Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - Ex-police chief and son allegedly tipped dealers
April 23, 2007. From The Record Herald
(AP) - A former Gettysburg police chief and his teenage son were charged Thursday with tipping off alleged drug dealers to a raid that occurred last year.
A state grand jury concluded that then-Chief Rolf Garcia called his son to alert him to the planned raid on Feb. 3, 2006. A state trooper had made an earlier courtesy call to Garcia to let him know authorities planned to execute a search warrant at a Gettysburg residence, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said.
Garcia's 17-year-old son then called four other people to tell them about the raid, according to the grand jury presentment. As officers approached the residence, two men fled. The officers unsuccessfully chased them and were unable to identify them, the grand jury found.
Garcia, 47, of Orrtanna and his son are charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution. Garcia is also charged with obstructing administration of law or other governmental function.
Authorities are not releasing the son's name because he is being charged as a juvenile, a spokeswoman for Corbett said.
Their testimony
Garcia said he was unaware of the charges but denied the allegations. ‘‘I didn't do anything wrong,'' he said Thursday. ‘‘I've been in law enforcement for 30 years, and I've never done anything to compromise my integrity.'' He served as Gettysburg's police chief from March 2003 until he resigned in August.
In his grand jury testimony, Garcia said he would never have told his son the exact location of a search warrant, but acknowledged that he might have told him to stay away from a certain location.
His son told the grand jury that he had provided false information about drug busts to others in the past in exchange for marijuana. But the son also said he did not receive any information from his father on the night of the raid, and did not share information with anyone else. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 24.
Retrieved April 23, 2007 from http://therecordherald.com/articles/2007/04/21/local_news/news06.prt