A former Schuylkill County police officer and candidate for Sheriff is accused of scratching the vehicle of his then-estranged wife’s boyfriend in Monroe County last November.
Court documents filed in late-October reveal that Doug Litwhiler, 41, of Ringtown, is alleged to have gone to Great Wolf Lodge in Pocono Township, Monroe County, on Nov. 10-11, 2024, when his estranged wife and her boyfriend were staying there.
Litwhiler was terminated from the position of Police Officer-in-Charge by East Union Township supervisors at their meeting in October. He was also the Republican candidate for Schuylkill County Sheriff in 2021.
Police in Pocono Township, Monroe County, say they were dispatched to Great Wolf Lodge on Nov. 11, 2024, to respond to a complaint that a guest’s vehicle had been scratched and two of its tires slashed.
Following an investigation, police say they identified Litwhiler as the suspect responsible for the damage.
According to their affidavit, an officer responding to the call met with the victim, who reported that he and his girlfriend had stayed at Great Wolf Lodge on the night of Nov. 10, 2024.
As they were preparing to leave the next day, he noticed a deep scratch running from the front driver’s side door to the rear quarter panel of his black Dodge Ram pickup. Two tires on the driver’s side were also slashed — one completely flat, the other slowly leaking air.
The victim replaced the flat tire before police arrived. Officers photographed the damage, noting the extensive scratch and tire slashes. The vehicle was registered to a company where the victim serves as general manager.
During the investigation, the victim and his girlfriend told police that Litwhiler had made threatening remarks about their relationship earlier in the day on Nov. 10.
Police said they contacted Great Wolf Lodge security and reviewed surveillance and license plate reader (LPR) data. Around 6:44 p.m. on Nov. 10, cameras captured a black SUV entering the parking lot near the victim’s vehicle. Security video allegedly showed a man matching the same clothing description walking near the truck before returning to the SUV. A second person, who has not been identified or charged, got out of the passenger seat and approached the victim’s vehicle for several minutes before both left the area.
Investigators traced the black SUV to another individual, while records showed Litwhiler’s personal vehicle — a gray or silver Saturn — entering and leaving the resort’s property on Nov. 11, around the same time the victim discovered the damage.
When police later spoke with Litwhiler by phone, he denied being at Great Wolf Lodge on Nov. 10, saying he had been at a local bar watching football that evening. He initially told police he visited the resort the following day only to “check it out,” then changed his explanation, claiming he wanted to speak with his wife but decided against it.
Police obtained a search warrant for Litwhiler’s cell phone records. Data collected from Verizon Wireless and analyzed through cell tower tracking placed his phone — and his personal vehicle — in the area of Great Wolf Lodge at the same times noted in the surveillance footage.
According to police, the cost of the damage to the victim’s vehicle totaled more than $4,100. Litwhiler has been charged with a second-degree misdemeanor for conspiracy to commit criminal mischief.
CLARIFICATION: This article is updated to reflect that Litwhiler has been charged with conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, not solely criminal mischief
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