Four St. Louis city police officers are facing criminal charges for padding their paychecks with bogus hours, authorities say.
An internal affairs investigator spent a month tracking the four, even secretly watching at least one of the officers at home, according to court documents. The investigation revealed the officers were not logging the unusually large number of overtime hours described on their time cards, authorities say.
Police Chief Sam Dotson described the alleged time card fiction as "a betrayal to both the community and the men and women of this department who work to uphold our core values," adding that it would not be tolerated.
"The warrants issued today demonstrates the commitment of both the Circuit Attorney’s Office and our department to seek justice in this case,” Dotson said in a statement.
The officers were identified as Daniel O'Brien, 33, of Ballwin; Michael Langsdorf, 37, of Arnold; Brian Jost, 39, of Arnold and Emin Talic, 25, of Arnold.
At least three of the officers — Jost, Talic and Langsdorf — were part of a Drug Enforcement Administration task force that has worked cases throughout the St. Louis Metro area. Police and a spokeswoman for the Circuit Attorney declined talk about that aspect of the case.…