Cop's bagging work no crime, judge rules

FOR THE SECOND TIME in as many months, a judge has dismissed two charges against a former Philadelphia cop who got axed for allegedly drinking on the job in November.

William Haviland, 43, who had been a seven-year veteran of the force assigned to the 26th District in Kensington, still faces trial on a charge of driving under the influence.

But charges of theft and destruction of government property vanished yesterday following a preliminary hearing before Common Pleas Judge Frank Palumbo. Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan had dismissed those charges during a June 2 preliminary hearing, prompting the District Attorney's Office to refile them.

"We're not trying to make an example out of him, we're not treating him badly, we're not trying to treat him unfairly," Assistant District Attorney Irina Ehrlich argued yesterday. "What I'm telling you, Your Honor, this case is outrageous."

Haviland should be held for trial for theft because he was drinking at a Northeast bar outside his district when he should have been working on Nov. 7, Ehrlich said, and he should be tried for causing extensive damage to the department-owned Motorola XTS 3000 portable radio that night.

She said the drunken cop broke the radio to prevent his supervisors from contacting him at the bar. Each radio cost $3,218 when purchased new in December 2002, police said.

Defense attorney Joseph Kelly argued that the state lacked the evidence to sustain the charges.

Palumbo concluded that he couldn't determine how the radio had gotten damaged, and he questioned the fairness of the theft charge because he suspected private-sector employers couldn't get the D.A. to file theft charges against their loafing employees.

"Everyone is entitled to uniform treatment under the law," Palumbo said.

Haviland is accused of leaving his job patrolling the parking lot of the SugarHouse Casino and driving his marked cruiser to the bar. Ehrlich said he got drunk and used racial slurs against a Hispanic man, who called 9-1-1.