
VILLAS — On Oct. 7 at approximately 11:30 a.m., Lower Township police received a report of a domestic incident in the first block of Mckinley Avenue.
Upon arrival, Patrolman Michael Szemcsak entered the residence and observed Jerry Handlovsky, 45, of the 100 block of Mckinley Avenue, holding a large chef style knife up in the air. Also on scene was the reporting party/victim who is Handlovsky’s estranged wife.
Szemcsak immediately pulled his service weapon and advised Handlovsky to drop the knife. After several moments and multiple orders to drop the knife Hand lovsky stabbed the knife into the kitchen table after yelling at the officer to shoot him, police said.
Handlovsky then turned toward his wife and then picked up the knife again holding it on himself. Szemcsak attempted to take him into custody but backed off after he picked up the knife again.
Handlovsky then handed the knife to his estranged wife and while doing so cut his own hand. Corporal William Priole arrived on scene and cuffed the defendant while Szemcsak held him at gunpoint.
Lower Township Rescue Responded and provided emergency medical treatment and transported Handlovsky to the Cape Regional Medical Center escorted by police personnel.
Follow-up investigation revealed that the victim had left her residence to pickup Handlovsky so that he could attend a court hearing at Lower Township Municipal Court where he was charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated in July and August of 2008.
Upon proceeding to his residence, she discovered that he was not there and found him walking on a nearby street. Upon him entering the vehicle he advised her he was not going to court and then pulled out a fixed hunting style knife and told her to take him to her house, according to police.
At her house, Handlovsky made several threatening gestures toward himself and her and at one point put the hunting knife down on a table and the victim grabbed the knife and threw it over a fence in the backyard where it was recovered later by police.
Handlovsky then removed another knife from a kitchen drawer and was holding that knife at the time of police arrival as denoted above.
Handlovsky was arrested and charged with kidnapping, terroristic threats, criminal restraint and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Judge David DeWeese issued the warrant and Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten JSC set bail on the kidnapping charge at $100,000. The bail for the other listed charges was blanketed under the kidnapping bail.
Patrolman Michael Szemcsak, Patrolman William Barcus, Corporal Priole, Detective Joseph Boyle and Sergeant Dave Adams investigated the case.
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Comments (19)
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Thu, 10/16/2008 - 8:16pm
I happen to know jerry very well he is a very good guy . he was just having a bad day .and beleive u me , if he wanted to hurt her or that cop they would have been the ones bleeding not him. ps. ltpd is not under staffed. look at your taxes lower township.
Thu, 10/16/2008 - 11:43am
This is good news, another DUI *** is off the roads, perhaps for good !
Mon, 10/13/2008 - 10:41pm
***...good job stay safe bro. Its gettin ugly out there
Mon, 10/13/2008 - 11:48am
Once again people turn the comment section into a political arguement. Keep the politics else where. Good job SZEMCSAK, you showed more restraint than I would have.
Mon, 10/13/2008 - 7:08am
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:15 am Post subject:
This was posted by the President of the LTTA regarding the new Founding Fathers Organization. This President has been known to have campaigned door to door for Beck/Lare
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I do find it interesting that their website is a like a page out of the BECK/LARE
campaign...even so far as to say a government of the people, for the people and by the people......and more importantly BECK/LARE party "WE THE PEOPLE". Also the timing..3 weeks before the election??? They certainly espouse the same ideas of BECK/LARE with more community involvement in government and so forth
So I guess this is a new gimmick from the Beck camp to suck the people into his den of promises that never come. All it does for me is remind me that he started the Bennetts Crossing overpriced field and he is also the one to thank for our taxes being so high, because of the reval.
Sun, 10/12/2008 - 7:46pm
There's a new website in town called founding fathers. It appears to be built by the LTPD to pat themselves on the back. Just another good-ole-boy network shrouded in secrecy to pull the wool over the eyes of the stupid and gullible township residents. How ironic that the first person to get recognition is the LTPD. Those guys have too much time on their hands if this is what they spend taxpayer dollars on.
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 2:01pm
In a difficult position Patrolman Szemcsak showed undeniable restraint and intelligence. Mr. Handlovsky should be thanking him. The LTPD is understaffed and hard at work each day and night while we depend on them to keep us safe and sound. Faced with increased drug abuse, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and the state of our country my question is " Who takes care of our police officers?" Thank you, Ptlm Szemcsak and all the other officers.
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 12:44pm
to 1:00pm poster....i brought up mike becks name. no i do not work for LTPD. but you ask why every article about them beck's name gets brought up? ask your boy why in 5 different questions he was asked at canidates' night having nothing to do with LTPD, he reverted back to cutting police protection...EVERY response for EVERY question! he projects himself as a one dimentional canidate only concerned with destroying the township via cutting cops. and your survior comment...there are servicemen in iraq that say the neighborhoods they are patrolling are safer to walk down than in the villas. thats not BS, thats real. so i pose this question to you 1:00pm....is your last name beck? if its not, youre a friend of his, which means you didnt work for philly PD. we have a name for people like that in philadelphia...brother ****er
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 1:46pm
First of all, too all the people posting comments on here-you should be ashamed of yourself and what a disgrace you all are. You can't properly spell, you admit to being on welfare and drugs, and bash the LTPD! Lower Township used to be a nice qiuet community until all this "scum" moved in. Go back to Kensington and Wildwood where the "scumbags" belong!!! LTPD do a fantastic job keeping the township safe, and even though Mr. Handlovsky was wrong, the police did what was right and controlled a dangerous situation at that time. Domestic Violence situations are ALL different and the police did what they were trained in doing. For all these "spouters" your disgusting!!!
Get a job, get off welfare, (plenty of work around) and get off drugs and Lower Twp.
will be much safer. BTW, go back to Wildwood and Kensington!!! Scumsville!!
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 11:14am
I'm glad this turned out ok. Thank you LTPD you guys/girl always do an amazing job! Keep up the awesome work!
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 8:09am
hey I'm from Kensington and just because I live off of welfare and I cant pass a drug test doesnt make me a bad person...
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 11:30pm
To the poster of 10/09/08 at 1:00pm you obviously dont likw cops for certain reasons maybe cause your a trouble maker yourself theres a word ppl use for ppl like you "ScumBag".... Your a cop basher but once something happens to you or your family there the first ppl you call! How dare you go and talk so low about a situation like this.... Ppl are rediculous now adays! officer Szemcsak you did an awesome job! LTPD keep up the good work you guys are all doing a great job!!
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 9:28pm
10-9-08 at 1:00pm , i bet you are one of the typical villas low lifes.... how about you get a life and go *** yourself, we the people of lower township dont need low lifes like yourself bashing the police. so next time you end up in a position that mrs. handlovsky was in, dont call the police.. cause obvisouly you could of handled the situation... And actually the reason the police officer pursued the vehicle was because a dangerous man was on the loose.. you people that bash these fine young men protecting your children and your community really need to get a life.. GREAT JOB ONCE AGAIN LTPD
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 1:08pm
Kensington by-the-Sea is alive and well.
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 1:00pm
Come on people, are you going to bring up Beck on EVERY post about the LTPD? This is not a one issue election but I bet the LTPD are posting here to make it so. I hope when Beck gets in he takes away the LTPD internet connection to save some bucks. BTW, shouldn't you LTPD posters be chasing some Villas low-life in a high-speed chase through town in groups of over 3 with various titles like patrolmen, corporal, sergeant and detective? I wonder if the LTPD would know what to do if 3 patrolmen showed up instead? I bet the detective has the training to tell the patrolman that he should have cleared the kitchen of knives before attempting the apprehension of the knife-wielding low-life. So much drama in Villas that it should be the next Survivor location.
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 12:47pm
If Mike Beck gets elected, the headline of this story would be very, very different. Great job Patrolman Szemcsak...i wouldn't have had the control.
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 8:26am
Again, Lower Township Police department show great restraint during a very stressful incident. Ptl. Szemcsak could have taken this man life very easily to protect himself, but because of his excellent training he risk his own life to protect others. Great Job Ptls. Szemcsak, Barcus, Corporal Priole. Thanks for protecting us.
Wed, 10/08/2008 - 6:57pm
If I were Mr. Handlovsky i would be writing a THANK YOU note to officer Szemcsak
for showing great restraint in not shooting you. As i would think by reading the above
story he would be more than justified in doing so.
GREAT JOB Officer Szemcsak
Wed, 10/08/2008 - 2:38pm
What's gonna happen in that town when Mike Beck and Kevin Lare cut the Police Force? Is it finally going to give the opportunity for one of these scumbags to escape and grab one of our kids instead?