By Patrick Svitek
A former D.C. police officer
was sentenced Friday to 40 hours of community service and six months of
probation for taking nearly $1,000 in money orders from a woman who was under
arrest, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Alexander Rodriguez, 33,
pleaded guilty in November to second-degree theft, agreeing to pay the woman
$1,200 in restitution and to resign after more than five years working for the
department, authorities said.
The incident followed a traffic
accident involving the woman in the early morning hours of July 4 near the
intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, according to the U.S.
Attorney’s office. Authorities said that after the woman was arrested on
suspicion of driving under the influence, Rodriguez stole two money orders
worth $962 from the woman’s purse and failed to list them on an inventory of
her possessions.
Rodriguez was caught after the
woman was released from jail, picked up her property and noticed the money
orders were missing, authorities said. She traced them through Western Union
and learned they had been cashed by a person later identified as Rodriguez,
according to prosecutors.
D.C. Superior Court Judge John
McCabe imposed a 90-day sentence but suspended it as long as Rodriguez
completes the terms of his probation, authorities said.
