Law enforcement sources tell the Beaver Countian that the Pennsylvania State Police are continuing an investigation into Ohioville Police Chief Ronald Lutton, despite his recent arrest.
Chief Lutton was charged with one Felony count of Theft by Deception, and one Misdemeanor count of Forgery last February. State Troopers allege Lutton had altered court hearing notices and submitted them for payment multiple times each, and also turned in timesheets claiming he was working at Ohioville Borough, when he was instead working for Brighton Township as a member of their road crew.
Troopers alleged Lutton defrauded Ohioville taxpayers by a total of $45,059, but authorities say they only examined timesheets and hearing notices dating back approximately two and a half years during their initial investigation. Officials now tell the Beaver Countian they are in the processes of examining payroll records dating back five to eight years.
Assistant District Attorney Albert Torrence has been assigned to prosecute the case, and Chief Lutton has hired attorney Myron Sainovich for his defense.
A preliminary hearing in Lutton’s case originally scheduled for March 7th was continued until April 16th.
Related Stories By The Beaver Countian:
Retaliation? Officer Removed From Schedule After Sparking Corruption Probe
District Attorney’s Office Approves Private Complaint Against Officer
Man: The Mayor Had Me File A Complaint Against Officer Beatty
Ohioville Mayor Files Harassment Complaint Against Beaver Countian
Man Who Filed Complaint Against Officer Becomes Belligerent At Court
Leaked: Internal Emails From Ohioville Police Department Raise Questions
Photos At The Center Of A Private Criminal Complaint Against Officer
Police Officer Files Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Ohioville Borough And Officials
Judge Dismisses Private Criminal Complaint Against Ohioville Officer
Ohioville Officer Remains Off Duty As Borough Hires New Patrolman
Ohioville Officer Who Sparked Corruption Probe Fired From Second Department
Ohioville Police Chief Charged With Theft And Forgery
Ohioville Officer Who Sparked Investigation Against Chief Back On Duty
7 Comments From Our Readers
What Do You Think? Share Your Thoughts:
Click on a tab to select how you'd like to leave your comment
loading...
Al missed his calling. He should have been an actor. Funny as hell.
loading...
Why do the State Police constantly need to be involved in Beaver County? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they are helping us take out the trash and all, but, doesn’t our DA’s office have their own investigators to handle some of these things? Actually, let’s back up one more step and ask ourselves why it seems like we put more criminals into office or law enforcement than we put into jail here in Beaver County. I really don’t think that we have ANY person in our local government who isn’t part of the problem either through active participation or plain ignorance.
Perhaps I’ve steered a bit off topic here considering the particular article under which I am posting, but the Ohioville chief is a prime example.
@Dan Sainovich, please elaborate as to exactly what actions by residents towards council are cause for apology. I have no knowledge of what was said at those meetings, but if the residents were holding council’s feet to the fire, no apology is needed. Those members are elected by the people, who have a right to set their expectations and ensure that council is acting on behalf of the people as THE PEOPLE, not the members, see fit. For example, the residents may be pissed that Council allowed the hiring of a damn criminal to head up law enforcement in their community.
loading...
Hey Dan , you have a better chance of having a period than anyone coming to a meeting to apologies.
loading...
There are a lot of residents of Ohioville who owe apologies for their actions towards council members at past meetings.
loading...
I’m curious to see the outcome of this case. If this was a everyday Beaver County resident with no past criminal history, they would receive about 5 years probation, no more, and for sure no jail time. Being that the individual in question is a Police Chief I bet they will through the book at him to make an example. I have seen previous post that feel he will get let off because he is a cop, I think it will be the opposite because he is a cop.
loading...
This will be interesting…putting my money on Torrence. Lutton how braindead are you,REAlLY Sainovich might as well get measured for your new uniform
loading...
Defrauding taxpayers IS Al’s area of expertise.