" if he filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint about a white sergeant who mistreated black officers.

In 2008, a federal jury awarded the three former cops $10 million. A year later, a federal judge reduced the award to $900,000.

Colarulo, who won the George Fencl Award in 1998 for dramatically reducing crime in parts of the 25th District, declined to comment yesterday.