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Grand jury: No police coverup in Bristol Twp.

A Bucks County grand jury investigating allegations that Bristol Township police officers covered up another officer's drunken-driving accident found no evidence of it, according to a report unveiled Thursday by the District Attorney's Office.

A Bucks County grand jury investigating allegations that Bristol Township police officers covered up another officer's drunken-driving accident found no evidence of it, according to a report unveiled Thursday by the District Attorney's Office.

Instead, the report criticized the original source of the allegations, Township Manager William McCauley, describing him as a manipulative and unethical bully who levied baseless allegations against officers he didn't like to harm their careers.

"It appears that Mr. McCauley used his unfettered power to degrade the reputation of the involved police officers to forward his own agenda," the 37-page report said.

No criminal charges were recommended against McCauley, but the report was blunt in describing his conduct. The grand jury concluded that McCauley used the incident to bulldoze his way through the Police Department and ensure that his preferred lieutenant became acting chief.

In a statement Thursday night, McCauley called the grand jury report "character assassination and a total hatchet job." He said he had been trying to bring change to the "political cesspool" of Bristol Township, but met resistance from various parties - including, he insinuated, the District Attorney's Office.

"I will not allow the district attorney to stop me from performing the duties and responsibilities of my job," he said.

According to the report, the grand jury investigation began when county detectives learned that McCauley had hired a lawyer to investigate an off-duty accident by Sgt. Kevin Burns in late 2014.

Burns, the report said, had driven his car into a parked car near his home. He had been drinking that night, the report said, but was cleared by township police as safe to drive after the crash.

The grand jury also subsequently concluded Burns had not been driving under the influence. But the accident prompted McCauley to launch an internal investigation, the report said.

The grand jury found that McCauley's investigation was an attempt to smear certain officers and ensure that a "yes-man" became acting chief.

Ultimately, McCauley got his preferred chief, promoting Lt. Ralph Johnson after demoting acting Chief John Godzieba in December, the report said.