A former Fallowfield Township police officer is in jail today after he was formally charged Tuesday with stealing drugs from a case he investigated.
Allen E. Pettit, 46, of 824 Maple St., Harwick, was charged with theft by unlawful taking or disposition, perjury, hindering apprehension or prosecution, tampering with or fabricating evidence and obstructing the law.
The case against Pettit stems from 2006, when he arrested Charles Paith, 26, of Van Voorhis. During the raid of Paith's house, Pettit seized 5 ounces of cocaine and nearly a pound of marijuana.
Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani said Pettit is the last person to have custody of the drugs when he picked them up from a state police laboratory in March 2006.
The drugs were discovered missing when Pettit allegedly falsely testified in court during an April 2007 hearing that the evidence had been destroyed.
Toprani declined comment on the status of Paith's prosecution.
Washington County Chief County Detective Mike Aaron served an arrest warrant on Pettit in Springdale Township.
He was arraigned before Cheswick District Magisterial Judge David J. Sosovicka and remanded to the Washington County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 straight cash bond.
Pettit faces a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Larry Hopkins in Charleroi at 2:45 p.m. Nov. 7.
Pettit resigned from the Fallowfield police department, where he was captain, in 2006.
In July 2007, he pleaded guilty to a charge of theft for using his municipal gas card to fill his private vehicle.
He was placed on probation for 12 months in the wake of that incident.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_595689.html
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