Former Elizabeth police chief pleads guilty to stealing heroin from evidence room

The former Elizabeth Borough police chief pleaded guilty to theft and other charges after he was accused of emptying the department’s evidence room of its heroin to feed his personal drug habit.

Timothy Butler, 43, of Finleyville, pleaded guilty in Allegheny County court to two counts of theft, one count of possession and one count of obstructing the administration of law for stealing and using the drugs in the borough police department’s evidence room.

In exchange for the plea, the district attorney’s office withdrew theft charges stemming from Butler’s failure to deposit the monies collected in 2017 from Elizabeth Borough parking meters.

Elizabeth police Sgt. Garrett Kimmell initially confronted the chief in December 2018. Butler then told Kimmell that he’d become addicted to heroin, according to a criminal complaint.

Butler told Kimmell that he developed the drug problem after being prescribed painkillers for neck and back pain, police wrote in the complaint.

“It’s a mess. It’s all gone,” Butler told Kimmell when asked about issues with the department’s drug evidence room, which Butler controlled, according to the complaint.

Borough officials were informed of the situation and Clairton police assisted Kimmell in taking an inventory of Butler’s office on Dec. 7, 2018. They found 62 bundles — each containing 10 stamp bags — and 2,700 loose stamp bags of heroin in the trash can in the office, according to the criminal complaint.

In and around Butler’s desk, another 535 loose stamp bags were found, along with an envelope that was supposed to contain 30 bricks — five bundles, which amounts to 2,500 stamp bags — of heroin, according to the criminal complaint. Several envelopes in the department’s evidence room were also emptied of the heroin they were supposed to contain.

Butler resigned as police chief Dec. 18, 2018. He is set to be sentenced Nov. 20 by Judge Robert Colville.

Butler couldn’t be reached for comment and his attorney, Charles Lopresti, didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.