The County’s State Attorney says the office is dropping charges against the officers and instead will be handled administratively.

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Charges have been dropped against 14 Prince George’s County Police officers who were accused of a time-keeping scheme that paid them for working as a cop and as private security at the same time, according to the Washington Post.

The Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit told the Post it found additional evidence that led them to drop the case. The matter is being handled internally by police, according to the state’s attorney’s office. The Prince George’s Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s office have not returned multiple requests for comment.

The 14 officers have been on administrative leave during the investigation, which began last August. They were accused of working second jobs as private security guards at apartment complexes while on duty for the police department from about January 2019 to March 2021. An internal tip led to the case.

At the time, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy identified the officers charged as Corporal Nick Agapov, Corporal Jonathan Haskett, Corporal Mathew Obordo, Corporal Matthew Cotillo, Corporal Joshua Hitchens, Corporal Chris Hall, Corporal Michael O’Connell, Corporal Kyle Cook, Corporal Travis Popieilarcheck, Corporal Anthony Brooke, Corporal Brandon Farley, Police Officer First Class Christopher Oliver, Police Officer First Class John Mcintosh, and retired Corporal James Lubonski.

Officials told the Post this week that the case hung on two sets of payroll records that showed times from both shifts overlapping, but further investigation found that the two records weren’t kept in the same way. The private security firm said clock-in times didn’t necessarily mean the officers were actually working when they clocked in, according to the Post. New information came from additional witness statements, more detailed records, and witness impeachment materials offered so the SAO’s office said they had to reevaluate the case.

“A prosecutor’s role in a criminal prosecution is not to win a case, but to seek justice,” the State’s Attorney’s office wrote in a statement, per the Post. “We do not blindly prosecute cases once an indictment has been filed, rather we continuously evaluate the evidence to ensure that our office is operating with the highest integrity.

The State’s Attorney’s Office continued that the case is best handled administratively by police.

“Our office, along with the Prince George’s County Police Department, works tirelessly to ensure the highest level of prosecution in all our cases,” the statement said. “Sometimes that means that the right action — the just action — is to not prosecute.”

Previously: 

Fourteen Prince George’s County Officers Indicted For Allegedly Working Second Jobs While On Duty

Filed Under: Maryland, police, prince george's county, Prince George's County Police Department,