Police seize computer in investigation of bogus FOP news release

Police said a computer seized from a Bloomfield video rental store could hold clues about whoever distributed a bogus news release claiming the Pittsburgh police union no longer supported three officers under investigation for the beating of a Homewood teen last year.

Plainclothes detectives from the city's Zone 6 station in the West End seized the computer from the Dreaming Ant on Liberty Avenue Wednesday evening, and the bureau's computer crimes unit will study its contents, Detective James Glick said. He declined to say what led him to the business, which rents and shares space with a Crazy Mocha coffee shop.

The West End station, which encompasses the Fraternal Order of Police's Banksville Road office, has been investigating the phony, five-paragraph letter since it was circulated last week. A news release, under fake union letterhead, claimed the union had changed its position on the Jordan Miles case, which its leaders immediately denied. The union letterhead's wording of "Jus-Fidus Libertatum" was modified with verbiage that included "Volutabrum," Latin for pigsty.

Police said potential offenses ranged from trademark infringement and identity theft to forgery, as union president Dan O'Hara's name and that of the union vice president appeared on the letter.

Mr. O'Hara said he's not involved in the investigation "because I'm one of the victims."

Mr. Glick serves on the union's executive board as its recording secretary but was assigned the case because he is a plainclothesman in the station. Zone 6 Commander Scott Schubert, to whom the plainclothes detectives ultimately answer, said he didn't feel there was a conflict of interest.

"A crime was reported in my district, and we have to follow it up," he said, adding that the detective is investigating the letter with one or two other detectives, as he does other cases.

The detectives, who handle cases that require an in-depth look beyond a patrolman's time and expertise, "pursue cases as they come in," and often work on multiple cases at once, the commander said.

"I can assure you 100 percent that other cases aren't being put aside because we're looking into this FOP case," he said.

Andrew McKeon, who works at the Dreaming Ant, said he was there about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when Mr. Glick arrived and "following him was a cop of every stripe," six or seven officers, by his account, served him with a search warrant. Mr. McKeon said that in addition to the computer, officers also took a wireless router that provides Internet access to Crazy Mocha customers.

Mr. Schubert said it is routine for other officers to assist in serving a search warrant.

Mr. McKeon said he knew nothing of the phony letter but a customer who mentioned it while the search was taking place was quickly questioned by the officers, who demanded the man's identification.

"It seemed like they were making a statement," he said.

The store was closed Thursday because it requires the computer to operate. A sign on the door said it could reopen as soon as today. Mr. McKeon said he is concerned because customers' personal information, from addresses to credit card numbers, is housed in the computer.

Mr. O'Hara said if arrests are made in connection to the letter, he would want to "prosecute them to the fullest." He said the hoax was an attempt to manipulate public opinion around the case of Mr. Miles, a student at the city's Creative and Performing Arts High School who said Officers Michael Saldutte, Richard Ewing and David Sisak brutally beat him in an incident in Homewood.

The officers and Mr. Miles have starkly different accounts of the Jan. 12, 2010, encounter. The officers remain suspended with pay as a federal civil rights investigation continues.

Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878.

First published on January 20, 2011 at 9:41 pm