The superintendent of Oswayo Valley School District has been placed on administrative leave following an arrest late April 15 on allegations including fleeing from police while allegedly driving drunk.
Jed T. Hamberger, 36, of Bradford, was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, a third-degree felony; DUI-highest rate of alcohol, and DUI-general impairment, both misdemeanors; and summary traffic offenses reckless driving, failing to keep right and not using low beam.
On Thursday, the school board of Oswayo Valley released a statement on the school district’s website regarding the incident.
“The Board of Directors of the Oswayo Valley School District is aware of the criminal charges filed against the Superintendent, Jed Hamberger, relating to an incident on April 15, 2022,” the statement read. “Mr. Hamberger has been placed on administrative leave effective April 19, 2022, while the Board reviews the matter and the criminal case further develops.”
In a separate notice on the site, the board announced a special meeting for personnel matters to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the OV Elementary School gymnasium in Shinglehouse. There was no indication given as to whether Tuesday’s meeting would be in regard to the superintendent’s position.
According to a Foster Township police press release, an officer was on patrol at approximately 10:20 p.m. Friday on South Kendall Avenue in Bradford when a vehicle traveling in the opposite lane nearly struck the officer’s vehicle head-on.
“The officer was able to make an evasive movement to avoid colliding with the suspect’s vehicle,” the police department’s press release stated.
The officer made a U-turn and activated his emergency lights.
“At that point, the same vehicle sped up and failed to come to a yield for the officer’s emergency lights,” the release stated. “The suspect vehicle was pursued into the city of Bradford.”
Shortly after entering the city limits, the suspect’s vehicle left the roadway, struck a telephone pole and a large pile of rocks in front of a residence on South Kendall, where the vehicle came to rest.
The officer conducted an investigation and the operator of the crashed vehicle was identified as Hamberger. Through investigation, police said, the operator “was believed to be driving under the influence of alcohol.”
Hamberger was arraigned at 1 a.m. Saturday by District Judge Dom Cercone and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 1 before District Judge Rich Luther.
He is represented in the criminal case by Edinboro attorney Grant Travis.
