Ex-Hellertown Police Chief Robert W. Shupp III walks toward the entrance to Northampton County District Court 03-2-11 in Bethlehem Wednesday, where he waived his preliminary hearing on charges related to his alleged theft of more than $120,000 from the borough during his tenure as chief. Shupp’s case will now be heard by the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas, where his next court date is scheduled for early September.
Hellertown borough’s former police chief appeared in Northampton County District Court 03-2-11 in Bethlehem Wednesday, where he waived his scheduled preliminary hearing on felony theft and other charges. Waiving the right to a preliminary hearing allows for the case to proceed to the county court level, which is where it will now be heard.
Ex-Hellertown Police Chief Robert W. Shupp III arrives for his preliminary hearing in Bethlehem Wednesday afternoon. Shupp, who was accompanied by his attorney Gary Asteak, entered a not guilty plea before waiving the hearing.
Robert W. Shupp III, 47, of Bushkill Township, appeared with his attorney, Gary Asteak, at Wednesday’s 1 p.m. hearing before Judge Nicholas Englesson.
He confirmed his address before entering a plea of not guilty and waiving the preliminary hearing. Englesson confirmed that Shupp remains free on what is known as ROR (released on recognizance) bail, which does not require that a surety be posted. Shupp’s next court date is Thursday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. in the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas in Easton, Englesson said.
Shupp is accused of stealing more than $120,000 from the borough during his employment as chief, which ended with his resignation last October. At the time, borough officials said they were investigating “discrepancies” in his payroll.
In a criminal complaint filed in December, authorities said their investigation into the discrepancies revealed that Shupp fraudulently submitted more than 1,600 hours of comp time for which he was paid more than $81,000 from 2020 through 2023, and that he allegedly stole nearly $20,000 in seized funds from a safe that was in his office as well as $23,000 in petty cash. According to the complaint, he created sham requests for petty cash for use in undercover drug investigations.
Over the past six months, the charges against the ex-chief have become a significant source of concern for borough residents and officials. Borough council recently released a specially-commissioned report on the Hellertown Police Department that described serious staffing deficiencies, a leadership vacuum which the report’s authors–the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association–traced to Shupp’s tenure and the physical deficiencies of the current police headquarters.
The report also included recommendations for potentially costly reforms.
Borough council finance committee member Andrew Hughes recently said that implementing the recommendations would potentially require a tax hike of more than 40 percent on borough property owners.
Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty. This story was compiled using information from the Hellertown Police Department and Northampton County court records.
