DERRY, Pa. -- A Westmoreland County police chief is upset with how local children's services agents handled the situation after a mother and young son were killed by a train.
Three weeks ago Sheila Singer was crossing the train tracks in Derry when the wheel of the stroller carrying her 2-year-old son, John Smart, became stuck.
Both were killed by an approaching train, as Singer frantically worked to free the wheel.
Adding to the devastation was the fact that Singer's youngest two daughters witnessed the entire ordeal.
Derry's police chief, Randy Glick, told Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele that his first instinct was to help the surviving children. But he said that proved to be much more difficult than he ever imagined.
"So I had two victims that were deceased. And I had two small children that were uninjured and needed someone to take care of them," Glick said.
One Glick's first phone calls was to the Westmoreland Children's Bureau.
'I said, 'I need someone to respond to the scene to assist with these children.' And they said they weren't coming … I never got a reason," Glick said.
Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele asked the Children's Bureau for the reason why they turned down the chief an additional three more times.
The bureau refused an on-camera interview, but did tell Channel 4 they aren't allowed to take custody of children whose families aren't under investigation. They said they did assist by providing contact information for the children's relatives.
But that's not enough for County Commissioner Tom Ceraso.
"It would have been helpful if they sent someone out from the Children's Bureau, with the chief being tied up with the train accident. To have someone go out and help the situation out. We're trained to deal with children and so, in the future, they need to not take custody, but at least go out there and assist," Ceraso said.
The Children's Bureau now said its policies are under review.
This isn't the first time the Westmoreland Children's Bureau has made headlines.
In August Jeannette police said four boys who were hitchhiking to get away from their foster home had to wait at the police station for six hours before help arrived.
Police said the Westmoreland Children's Bureau passed the buck because they weren't handling the case. A foster agency hired by Allegheny County CYF was put on referral freeze after WTAE's story aired.
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