Deputy accused of cocaine use before shooting suspect
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Pennsylvania sheriff’s deputy under investigation for allegedly having cocaine in his system when he and three other officers shot and killed a child rape suspect is appealing his firing.
Richard Dwyer turned in his badge Friday at the Allegheny County courthouse.
Dwyer’s lawyer, James Wymard, told the Tribune-Review of Pittsburgh that tests found “an infinitesimal” amount of metabolized cocaine in Dwyer’s urine after the Jan. 6 shooting in Pittsburgh.
An arbitrator is scheduled to hear the 44-year-old Dwyer’s appeal on March 11.
District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. has said that the deputy had tested positive for cocaine immediately after the shooting, and that criminal charges could be brought if additional tests show he was under the influence of cocaine at the time.