PA Chief Charged With Harassing Secretary

A Dauphin County deputy fire chief asked his department’s secretary for a “mustache ride” and made sexual comments about her body for months while they volunteered at the firehouse, court documents said.

Dustin M. Shenfeld, 29, was charged with harassment May 13 for his alleged treatment of the woman at Citizens Fire Co. No. 1 of Highspire, a department that recently closed to undergo leadership changes.

Shenfeld regularly made comments like, “Why don’t you ever show your body?” and inappropriate remarks about how she dressed, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The woman told Highspire police she held off filing a complaint because she did not want it to affect her membership in the fire department, according to the affidavit. Police said the harassment began in mid 2021 and continued into 2022, despite her asking him to stop.

Highspire police said Shenfeld admitted to sending the woman a Snapchat photo of himself with a sexually-charged caption.

Shenfeld told investigators his comments were only jokes, according to the affidavit.

Middletown police said Shenfeld pulled out his penis in the home of a woman he knew in late April, weeks before he was charged with harassment, according to another affidavit.

The affidavit said Shenfeld dropped off baby wipes at the woman’s home April 26, then exposed himself and said, “It’s not gonna kill you to lay here for 30 seconds. It’s the least you can do for me since I brought wipes.”

He previously Snapchatted the woman about having sex, and she said no, the affidavit said.

Shenfeld is charged with indecent exposure, a second-degree misdemeanor, for the alleged Middletown incident. The Highspire harassment charge is a third-degree misdemeanor.

Citizens Fire Co. announced earlier last week that it would no longer respond to calls until some changes were made.

In an email to PennLive, Highspire Public Safety director Mark Stonbraker said the decision came after several years of struggles with leadership, plus “a number of concerns have been recently brought to Borough Council’s attention as to how the firefighters were responding to calls and the lack of leadership and direction at fire scenes.”

In addition to fire training for all of the department’s volunteers, Stonbraker said he anticipations a reorganization of the supervisors including bringing in an outside chief. The department will still host fundraisers and its social hall will continue operation during the closure.

Lower Swatara Township, Steelton, and Middletown fire companies are temporarily handling emergency calls in Highspire Borough.

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