Arrested: 6 Crazy Cops Who Stole Money, Sold Drugs, Dangled Man Off Balcony
They used their law enforcement positions to gain access to drug dealers and steal their loot.
Federal agents arrested six Philadelphia men for stealing money from drug dealers, harassing and threatening to kill them, and eventually selling their drugs themselves.
These six men were all current or former narcotics officers. They used their law enforcement positions to gain access to drug dealers and steal their loot.
The officers—John Speiser, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Thomas Liciardello, and Linwood Norman—will be charged with kidnapping, robbery, extortion, and selling drugs. The extent of their criminal activities is astonishing. CBS Philly reports that the cops actually dangled a drug suspect over the edge of a balcony and threatened to kill him unless he gave up his stash. They also held a suspect hostage for days while making threats against his family:
Sources previously confirmed that a federal grand jury has been investigating allegations that Philadelphia narcotics officers stole drugs and money and committed robberies of drug dealers, in some cases allegedly using their guns to do it.
In one incident, officials say, the accused held one of the drug suspects for days in a hotel while threatening him and making threats against his family.
In another alleged incident, one victim was reportedly dangled over the edge of an 18th-floor balcony in order to get information.
The key witness in the case is Jeffrey Walker, another corrupt cop who had knowledge of these crimes. Walker's arrest last year led to more than 50 overturned convictions—the cases he participated in were discredited due to his habit of planting drugs on suspects. Walker's lawyers told investigators that their client knew more corrupt cops than he could count.
Unlike the rest of Walker's police work, that seems to be true.