I interviewed Cheryl Ruth in 2004 for a story about female police officers serving communities in the Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey.

Ruth was 40 then and, truth be told, looked and sounded a little worn out. I figured being punched, kicked, spit on and shot at will do that to you.

Anyway, she seemed like a nice, tell-it-like-it-is lady committed to serving and protecting the people of Bethlehem. Authorities say Ruth isn't what she seemed, however.

The Moore Township resident ran the Bethlehem Police Department evidence room and

then went on long-term medical leave before retiring.

Ruth was promoted to sergeant April 3, 2009, got a $5,512 base pay boost and retired the same day. By that time, she'd been on medical leave for a year and department supervisors knew the evidence room was in disarray, although they did not yet suspect anything criminal.

Ruth's civil service test score had put her at the top of the list for a promotion. Apparently, a yearlong absence from work and poor job performance before that didn't knock her down a couple rungs.

Ruth would later tell authorities she'd taken the money to feed her gambling addiction, but at the time of her promotion she was not implicated in any criminal activity. The promotion boosted her pension,



Read JD Malone's complete report:

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