Delco cop charged with detaining, harassing two women

A Darby Township police officer has been charged with stalking and kidnapping after allegedly detaining two women he stopped in separate incidents, taking them to a park, and repeatedly asking one "what she could do" to avoid an arrest.

Christopher H. Scott, 34, of Berwyn, also was charged with assault, harassment, unlawful restraint, and related crimes, and was being held at the Delaware County jail on $50,000 bail, the District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

The affidavit of probable cause gives the following account:

On Saturday, a 23-year-old Upper Darby woman was driving from R.P. McMurphy's Tavern on MacDade Boulevard in Ridley Township shortly after 1:30 a.m. when she was pulled over by Scott for failing to stop and having an expired registration.

Scott instructed the woman to follow him in her car and drove to Crowell Park, in Springfield Township. He ordered her to perform a field sobriety test and then placed her in the back of his police car, repeatedly asking "what she could do to get out of this." The woman inferred that he was suggesting a "sexual favor," the affidavit said.

The woman told police she was crying and in fear for her safety.

Scott kept the unidentified woman in custody, driving her around and then back to the park before releasing her. He told her to drive home and he would follow her. Scott, however, said that instead, she drove into the park, and he followed her.

On Sunday, a second woman, also 23, was stopped by Scott around 2 a.m. while walking on Ashland Avenue in Glenolden. She admitted she had been drinking, and Scott placed her in the back of the police car. Scott drove her to a "secluded" area, instructed her to get out of the car, and performed a sobriety test. The crying woman asked to be taken home.

At 3 a.m., the boyfriend of the first victim happened to be walking past Crowell Park on his way home when he saw a Darby Township police car. He approached and saw that the officer matched the description of the policeman who had stopped his girlfriend. He called 911.

As the police car drove away, the boyfriend yelled that the officer was in Springfield Township, which was out of his jurisdiction, and tried to grab the driver's-side mirror.

Interviewed later, Scott admitted to investigators that he did not report the stops to the county Emergency Center or file incident reports, as is procedure, and admitted taking the second woman to Crowell Park.