Former police captain accused of stealing $260K from evidence room

By Madeline Bartos, Jennifer Borrasso

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    MCKEESPORT, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A former police captain is being charged with stealing more than a quarter-million dollars from his own officers who seized the money during criminal investigations.

It’s believed he pocketed the cash from 159 cases, little by little, over the past four years.

Now, it could potentially put those cases in jeopardy, while one University of Pittsburgh doesn’t believe that will be the case, another source said there were no checks and balances on Christopher Halaszynski.

Halaszynski had been with the McKeesport Police Department for nearly 30 years, working his way up the ranks to captain, and he was the man in charge of the department’s evidence room.

“I feel sorry for what he did but he has to pay,” said Mark Eubanks. “I’m not surprised at all, but I’m happy he got caught.”

Halaszynski is being charged with stealing more than $260,000 from the police department’s evidence room over four years and court records say he took money that was evidence in 159 cases and deposited into his personal bank account.

Former McKeesport Police Chief Mark Steele, who retired earlier this year, said he got suspicious in early September when Halaszynski kept trying to avoid an audit. One week later, Halaszynski was found unresponsive in a police cruiser after a suspected suicide attempt.

Halaszynski told investigators at the hospital that he managed the system successfully until late 2020 when he separated from his wife.

He was struggling financially because of his divorce, and he intended to give the money back but said he got “selfish and greedy and it became easy.”

Also according to court documents, in some cases, envelopes that should’ve had cash in them were empty. In others, only some money was missing. Halaszynski told investigators he’d take a couple thousand dollars at a time and he likely shredded most of the envelopes.

He told investigators at first he used the money to pay bills but later used it to go on trips around Christmas. He said he did not buy new cars or real estate, and that he has nothing to show for everything he took.

In a statement provided to KDKA-TV, McKeesport’s mayor said no one is above the law.

“We have instituted an entirely new process with policies and procedures that will not only modernize our evidence logs but will provide a system of checks, balances, and safety measures recommended by experts in the field,” Mayor Michael Cherepko’s statement said.

Pitt criminal law professor David Harris said it’s unlikely the alleged thefts will impact any cases so long as the money was properly seized and logged into evidence.

“There could be a few cases where defense attorneys will make an argument that it affected the outcome of the case,” he said. “I would expect to see some arguments like that.”

Halaszynski, however, wasn’t fired from the department according to a source, but left his position during the investigation. He is now out on bond.

KDKA-TV reached out to his lawyer but did not receive a response.

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