More charges filed against former Elizabeth Borough officer
Additional forgery charges have been filed against a former Elizabeth Borough police officer accused of forging documents related to psychological examinations.
The new charges against Casey J. Perrotta, 38, of Donora, include forgery, tampering with records, unsworn falsification to authorities and tampering with public records. They were filed out of Greene County Monday by a detective in the state’s Office of Attorney General.
According to the criminal complaint, Greene County Regional Police Officer Spencer Griffith heard about Perrotta’s February case in which he was charged with forging a doctor’s signature on a coworker’s psychological exam. Perrotta was a former Greene County Regional Police officer, and Griffith became concerned that his psychological paperwork may have been forged by Perrotta, too, according to the complaint.
Griffith allegedly told his captain of his concerns Feb. 19, after Perrotta was charged in the Elizabeth Borough case.
When Greene County Regional hired Griffith in January 2019, Perrotta was his field training officer – meaning all of Griffith’s paperwork and requirements went through Perrotta, according to the complaint.
After Griffith was hired, “Perrotta informed him that there was an issue with his MPOETC number and it was due to Griffith’s psychological test,” the complaint states.
“Perrotta told Griffith not to worry, that (Perrotta) ‘had a guy’ and that he would take care of it,” the detective wrote in the complaint. “Perrotta informed Griffith that he had a doctor and Griffith would not need a new test; just get the old one verified.”
Griffith told the detective that months later, he received his permanent MPOETC number (Municipal Police Officer Education and Training Commission), and that he had trusted Perrotta.
Perrotta is accused of forging the same doctor’s signature in the Greene County case as the one he allegedly used in Elizabeth Borough, that of Dr. Michael Crabtree, a psychology professor at Washington & Jefferson College.
When the detective spoke with Crabtree, he told him he did not fill out the form for Griffith’s psychological exam. In fact, when Crabtree looked over the document, he found seven inaccuracies and forged portions of it, the complaint said.
“Dr. Crabtree stated his signature is forged, his business address is wrong, and the form is not dated, as just some of the issues with the form,” the complaint said.
In the February case, Perrotta was also accused of forging Crabtree’s signature and licensing information on a psychological evaluation form in October for part-time Elizabeth police officer applicant Shawn Mooney, according to court documents. He also was accused of forging a letter to the police department using Crabtree’s name and signature.
Instead of mailing the documents, Mooney allegedly turned Perrotta in to Allegheny County police detectives. One of those detectives also contacted Crabtree, who said he never gave Mooney an exam and didn’t know who Casey Perrotta was.
Perrotta, who had been hired by Elizabeth Borough in 2019, was terminated earlier this year. His preliminary hearing in Greene County is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday before District Judge David Balint.