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A Newtown Township police detective is accused of taking drugs from the department’s secured medication drop-off box in the lobby.
Charles Palko, 45 of Harleysville, Montgomery county, was arraigned Wednesday morning before District Judge Mick Petrucci on a single misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. He was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.
The drugs are suspected of coming from the locked medication drop-off box that Palko wasn’t authorized to have access to, authorities said.
According to court papers filed by Bucks County detectives Thomas Thiel and Frank Groome, officers and detectives in the township department’s squad room noticed movement in the lobby of the police station when viewing the security camera system on May 20 around 5 p.m. The screen abruptly went black and came on a short time after and Palko was spotted just under the camera by a door.
A township detective advised a sergeant of the incident and police started to watch their colleague’s actions. At first, Palkco walked by another officer with something appearing to be held against his side. Shortly after, Palko, a 19-year veteran of the force, was spotted walking back and forth in a hallway near a back stairwell with his department-issued cell phone up to his ear, court papers stated.
After Palko left the building, a fellow detective went to the stairwell area and spotted a plastic bag containing various medications with a piece of dark paper attached to it hidden under the stairs, police said.
The location of the bag of medications was “consistent with the area [police] had observed Detective Palko go to earlier when he was out of surveillance camera viewing range,” Thiel and Groome wrote.
The bag allegedly contained several medications, including Darvocet and Tramadol.
Rick Pasqualini, chief of the township police department, told NewtownPANow.com that Palko’s employment with the township ended July 1 and the investigation into the incident had concluded.
The past few months have not been the best for the township police department. Recently, four officers were reprimanded for the way they handled a possible DUI case involving a county sheriff’s deputy.
Pasqualini commended his officers for the handling of the Palko incident and said they immediately called the district attorney’s office to report the detective’s alleged actions.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
