OFFICIALS: POLICE CHIEF TOOK DRUGS

Weatherly Officer Accused of Using Dope That Was Evidence.

For months, police officers in Weatherly complained of drugs that had
been seized from suspects and then disappeared, of the unmistakable
reek of marijuana smoke in the office and of finding pipes and other
paraphernalia left in a desk drawer.

The target of their complaints was their boss -- Police Chief Brian
Cara. On Wednesday, he was arrested by state authorities and accused
of using seized drugs while on duty.

Cara, 38, of West Hazleton, who has been chief in the Carbon County
borough of about 2,600 for 10 years, sometimes started smoking
marijuana a half-hour after coming to work at 7 a.m., and once took a
marijuana-filled pipe with him on patrol, officials said. One time,
during a "reverse sting," state agents videotaped him taking eight
"hits" off a pipe in his office.

Suspected marijuana and cocaine also disappeared from evidence,
preventing officers from filing charges against suspects from whom the
drugs were seized, state Attorney General Jerry Pappert said.

Cara was charged after a 13-month investigation by drug agents from
Pappert's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation.

Cara faces one count each of obstructing justice, criminal attempt to
obstruct justice, possession of a controlled substance and possession
of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors.

He was arraigned by District Edward Lewis in Jim Thorpe and released
on his own recognizance.

Cara has been suspended with pay since early August when, Pappert
said, agents searched his office and seized drugs and drug
paraphernalia.

Cara did not return a message left on his home telephone answering
machine seeking comment. But, according to court papers, Cara admitted
to state drug agents that he had smoked marijuana removed from the
department's evidence locker.

Weatherly Mayor Joseph E. D'Andrea said Cara may be placed on unpaid
suspension while charges are pending.

"We're not his judge and jury, but we can't continue paying him and
filling in for him at his salary," D'Andrea said. "I was really
shocked to find out everything he was supposed to have done. If he has
had problems and needed help, we could have helped him."

Pappert said the investigation began in September 2003 after officers
in Cara's own department complained about drug evidence that was
missing or tampered with. Their complaints dated to 2002.

Four officers testified before a state grand jury sitting in Dauphin
County about Cara's alleged drug activity in the department, which has
three full-time and six part-time officers.

The officers' concerns led agents to place a camera in the Weatherly
police station and carry out the reverse sting.

The sting was executed Aug. 2 when a cooperating Weatherly officer
placed 2 ounces of marijuana in the office and told Cara about it when
Cara arrived for duty at 7 a.m.

According to a grand jury presentment, state drug Agent Janene M.
Miller saw Cara smoke some of the sting marijuana that day.

Cara was videotaped smoking marijuana in the office on Aug. 2, 3 and
4, according to the presentment.

Miller told the grand jury she watched Cara smoke marijuana from a
pipe eight times on Aug. 3.

Agent Joseph Miller told the grand jury he watched Cara arrive at the
police station Aug. 4 and, an hour later, smoke marijuana from a pipe
at 8 a.m.

Joseph Miller told the grand jury that Cara took a second puff from
the pipe at 8:02 a.m., a third at 9:06 a.m. and two more at 9:09 a.m.

He said Cara later filled a pipe, put it in his breast pocket and went
on patrol.

Cara returned to the office at 10:18 a.m. and took marijuana out of
the bags that were planted in the office, Miller said.

Agents on Aug. 4 got a sealed search warrant from Carbon County
President Judge Richard W. Webb. According to Pappert, police seized
drugs and drug paraphernalia from Cara's desk.

Agents took Cara to Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital in Lehighton,
where four vials of blood were drawn. Tests showed Cara used marijuana
within 48 hours of the blood being drawn, Pappert said.

Pappert said Weatherly officers also testified before the grand jury
in September and October 2003 about sealed evidence envelopes
containing cocaine that were later discovered open and empty.

Pappert said that at least twice -- in February 2003 and October 2003
- -- Cara told officers the missing cocaine must have "exploded" while
in the police evidence locker.

On Sept. 8, 2003, part-time Weatherly Patrolman Brian Markovchick
testified before a grand jury that he stopped at borough hall to pay a
water and sewer bill, then went to the police station.

Markovchick said he banged on the station door because he had
forgotten his key, but it took Cara several minutes to open the door
from inside the small room.

When Cara did, Markovchick said, he smelled "a very strong odor of
burning marijuana."

Markovchick also testified that drug evidence was stored in an
unlocked drawer and room and, under Cara's orders, drugs were not sent
to a state police crime laboratory for testing.

Officer Gary Veasie told the grand jury he looked through Cara's desk
several times and found packages of marijuana that were seized as
evidence, a cigarette pack that was emptied and replaced with
marijuana, and another pack in which cigarettes were emptied of
tobacco and twirled at the end, like a "joint."

He also told the grand jury there were marijuana pipes in the
desk.

Veasie also said there was a time when he stopped in Cara's office to
pick up his check, and Cara quickly slammed his desk drawer closed and
there was a smell of burned marijuana.

In October 2003, Patrolman John Willis told the grand jury he seized
cocaine from a car, but Cara decided not to pursue charges. Willis
said he went to destroy the cocaine, but found the bag was cut open
and the cocaine missing.

He said he told Cara about it, and Cara told him the cocaine exploded.
He said he later saw Cara throw away the package.

Willis told the grand jury he suspected Cara of using seized drugs, so
he opened Cara's desk and found two packs of cigarettes -- one
containing cigarettes and the other a bag of marijuana -- and a glass
pipe.

Willis told the grand jury about a time when an egg carton filled with
marijuana was discovered in a rented vehicle. He told the jury that
Cara became upset because the man who had rented the vehicle was a
friend of his. He said no charges were filed in the case.

In a statement, Patrolman Michael Bogart said a bag of cocaine sealed
for evidence had been opened and emptied.

Cara is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 17 before Lewis. The
case will be prosecuted in Carbon County by Senior Deputy Attorney
General Lawrence Cherba.

Cara was promoted to chief from patrolman in July 1994 after former
Chief Richard Koch stepped down to become a patrolman.

Since Cara was suspended Aug. 4, Patrolman Anthony McFadden has run
the department.