Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said yesterday that a K-9 officer is likely to face charges, while two others should be cleared in connection with a burglary early Tuesday at Pat’s Cafe in Frankford.
The incident, which was caught on the tavern’s video surveillance, shows three officers in uniform entering the bar through an unlocked cellar door around 4 a.m. after responding to a false alarm for a nearby business, Ramsey said.
Two of the officers, also with the K-9 unit, made calls to the security company to notify them of the unlocked entrance but did not reach anyone, according to Ramsey. As the two were walking out, Ramsey claims, the third officer allegedly went into the safe and removed $825.
Ramsey would not identify the rogue officer, but sources have said he is a 26-year veteran. The other two officers could be back on the street Friday, Ramsey said. “They ain’t real happy about it,” he noted. “I don’t blame them.”
Pat’s is the site where Officer Gary Skerski was gunned down during an armed robbery in 2006. The bar owner has maintained a large memorial for Skerski.
“If it comes out and he did this ... you can’t be doing this,” said John McNesby, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police. “Just like you can’t be selling drugs ... especially in a place like that.”