Sheriff: Allegheny County deputy tested positive for cocaine after Garfield standoff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An Allegheny County sheriff's deputy tested positive for cocaine during mandatory testing after an hourslong standoff and shootout in Garfield that ended with the suspect dead, Sheriff Kevin Kraus said on Tuesday.
Per protocol, Kraus said the 13 deputies involved in the standoff on Aug. 23 were drug tested on the same day. He said one of the deputies, a seven-year veteran of the force whose name won't be released yet, tested positive for cocaine.
Kraus said the result came back positive on Aug. 29 and the deputy was officially terminated on Tuesday.
"They'll do an initial test that came back positive, and then they do a confirmation test and that came back positive. So it was in his system on the 23rd," Kraus said.
It's standard for deputies to be drug tested after a "critical incident" whenever they discharge their firearms for the use of deadly force, Kraus said.
"It's very frustrating. This deputy was -- he was a very good employee, but like I said, we have a zero-tolerance policy and if you have illicit drugs, substances, in your system, it's automatic termination," Kraus said.
The sheriff said deputies were at William Hardison Sr.'s home on Aug. 23 to serve an eviction notice. He said it took several minutes to make contact and when they did, he said Hardison immediately opened fire.
Deputies returned fire and "engaged in a pretty significant gun battle" before Kraus said SWAT officers arrived and stabilized the scene.
The standoff ended six hours later when Hardison was found shot dead inside the home.
Kraus declined to release the fired deputy's name but said this when KDKA-TV asked if the officer admitted to the drug use: "He did not admit. He had a due process hearing this afternoon and on advice of his counsel, he did not make any admissions or anything of that kind."