Smith Township police respond to drug criticism
Pam Scruppi of Bulger pleads with Smith Township police Chief Bernie LaRue to act on information she said would help take drug dealers off the streets.
Pam and Ray Scruppi stand in the heart-shaped memorial nearly 30 volunteers helped build in a day in Chelsea Scruppi’s memory.
Ray and Pam Scruppi want Smith Township police to step up their efforts to arrest heroin and pill dealers.
The Bulger couple said it’s been a frustrating collaboration with authorities on finding who sold the drugs that killed their daughter Jan. 9. Chelsea Scruppi, 23, overdosed and died from opioid drugs 11 months after her boyfriend and alleged supplier, Sam, also died after an overdose. The Scruppis declined to provide Sam’s last name.
“The core disconnect is trust, with police, with each other in this community. But I’m not going to badmouth police, or any addict – just something has to be done so other families don’t end up like this,” Ray said after a special meeting held Tuesday by township police on the issue.
Ray has been a vocal critic of police, saying he’s been providing information to Chief Bernie LaRue for at least four years. Smith Township police are no strangers to controversy. In 2014, a man charged with vehicular manslaughter dodged additional DUI charges because officers didn’t have proper blood tests administered.
Ray’s wife, Pam, has been the recent face of the family confronting LaRue after she said he’s ignored provided information.
“I’ve given names, the types of drugs that were going around, and nothing has been done,” Pam said.
“I’ve known the Scruppis a long time. I see them as a family in mourning,” LaRue said, “They are looking for some type of redemption for what happened, and I understand that. When I spoke to their daughter, and her father, it was always in reference to the boyfriend and getting her away from him, but there was nothing we could do when we find no evidence of illegal activity.”
LaRue said he called the meeting to let the community know they are acting on tips and continue to build files on potential suspects.
”Other agencies are now helping us, assisting us with tools and manpower. That’s the county drug task force, the federal agencies, and we’ve concentrated our patrols to areas where we get information,” LaRue said, explaining he is one of three full-time officers covering a 48-square-mile area. “Anything suspicious – a vehicle sitting out in front of a home idling for a while – call or email us. We get anonymous emails that have led to good information.”
Some of the information was spurred by Chelsea’s death, LaRue said, as Ray stepped up his own intelligence-gathering, going door-to-door asking fellow parents for information. LaRue said those parents then came to him.
“We’ve built a case file at least on one person, and we’re watching them. We’ve shared that information with the task force in case we can act and arrest,” LaRue said, “but the tragic reality is the type of information we need, we get too late to prevent some of these deaths.”
The Scruppis said neither Sam nor Chelsea sought rehab.
“You have to help your kids even if they don’t want to help themselves,” Pam said.
Another parent said during the meeting that she had difficulty getting her 17-year-old daughter into rehab because “she has more rights as an individual than I do as a parent,” so she went through the long process of filing Act 53 involuntary commitment documents to save her life.
The Scruppis wish they could have split up their daughter’s relationship so she and Sam could tackle their addictions.
“The relationship was poison. He was addicted, she became addicted, and she went after him because she thought she could help him. … Sam was such a smart, engaged kid. He was set to become a supervisor at his place of work,” Pam said through tears.
“And parents will say, ‘It’s not my kid.’ Parents can’t hide this stuff. We tried by ourselves to help, and it was too late,” Ray said.
It’s not clear what ultimately led to Chelsea’s overdose, but Ray said she went to LaRue after Sam died.
“I told her not to. I told her I would, but she did. She gave names of people who were around Sam at the time of his death, and then people started calling her a snitch, spitting on her car … she was wrong, wrong, wrong. But she was a decent and giving person, had a good heart, and she didn’t deserve to die,” Ray said.
LaRue called in Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone to address the issue.
“Make the calls, call my office,” Vittone said. “Burgettstown School District has asked for another drug summit. But kids aren’t the only ones dying from this stuff. Nearly 51 percent of the overdoses are people over 40.”
Smith Township officials said they have had supplies of Narcan, an opioid-antidote nasal spray, since June 30, and its use has saved at least 18 lives.