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Ex-officer admits to stealing, lying
Former Fallowfield Township police Capt. Allen E. Pettit admitted Tuesday that he stole drugs from the department's evidence locker and then lied in court about what happened to those drugs.
Pettit, 47, of 824 Maple St., Harwick, Allegheny County, formerly of South Franklin Township, pleaded guilty before Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky to theft and perjury.
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Pettit also will receive credit for the nearly 6 months of jail time he has served since his arrest in October.
Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of hindering apprehension, tampering with evidence and obstructing the administration of law in exchange for Pettit's plea.
He was charged for stealing nearly a pound of marijuana and 5 ounces of cocaine from the Fallowfield Township police deparment. The drugs were confiscated during a February 1, 2006, raid on a Van Voohris residence.
Pettit's arrest stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Washington County district attorney's office after the Observer-Reporter learned that prosecutors were considering dropping charges against Charles Paith, who was arrested in the 2006 drug raid, because the evidence was missing.
Prosecutors were concerned that they could not try the case against Paith unless Pettit would testify to the missing drugs. However, Pettit's background posed problems.
Pettit resigned from the township police department in October 2006 amid an investigation into his use of the township credit card to purchase gasoline for himself and a friend.
In July 2007, Pettit pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to 12 months of probation.
Pettit never reported his conviction to the Municipal Police Officers Training and Education Commission, which oversees certification for municipal police officers.
Pettit also failed to give the information to Springdale Township Police Department, where he had been working as a part-time officer. Pettit was immediately released from the force.
Meanwhile, the investigation determined that Pettit had repeatedly lied about the drugs.
In April 18, 2007, during a suppression hearing on the Paith case before Judge John DiSalle, Pettit testified that the drugs had been destroyed because cases against four other defendants were dismissed and the police department forgot that Paith's case was ongoing.
In September 2007, Pettit left two voice mail messages on former District Attorney Gene Vittone's cell phone stating that he couldn't find the drugs and he believed that they were destroyed by former police Chief William Ritenour. Vittone was the district attorney in charge of prosecuting the case at that time.
Ritenour denied destroying any drugs prior to his retirement, while Vittone was able to produce the calls made to him by Pettit.
At Pettit's preliminary hearing, several men testified that they had consumed drugs provided to them by Pettit.
Those men were prepared to testify against Pettit at trial, said Assistant District Attorney Josh Carroll.
The case against Paith is still pending as prosecutors try to determine if they can proceed without the drugs as evidence, said Carroll.
sentence a joke! : 4/1/2009
this is a joke,the officer stole these drugs,has the more serious charges dropped, then gets a sweet program at 25% off his sentence
pettit : 4/1/2009
pettit a criminal of the worest kind (one that had a shield) 1-2 year is not nearly enough for this piece of garbage. Another testiment to how weak the DA's office to even put a deal like this on the table.
Lets compare : 4/1/2009
The DA's office is weak according to the past two posters, but under Johnny Pettit, Pettit got NO jail time. Now there are dirty cops being nailed everywhere in the county. Should Alan Pettit have gotten more? Sure. But this was a pretty good and there are still charges pending. Pleas happen and at least he is going to jail. 25% means he could get down to 1 1/2 years rather than 2 years. Lets not forgot that this is a vast improvement.
bad cop/no donut : 4/1/2009
He must have worked at Smith Twp. PD. prior to working there. Thats my guess....
Lets compare : 4/1/2009
get real a 1 to 2 year sentence with 6 months credit,if released on minimum is 1 year 25 % off is 9 months the law enforcement will serve!! im very outraged at what the DA DID IN THIS VERY SERIOUS CASE north and the other officer have to be releived
Set Him Free : 4/1/2009
Why should officer Pettit do jail time - he only harmed himself and now he cannot ever hold such a position of authority again. Our Washington County judicial system set the West Brownsville arsonist free after 4 months of jail time. He is on probation now after trying to burn out over 10 of his neighbors. The town once again has to live in fear wondering if he is going to strike again now. The system is so unfair so you may as well just set them all free with a slap on the wrist.
OFFICER PETTIT : 4/1/2009
so this cop will do another ninety days, lie on another application, become a cop somewhere else to steal dope, he stole five ounces of cocaine a pound of pot,anyone thats a regular,,,,,,,,,,,,,citizen would been put under the jail...I have to ask is this justice? the DA SHOULD HAVE SENT THE MESSAGE THIS WAS NO LONGER GOING TO HAPPEN , i for one did not see that
wow!!!!!!!!!! : 4/1/2009
im very very surprised.first bad decision by the das office
PLEAS : 4/1/2009
OF course pleas are needed,but not in this case. a message needed sent to anyone in a position to uphold the law,all charges should have stuck and he should have received the max... dont tell me they did not have a strong case,the cop received a break period. im not suprised by this judge, very suprised at the DA,UNREAL
THOUGHTS,, : 4/1/2009
it took me a long time to think what to say about this, i did anything and everything to see change,,,,,im shocked
Pettit Pleads Out : 4/1/2009
Those posting criticisms of DA Toprani must be elements of the old corrupt John Pettit regime. I don't recall John Pettit, ever prosecuting a bad cop. Maybe the reason the DA's office accepted this plea bargain is that they figured Judge DiSalle, who was supported in his judicial race by some of the same people who supported John Pettit's campaigns, would find this Pettit not guilty. At any rate, Judge DiSalle could have refused to accept the plea bargain if he felt the sentence was too light.
BACK OFF : 4/1/2009
Lets not forget this man put his life on the line everyday being a cop. Now think of this man as your brother,son,husband..would you be saying the terrible things you are all saying now? I dont think so. Im not suggesting that stealing drugs ,giving them away is right but drugs are becoming a serious problem no matter who you are. Furthermore most of you dont like cops and thats why you are all saying these bad things. I had the chance to speak with Mr. Pettit and he is a great guy. I'm willing to bet most of you would probably have a beer with him. As for the DA's office Mr. Tropanni is awesome. If you havnt seen he is cleaning up the streets which is a hard task to do here in Washington. I support Mr. Pettit as well as Mr. Toprani.As for the sentence look here Ive pled to lesser charges to aviod a long trial.THINK PEOPLE THINK!!!!! Are society is not what it use to be people are very hateful nowadays. What happened to second chances? One last thing it's GOD who judges no us.
CRITICISM JUSTIFIED : 4/1/2009
the criticism of DA Toprani is justified,the corruption of our police has to end..until one is sentenced properly the cops will continue to act as john pettit was the DA, alot of folks thought toprani was going to be the one to end the public corruption, take notice you have not read one comment from the ones who would say this cop did nothing wrong and everyone else are police bashers,
Criticism not justified : 4/2/2009
To say that the DA is not handling the corruption is a blatant lie. It was the DA's office that pursued the case from the get go and worked diligently to get the case to court. Lets not forget that he got Pettit to CONFESS and that he will be serving time in STATE, not county lock up. The DA didn't even back down from Ellis when he wanted to drop ALL charges against the Smith cops and he had the court move the case to another jd to be heard and moved forward. Perhaps your comments would be better served if you were posting to encourage him for all the good things he is doing all over this county, such as taking on the drug dealers, crocked cops and gangs.
OR QUESTIONS LED TO INVESTIGATION : 4/2/2009
HUM ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Ibeleive it was this paper that questioned why charges were going to be tropped in the case against paith, thats what led to the case going to court... im pro- DA i am confussed why the three most serious charges were dismissed.
something to think about : 4/2/2009
first of all i dont live in washington co...i have been following this story, 5 ounces of cocaine in any county leds to all types of crime, allen pettit dishonored all law officers,i would bet this was not pettit first time of this behavior, paith who has a very long rap sheet will walk because of pettits actions now consider the judges action by letting pettit receive 25% off the sentence, the da whom i dont know dropped the more serious charges, i would say this was not a victory and justice for washington co, as far as the comment its state sentence,i would not bet , 1 to 2 years can be served in county jail, im also willing to bet pettit will be out in around 100 days which would amount to 9 months for his crimes, now anyone who was caught with that much dope would never get less than a year,yes toprani has done a great job with drugs,but needs to do a better job with his own kind.
pettit : 4/3/2009
the most serious charges are theft and perjury both are felonies
