Cop Charged With Stealing From Tavern

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia police officer accused of having his hand in the till at a local tavern now faces theft charges.

Three members of the department's K-9 unit were probed by internal affairs after money was found missing from the safe at Pat's Café in Northeast Philadelphia, but now police say only one of them took the money.

District Attorney Seth Williams announced Friday morning that Officer Kenneth Crockett has been charged with theft and receiving stolen property, both of which are misdemeanor counts.

The 56-year-old officer, who has been with the department since 1984, is accused of stealing $825 from the safe during a burglary early Tuesday morning.

"Municipal corruption and corruption in the police department is something that's unacceptable to every member of law enforcement," Williams said.

The bar where the alleged theft occurred also happens to be where Officer Gary Skerski was fatally shot in 2006.

The D.A.'s office says Crockett, along with the two other officers, responded around 4 a.m. Tuesday to a burglary report at an auto body shop on the 4600 block of Castor Avenue. They discovered that the initial burglary report was unfounded but did notice that the café next door appeared to have been disturbed.

Authorities said the officers appeared at first to follow procedure, notifying the security company and barowner of the open property.

But Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told Fox 29 News that the one officer apparently pocketed an envelope full of cash while the other two officers were investigating the property and not looking.

The incident was captured on video surveillance cameras that were installed after Skerski was killed in the bar. Those cameras helped helped internal affairs investigators build a case against Crockett and clear the names of the other two officers.

"There's words that I can't use on television to describe how I feel about this," Ramsey said during Friday's news conference. "Listen, crime is bad no matter who commits it, but it's even worse when it's a police officer. There's just no excuse for that."

The other two officers were not aware of Crockett's actions and are set to return to active duty sometime Friday.

Ramsey said they were very angry to even be associated with this incident.

Crockett was instructed to turn himself in for an arraignment Friday, but early in the morning he was involuntarily committed for mental evaluation.

Williams said the proceedings will move forward once that evaluation is complete.

Ramsey said the procedure has begun to dismiss Crockett, who had a mostly clean record up until this incident.

"Instructions used to say this badge that you wear is a symbol or trust and a symbol of authority, and it's meant to cover your chest, not cover your butt," Ramsey said, pointing to his own badge. "And we've got too many guys that on occasion feel as if they special priveleges as police officers. Well, they don't."