Elizabeth Borough police officer charged with forging psych evaluation

An Elizabeth Borough police officer has been charged with forgery after allegedly creating a fake psychological examination for another officer.

Allegheny County Police arrested Casey J. Perrotta, 39, of Donora.

Pennsylvania law requires new police officers to receive psychological evaluations. A new part-time hire with the Elizabeth Borough Police Department was going through training process when he learned his previous evaluation had expired, according to Perrotta’s arrest papers.

Perrotta offered to help the officer get a new evaluation. Last October, they met at the police station.

Perrotta allegedly filled out a psychological examination form under the name of a Washington County doctor, wrote a letter summarizing the exam in the doctor’s name, and signed the letter as the doctor.

He gave the other officer the letter, instructing him to mail it from somewhere in Washington County, the affidavit said.

Shortly after the meeting, the officer texted Perrotta, saying he wasn’t going to submit the fake report, according to the affidavit. Perrotta allegedly told him to shred the documents and delete all text messages related to the forgery.

Instead, the officer turned the documents over to Allegheny County Detectives.

Detectives contacted the Washington County doctor, who said he had never heard of Perrotta or given him permission to act on his behalf.

Perrotta and the doctor could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Elizabeth Borough Police Chief William Sombo sent a statement to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI.

“Elizabeth Boro is aware of the situation,” the statement said. “We have already taken action. There is an internal investigation ongoing. It’s a personnel matter and I can’t speak about it.”

The borough police department hired Perrotta as a part-time officer in 2014, but fired him for undisclosed reasons after six months, while he was still under probation.

They re-hired him as a part-time officer in August, the Mon Valley Independent reported. He also worked as an officer with the Greene County Regional Police Department, according to the Independent.

Perrotta was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Beth S. Mills and released on his own recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 8.