By Lexi Belculfine / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
A City of Washington police
officer was charged today with warning a prostitute about undercover details,
the county district attorney's office announced.
Joshua Rush, 39, of Canonsburg,
a 10-year veteran of the Washington Police Department, faces a misdemeanor
count each of obstructing administration of law, hindering prosecution by
warning the actor and recklessly endangering another person, court records
show.
"Today’s arrest should not
be viewed as a reflection on other police officers in Washington. The
Washington Police Department immediately investigated information which given
to them by another police officer and took the appropriate action, District
Attorney Eugene Vittone said in a prepared statement.
While police were targeting the
area of Hall Avenue, Church Street and North Franklin Street -- known for a
high volume of prostitution -- on in the early morning of Sept. 17, they
detained a woman who offered an undercover officer sexual favors for money,
according to a criminal complaint.
The woman asked to call Officer
Rush and showed officers text messages they'd exchanged. Officer Rush told her
he was distracting his supervisor from arresting prostitutes so the woman
wouldn't be charged, the criminal complaint states.
Police obtained a search
warrant to view the phone's contents.
Between Aug. 22 and Sept. 17,
the woman asked Officer Rush to provide details of undercover operations, prior
warning and protection from arrests. He responded with descriptions of
undercover operations and vehicles being used by undercover officers.
Officer Rush's attorney Joseph
Francis said, "I'm pretty confident the evidence will show he did not
jeopardize any of this fellow officers. He has too much respect for his fellow
officers and the badge."
The woman told police she met
Officer Rush during a 2007 arrest, and they have been in a sexual relationship
for about five years, according to the criminal complaint. She would contact
him when she was coming to Washington to engage in prostitution and to meet.
Texts between the two included
requests for naked pictures and photos of the officer in uniform, the criminal
complaint states.
Mr. Francis said he is looking
into Officer Rush's relationship with the woman and "whether it affected
his police work."
Officer Rush was arraigned
before Magisterial District Judge Robert Redlinger and bond was set at $
10,000.
Mr. Francis said he did not
know Officer Rush's status with the department, and no police representatives
could be reached for comment. It was unclear if the woman, who has been
arrested multiple times since 2002 for prostitution and narcotics possession,
faces charges in this case.
