Former Vandergrift cop gets probation in retribution scheme

A former Vandergrift police officer was sentenced Thursday to serve two years of probation for attempting to coerce a local couple to participate in a retribution scheme against his supervisor.

Jared Edward Kepple, 28, of Hyde Park pleaded guilty in October to one misdemeanor count of official oppression in connection with a September 2017 incident in which police said he threatened a man and woman with arrest if they failed to concoct a false story about Kepple’s supervisor.

Police said Kepple sought retribution against his supervisor because he blamed the supervisor for starting an investigation of allegations accusing Kepple of sexual improprieties with a minor while Kepple was on duty. That investigation ultimately resulted in a finding that no criminal activity had occurred, according to court records.

Police said Kepple wanted to discredit his supervisor by threatening his lover’s sister and her boyfriend with arrest unless they submitted a report implicating the supervisor in criminal activity.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio on Thursday sentenced Kepple to probation, during which he will be barred from working as a police officer.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Todd Adamski said Kepple resigned from his part-time job as a Vandergrift police officer shortly before he was charged. Kepple also previously worked as a police officer in Avonmore but is no longer in that job, Adamski said.