In
narcotics probe, one officer fired, others suspended
By
Mike Newall and Aubrey Whelan, Inquirer Staff Writers
POSTED:
MAY 14, 2014
A
Philadelphia narcotics officer who lied on a search warrant in a drug
investigation and concealed a business relationship with an informant has been
suspended for 30 days with the intent to dismiss, Police Commissioner Charles
H. Ramsey said Monday.
Jeffrey
Cujdik will be fired, and three officers will be suspended and transferred from
the narcotics squad, he said.
Cujdik
and three of his colleagues have been on desk duty for five years, since a 2009
series in the Philadelphia Daily News reported that they had fabricated
evidence, given gifts to informants, and robbed bodegas of cash and
merchandise.
The
newspaper also reported that one of the officers, Thomas Tolstoy, assaulted
three women sexually. A criminal investigation into those allegations is
ongoing.
Ramsey's
actions come after federal and local law enforcement officials declined to
bring criminal charges against the officers.
Federal
authorities spent four years investigating allegations of falsified warrants
and thefts from bodegas, and in March 2013, declined to file criminal charges.
The U.S. Attorney's Office cited a lack of evidence and problems with
witnesses' credibility.
After
it became clear that no criminal charges would be filed in connection with the
alleged thefts and falsified warrants, the department began an internal
investigation to see whether the officers had violated department policy. That
inquiry, which concluded last month, sustained eight findings of misconduct
against the squad.
Ramsey
said he took into account "the seriousness of the accusations" and
also the time that had elapsed.
"This
is a black mark on the department," he said. He stressed that the
wrongdoing did not reflect on the "overwhelming majority of officers"
on the force, but rather on "a few who lost sight of the values of the
department."
Cujdik,
a 17-year veteran and the scandal's most public face, will receive the most
severe punishment.
Two
other officers were suspended for 30 days, the harshest punishment Ramsey could
levy other than termination, he said. Another officer and a supervisor also
face suspensions.
Efforts
to reach Cujdik and the other officers were unsuccessful Monday. John McNesby,
president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said, "We are aware
of the pending discipline and will be speaking to the commissioner in the
coming days."
Tolstoy
will be suspended for 30 days for giving gifts to informants and lying to
investigators about it, Ramsey said. Tolstoy could not be reached for comment.
The
District Attorney's Office is reviewing two sexual assault allegations against
Tolstoy. Ramsey said Monday that the officer would not return to street duty
while that investigation is pending.
The
department investigated three allegations by women who said Tolstoy sexually
assaulted them during drug raids. In two of those cases, Ramsey said, Internal
Affairs found insufficient evidence to support the women's accounts.
In
the third case, which was reviewed by a federal grand jury, DNA evidence did
not match Tolstoy, the commissioner said.
Officer
Robert McDonnell will be suspended for 30 days and transferred to a different
squad for fabricating evidence on a search warrant, Ramsey said.
Officer
Richard Cujdik, Jeffrey Cujdik's brother, will be suspended for two days and
transferred to another squad for searching a bodega owner's van without a
warrant, he said. His supervisor at the time, Capt. Joseph Bologna, will be
suspended for three days for failure to properly supervise.
Jeffrey
Cujdik's misconduct was the most extensive and thus his punishment the most
severe, Ramsey said.
According
to people familiar with the inquiry, investigators found that Jeffrey Cujdik
and McDonnell intentionally fabricated evidence on one warrant.
Investigators
say they believe Jeffrey Cujdik often attributed buys to an informant who was
renting a house from him so he could use his reward money to pay rent. The
department found Cujdik had violated guidelines by allowing the informant to
live in his house, and cited Cujdik for lying about it.
Internal
Affairs investigators also found that Cujdik and Tolstoy gave informants
cigarettes, money, cellphones, and prepaid phone cards, sources said.
One
informant called Cujdik a "true friend" who had made several small
loans to the informant's girlfriend, according to investigators.
Another
informant said Cujdik have him clothing, alcohol, and money for cases he had
not worked on, investigators said.
A
third informant said Cujdik gave her mother $300 to bail her out of jail,
sources said.
The
investigators concluded that both officers lied when asked about the gift-giving.
Richard
Cujdik admitted to investigators that he had searched a van without a warrant
in the raid of a bodega. The department cited Bologna for failing to supervise
him.
One
bodega owner captured video of the officers cutting wires to security cameras
during a raid, according to sources. Bologna, the supervisor, told
investigators the camera was dismantled for safety reasons - to protect
plainclothes officers' identities.
The
cameras were seized as evidence and placed on a property receipt - standard procedure,
the officers told investigators.
There
was no department policy at the time on dismantling security cameras, so
investigators concluded the officers had not violated any departmental
policies. Investigators did, however, recommend that the department establish a
clear policy on such practices.
Former Centerville police officer charged with burglary, heroin possession
BY SCOTT BEVERIDGE
CENTERVILLE – A former Centerville police officer was arrested by state police Tuesday on charges he broke into his grandmother’s house and stole $275 from a pouch on her walker while she was asleep.
Joseph Impiccini Jr., 36, of 230 Low Hill Road in Centerville, became a suspect in the case after the woman awoke and found his ball cap on a chair in her residence, state police noted in the affidavit supporting the charges.
Police said it appeared a piece of metal was used to pop off a lock on a sliding glass door to enter the victim’s Centerville residence. It was about the same time, 11 p.m. Monday, when another relative noticed him in the victim’s driveway, the court record indicates.
When a trooper went to Impiccini’s residence Tuesday, he confessed to stealing the money in order buy heroin, police say. He allegedly had three stamp bags of the drug in his possession at the time.
Impiccini, who rose to the rank of corporal after working for Centerville police for three years, was removed from the police schedule in May 2003 after wrecking a cruiser. Four months later, he was arrested by the state attorney general’s office and later sentenced in Fayette County Court to its Intermediate Punishment Program for possessing $80 worth of heroin. He also was sentenced in Washington County Court to three years of probation after pleading guilty in 2008 to forging six checks written out to laid-off employees of Impiccini School Bus Lines in Centerville.
State police on Tuesday charged him with burglary, drug possession, theft and receiving stolen property. He was placed in Washington County Jail on $25,000 bond set by District Judge Joshua Kanalis.
Ex
Rockford Cop Sentenced To 8 Years After DUI Crash
Alexis
McAdams
Daniel
Cruz came face to face with the women he ran off the road while driving drunk
back in 2012. Women he tried to run away from, when they needed the then police
officer's help the most.
ROCKFORD
- Daniel Cruz, the former Rockford Police officer who pled guilty to aggravated
drinking and driving, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison. Police say in
May 2012, Cruz was passing an SUV in a no-passing zone southbound on Beloit
Road when he struck a pick-up truck and collided with the SUV near Townhall
Road. All four passengers of the SUV were taken to the hospital, one of the
passengers 61 year old Suzie Danielson was paralyzed from the neck down as a
result of a spinal cord injury. Following the crash, Cruz began walking away
from the scene and was stopped by a firefighter approximately ¾ of a mile from
the accident scene. Cruz refused all chemical testing. A search warrant was
then obtained for an involuntary blood draw. Lab results later revealed Cruz’s
blood alcohol content to be .14 grams per deciliter. Cruz was a 13 year veteran
of the Rockford Police Department who was off duty at the time of the crash. He
is no longer with the Department. His ex wife pled with the judge to give Cruz probation,
so that he would be able to see his children.
On
the stand, Sarah Cerenhous remembers May 2, 2012. She was on the way home with
three friends, when they were run off of Beloit Road. “We went to the right
Suzie flew over me to the left and I grabbed her so she did not fly out of the
car.”
The
three car crash would leave one of her friends paralyzed. The man that caused
the crash was Rockford police officer Daniel Cruz. The victims testified that
Cruz checked on them. “Oh cool, you guys are all okay…at which point, Suzie’s
head was on my lap and her body was laying across the back seat, and I started
screaming; we are not okay, we are not okay!" said Cerenhous
Dash
Cam video then shows Cruz leaving the scene. You can see him on the Right side
of the video walking away, phone in hand. He also lied to a firefighter about
being the driver. “Stop right there, you lied to me, you are the driver of the
car that we have been looking for.” Said Frank Perez
Through
tears, Cruz’s ex-wife asked the judge for probation so could be around for his
kids. “The kids are his world, and he is there world. Their dad is their
superman.” Said Angela Cruz.
Cruz proceeded to ask the judge to show him mercy, saying he has changed since
crash. “Your honor, please show me mercy.”
The
judge sentenced to eight years in prison, a sentence prosecutors agree with.
“He
left the scene of that accident, and he could have provided those people help.
He made that choice, and we believe that this punishment meets the crime.” Said
Michelle Courier, Boone County States Attorney
HPD
officer found guilty of DUI
Haskel
Burns
A
Hattiesburg Police Department officer involved in a 2013 vehicle accident that
left a 3-year-old injured has been found guilty of driving under the influence
and one count of endangering a child by DUI.
Petal
court clerk Michelle Strebeck said Zachary Rooke was adjudicated May 6 and has
been ordered to pay an undisclosed fine with no jail time.
“He’s
got fines on each one of those charges to pay,” Strebeck said. “Of course, as
you would anywhere, he has the opportunity to appeal his case, and he’s got 30
days to do that.”
Rooke
was charged with first-offense driving under the influence July 7, when
officers responded to an accident on the Evelyn Gandy Parkway near the Leeville
Road intersection.
Then-Petal
Police Department Detective Mitch Nobles said Rooke was allegedly driving a
utility task vehicle, or four-wheeled side-by side motorized buggy, at the time
of the single-vehicle accident.
Rooke
had at least one other passenger with him — a 3-year-old who was transported
from the scene to receive medical treatment. Nobles declined to release the
condition of the child as well as the injuries the child sustained, citing an
ongoing investigation into the incident.
Rooke
was honored two years in a row at HPD’s annual awards ceremony for leading the
department in misdemeanor arrests, with 129 in 2011 and 203 in 2012.
HPD
Maj. Hardy Sims declined to confirm whether Rooke is still employed with the
police department.
“That’s
a personnel matter, and that’s where we’re going to leave it,” he said.