Criminal charges against former Republican Delaware County District Attorney candidate Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski were dismissed Thursday when Pennsylvania State Police troopers failed to appear for a preliminary hearing.
Stefanide-Miscichowski had been charged with three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors during an alleged “underage drinking party” at her Glen Mills home March 15, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Trooper Ross Greenwood.
She was also charged with one count each of corruption of a minor and threatening unlawful harm to influence a public servant, all misdemeanors, as well as a summary offense for disorderly conduct.
The hearing had been scheduled for 10 a.m. Magisterial District Judge David R. Griffin dismissed all charges at the request of defense attorney Mark Much at about 11:10 a.m.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Rebecca Anne Elo said afterward that she expects charges will be refiled.
Stefanide-Miscichowski and Much spent some time in a private area off the courtroom following the one-minute proceeding, but neither commented on the case upon exiting the Linwood district court.
According to the affidavit:
Greenwood and partner Joseph Sivo were on patrol at 11:19 p.m. when they were dispatched to a residence on the 200 block of Glen Mills Road. An anonymous 911 caller reported numerous cars parked on the road, as well as multiple juveniles carrying alcoholic beverages and walking in the road.
The troopers arrived a few minutes later and saw approximately 75 to 100 juveniles in the back yard of the property and a rear basement entrance. The rear door was open and a number of the juveniles fled upstairs and out the back door.
Sivo and Greenwood attempted to locate the owner of the house as additional units arrived and tried to keep the juveniles from running into the road or operating vehicles while consuming alcohol.
Sivo located Stefanide-Miscichowski in the kitchen with a group of adults. She demanded to know why Sivo was there and when he told her, she related that there were only 30 kids at her residence, all in college.
Stefanide-Miscichowski said she was not aware that there were 100 juveniles in her house or how alcohol had gotten into the house. Sivo detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Stefanide-Miscichowski.
She accompanied Sivo down the porch steps to observe all the alcoholic beverages in the yard and cases in the basement. At that point, Stefanide-Miscichowski became “aggressive” with troopers, telling them, “You have no right to be on my property. Get off my property.”
As Sivo and Greenwood left the residence after collecting information from Stefanide-Miscichowski, she followed them to the patrol car and yelled “vulgar comments.”
“Do you know who I am, I ran for district attorney of Delaware County. I know a lot of people. You better watch out,” she said, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit details several other troopers assisting in rounding up juveniles aged 16-18, many of whom said they were consuming alcohol or that others were consuming alcohol at the party that night and that it had been provided to them by the homeowner.
Numerous other juveniles ran into the woods between Glen Mills Road and Chelsea Court. Troopers cleared out of the area by 1:30 a.m.
Greenwood contacted Deputy District Attorney Doug Rhoads on March 26, who requested that he send over all evidence, the 911 call and the report.
That evidence was turned over to the attorney general’s office and Elo approved charges May 10. Court records indicate charges were filed June 18.
Stefanide-Miscichowski was originally scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Griffin on July 25, but the case was postponed to Thursday. Much said he requested that delay.
Stefanide-Miscichowski, 56, previously worked at the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office for six years before retiring as supervisor of the juvenile division in 2002. She now has her own practice in Media specializing in estate planning and elder law.
One of her main platform planks in the 2023 district attorney’s race was that the county had seen a “skyrocketing” crime rate under Democrat Jack Stollsteimer, though he dismissed those claims as inaccurate. Stollsteimer retained the seat by a 60-40 margin.
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