A Hornell City Police officer has been arrested in connection the June
theft of $15,000 from the department’s evidence room.
Jennifer A. Speed, 39, of Hornell was charged by the Steuben County
District Attorney with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree tampering with
public records, two counts of first-degree falsifying business records and two
counts of tampering with physical evidence.
According to the district attorney, the cash went missing in June. The
money had been taken into evidence in conjunction with the March 2012 arrest of
Steven Brockway, who was charged with attempted murder.
The money had been forfeited and was to be used to pay the medical expenses
of Brockway’s victim. State Police were called in to investigate the missing
cash and in December, a Steuben County Grand Jury issued a sealed indictment
and arrest warrant.
Speed, currently on leave, was the senior evidence custodian at the time of
the offenses. She was sent to Steuben County Jail without bail and is to be
arraigned in Steuben County Court.