Former Fayette County officer accused of stealing from evidence

FAYETTE COUNTY, Pa. — A former officer at a Fayette County police department is accused of stealing a computer and money being held as evidence in criminal cases.

Norman Howard, who worked for the Redstone Township Police Department for nearly seven years, was arrested and is facing charges including theft and tampering with evidence.

After Howard’s resignation in September 2014, it was noticed that evidence in the department’s property room had signs of tampering.

Investigators found that an envelope from a 2010 case was missing $684 in cash, while more than $2,000 was missing from a box from a 2013 case. A computer that was seized as evidence in 2012 was later found in Howard’s possession, police said.

The FBI is involved in the ongoing investigation surrounding the computer, which police said had been tampered with.

Howard has had other run-ins with the law in recent years.

In 2014, Howard was charged with assault and harassment after a domestic dispute. Then in 2015, he pleaded guilty in a case in which he hit a man and falsified a police report to cover it up.

Cox Media Group