Missing money from McKeesport police evidence room has DA wondering: Were any cases compromised?
By Megan Guza / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said his investigators have a target in their probe of money missing from the McKeesport police evidence room, but his immediate focus is determining what, if any, criminal cases have been compromised by the mishandled evidence.
“I want to know the extent of the damage the [target of the investigation] has caused,” Mr. Zappala said at an unrelated media briefing Friday in West Mifflin. “We’re not there yet.
“But so far,” he said, pausing to knock on wood, “so far, none have.”
The DA’s office became involved in the investigation last month at the request of McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko after he “felt his protocols for the evidence area had been compromised.”
“The circumstances in question pertain to an ongoing investigation and potential personnel matters, which limits my legal ability to comment,” the mayor said in a statement. “Chief [Mark] Steele initiated an internal investigation, and upon the discovery of irregularities, we referred our initial finds to an external agency.”
Mr. Zappala declined to name the suspect in the theft but said the person no longer works in the department and added that new evidence room protocols have been put in place.
“It doesn’t matter what policies, what protocols, what procedures you have — a lot of this is based on trust,” Mr. Zappala said of rules regarding evidence storage. “There was a person in a position who was trusted and, unfortunately, they violated that trust.”
The investigation comes a month after the state attorney general’s office leveled theft charges against a former McKeesport detective. Investigators allege 55-year-old Joseph Osinski used his position within Allegheny County’s Fraternal Order of Police to siphon more than $1 million from the union’s coffers to prop up his pizzeria throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The alleged theft was unrelated to the McKeesport department.
“This defendant was not only a trusted member of law enforcement in his community, he was trusted by his peers and colleagues to handle their dues money in support of the FOP mission,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said at the time. “His abuse of that trust left his fellow officers struggling to keep their lodge afloat and damaged the public’s trust in those working to protect them.”
In late August, someone torched four McKeesport police cruisers while they were parked overnight outside the station on Lysle Boulevard. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a reward for information in that case.
Recent turmoil in McKeesport has not been limited to law enforcement.
Residents packed a McKeesport Area School District board meeting early last month in the aftermath of former Superintendent Tia Wanzo’s resignation. Ms. Wanzo left voluntarily after an internal investigation accused her and others of not reporting sexual misconduct between a school security guard and a student.
Those allegations came to light alongside the arrest of the school police chief on theft charges related to her former job in the state attorney general’s office. Brenda Sawyer retired from the AG’s office in February, and money was discovered missing several months later, investigators said.