By Rob Wheary
SHAMOKIN - The chairman of the city housing authority board has been the subject of criticism and innuendo since a June incident at the Raspberry Hill Housing Complex.
Two residents accused Raymond "Jerry" Splane of shining high-beam headlights into their homes, frightening children and prompting a call to police. No charges were filed, but the issue recently surfaced when a city landlord lodged complaints against the authority on an unrelated matter at a city council meeting.
Splane, who said he welcomed the chance to present his side publicly, denies any wrongdoing and said he was patrolling the complex, including checking vehicle license plate numbers, as part of the authority's efforts to crack down on fraud.
City Police Chief Edward Griffiths said police did an incident report on the Raspberry Hill complaint, and presented that information to the county district attorney's office.
"It was determined there was not enough evidence to continue with the case," Griffiths said Thursday. "We did have a conversation with the authority's solicitor and advised him to inform Splane that it might not be a good idea for him to be up there."
Splane, 72, who said he was never interviewed by police, maintains his innocence.
"I never peeped in a window, and at no time did I ever leave my truck," he said.
The incident, meanwhile, was noted by Shamokin landlord Barry Getchey in his recent public assault of the authority. Splane said Getchey wrote "Raymond Splane, Peeping Tom" on one side of a placard during one of his recent one-man pickets outside the authority building in downtown Shamokin and inside a local business.
Police called
According to the incident report, two female residents of the complex reported to police at 9:50 p.m. June 23 that a male was shining his truck lights into their homes.
At the scene, investigating officer Nathan Rhodes spoke with one female who said she was on her porch with company when Splane allegedly circled the complex twice in his truck. He turned his high beams on while the lights were shining inside her home; her children were inside, she told police.
The woman said Splane repeated the pattern and then double-parked and sat in his vehicle for several minutes. The female told Rhodes it was an ongoing problem, and that her children are afraid of "the man in the white truck."
She also claimed that, two months prior, Splane sat in front of her home at midnight.
On that same date, a second female reported she was putting food away in the kitchen when her daughter yelled "Stranger Danger is looking into our house." Upon looking, she told police Splane was parked in front of her house, but that he drove away when she opened her front door.
The woman said Splane stopped on Grant Street and turned his interior truck light on, but soon came back and pulled in front of her home, saying he was doing vehicle checks.
Splane's side
Splane said he was investigating claims of fraud being perpetuated by one of the victims.
"The one person had the father of her two children staying with them, but wasn't on the lease. This was reported to me by three residents," Splane said. "So we started to monitor this on a daily basis."
The individual being watched tried not parking his vehicle at the complex and even confronted Splane at one point during the summer, he said.
"We had a long conversation and I asked him if he wanted to stay there, why doesn't he just get on the lease?" Splane said. "He told me it would cost them too much money."
On June 23, Splane said he was at the visitors' lot checking license plates and looking for parking stickers with his high beams on to see the stickers better, and then entered the residents' parking area.
"When you come down the hill from the visitors parking area into the complex, I had forgotten that I had my high beams on, and the one residence is directly across from the hill, so that's why it shined in," Splane said.
The idea of him being a Peeping Tom is ridiculous, he said.
"If you wanted to peep at someone, why would you shine a light in on them? You would do it in the dark," he said.
Splane believes the complaints are revenge tactics, with one victim being under the influence of her boyfriend, who has since been banned from the complex, and the other being upset over a newly adopted policy that affected her children.
"(The second woman) wrote to the housing authority, asking us about doing something about the scooters and skateboards in the parking lot. We took action and banned the scooters and skateboards, according to the city code," Splane said. "She then came to next month's meeting, complaining that she spent $379 for her daughter's scooter and now can't use it."
The first woman recently met with authority executive director Ron Miller and thanked him for making things better by banning the father.
"She never realized how bad it was until he was gone," Miller said.
'Things are better'
This same woman, who asked not to be identified, told The News-Item Friday that she has spoken with Splane since June 23 and that things are better. Still, she said, she doesn't have any regrets about calling police.
"These incidents were happening on almost a daily basis," she said. "Living alone with two small children and seeing this happen, you have no idea what people's intentions are. It's definitely gotten better and I haven't seen him too much lately."
Signs are posted that certain areas are for resident parking only, and that any unauthorized vehicles will be towed.
In July, the authority did not renew a security agreement with city police; instead, two private security guards were hired to patrol the area at night, one of them working four hours a day.
The guards can't make arrests, Miller said previously, and they're instructed to avoid confrontations and call police if needed. Miller has said the authority was planning to install security cameras.
Splane said the cameras will not only show any wrongdoing, but eliminate problems such as the one in which he is embroiled.
"Anybody can say anything they want about you, but I was only doing my job," he said. "As the chairman of the authority, when Ron is not around, I'm in charge. We are trying to clean up this area and we are succeeding."