UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – Yesterday, a Prince George’s County grand jury indicted 13 current Prince George’s County Police officers and one recently retired police officer on misconduct in office as well as felony and misdemeanor theft charges.
The officers are accused of working secondary employment positions with a private security company while also on-duty with the police department. The company provided security at more than 20 apartment complexes in the county. The officers are also accused of providing false information to the apartment complexes to justify the continued hiring of the security company.
The misconduct in office is alleged to have taken place between January 2019 to March 2021.
In February 2021, the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division received an internal complaint regarding potential wrongdoing by several of the involved officers. The Internal Affairs Division opened an extensive investigation into the allegations and identified additional officers who could potentially be involved. As the investigation progressed, the police powers of the involved officers were suspended beginning in April 2021. All of the involved officers were assigned to the Special Assignment Teams of Landover III and Westphalia VIII Patrol Divisions, which were proactive saturation teams under the Bureau of Patrol.
“This is truly a disheartening day for the men and women who represent the very best of the Prince George’s County Police Department. All people, including officers, retain the right of due process under the law, yet the allegations on this large group of officers are deeply troubling. If the allegations are proven true during the judicial process, their actions not only tarnish the badge we all wear proudly, but also erode the community’s trust. I want to stress to our supportive community that this investigation originated within our agency. Whenever we become aware of potential misconduct, we thoroughly investigate and if needed, we deliver the case to the States’ Attorney’s Office for possible criminal charges. That’s exactly what happened in this situation. We remain on a road to restore our noble and trusted police brand that offers a professional police service to our community. We have implemented a philosophy of trust, fairness, and equity that our residents demand and deserve. Our officers are striving to be the epitome of 21st Century Policing in this modern police era of positive reformation. I remain proud to be the lead representative for the dedicated men and women who serve our residents above reproach,” said Police Chief Malik Aziz.
Starting in July of 2021, the Prince George’s County Police Department began implementing changes to the department’s secondary employment policy to include:
- Employees are prohibited from engaging in the business of providing security guards, special police officers, or any other law enforcement-related services to commercial establishments or other individuals within Prince George’s County.
- The department purchased a software program to manage secondary employment jobs. Officers must clock in and out using this program.
- Site inspections are being conducted by the Internal Affairs Division’s Discovery & Compliance Unit.
- When new businesses look for secondary employment, an email announcing the opportunity is sent out to all officers through county email.
- The agency started a randomization process when selecting site coordinators for new jobs to ensure a variety of coordinators, which also limits the number of locations that one officer can coordinate.
The indicted officers are below:
Corporal Nick Agapov – Joined agency in 2011
Corporal Jonathan Haskett – Joined agency in 2015
Corporal Mathew Obordo – Joined agency in 2013
Corporal Matthew Cotillo – Joined agency in 2011
Corporal Joshua Hitchens – Joined agency in 2012
Corporal Chris Hall – Joined agency in 2011
Corporal Michael O’Connell – Joined agency in 2011
Corporal Kyle Cook – Joined agency in 2013
Corporal Travis Popieilarcheck – Joined agency in 2012
Corporal Anthony Brooke – Joined agency in 2015
Corporal Brandon Farley – Joined agency in 2012
POFC Christopher Oliver – Joined agency in 2016
POFC John Mcintosh – Joined agency in 2016
Retired Corporal James Lubonski – Joined agency in 2012
This remains an on-going investigation.
So some cops had a second job, convinced property owners to hire them for security, then got charged with theft? Cops don’t make nearly enough money so I understand a second job. Office misconduct I can understand if they were working their on-duty shift while working on the secondary job site. why not charge them with fraud since they provided false claims to the land owners? Idk what parameters had to be reached to charge them with theft (even felony theft), but that seems a little suspect to me. Seems like they were used to set an example.
From my understanding of it, the officers were directed by Scott Finn (the ‘ring leader’ of sorts) to check on properties that he was contracted through his private security firm to provide services for, but the officers were on duty at the time and being paid by our tax dollars while performing these tasks for their secondary employer.
how does professional courtesy play into this?
like it or not, this may be the closest thing we have to a mission statement for incarceration in maryland. https://www.dpscs.state.md.us/about/