Charges against Charleroi officer detailed
By the MVI
A Charleroi Regional police officer became the subject of a state police investigation after text messages from him were discovered on a cell phone owned by a person who died from a drug overdose.
That discovery by Perryopolis police ultimately led to state police filing charges against William M. Gardner, 39, of Lowber Road, Jefferson Township, Fayette County, for allegedly stealing drugs and cash from a stolen vehicle in Charleroi last month.
Gardner came under investigation Jan. 21 after Perryopolis police responded to an overdose death. The last person the unidentified victim texted was “Billy Billy,” later identified as Gardner, according to the state police criminal complaint. The officer seized the phone to preserve it as evidence.
“The officer recognized that text messages exchanged between the victim and ‘Billy Billy’ were indicative of narcotics trafficking,” Trooper Blaine Henderson stated in the complaint.
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