Jeannette police officer charged with falsifying traffic stop reports

A Jeannette police officer is facing 18 misdemeanor charges because, investigators say, he was falsifying reports related to traffic stops, according to court papers.

Matthew S. Painter, 40, of Penn Township was charged Tuesday with tampering with records. He is on paid administrative leave, according to city Manager Ethan Keedy.

Police Chief Derek Manley reported to Westmoreland County detectives in July inconsistencies in 18 of Painter’s reports from traffic stops, according to court papers. In all of those instances, the reports list the driver, vehicle, license plate, a date and time of the purported traffic stop and infraction, with all of the drivers let go with a verbal warning, police said.

Detectives used body-worn cameras and cameras and GPS in patrol units to determine Painter did not conduct the traffic stops as he reported between June 18 and July 1, according to court papers. Officers’ body-worn cameras and cameras in patrol units activate automatically when the emergency lights are turned on, detectives said. There were no recordings for any of the stops Painter reported.

On a couple of occasions, Painter was on video at the police station when his reports indicated traffic stops were made, according to court papers. Detectives said they talked to three of the people who reportedly were pulled over and learned they had not been subject to a traffic stop by a Jeannette officer at the times, dates and locations in Painter’s reports.

He could not immediately be reached. An attorney was not listed in online court records. Preliminary arraignment is set for Oct. 21.

“As police chief, I want to reassure the citizens and visitors of Jeannette that this was an isolated issue and it is not a practice tolerated by this department,” Manley said in a statement. “We will continue to uphold the law and answer every call to protect the citizens of Jeannette.”

Mayor Curtis Antoniak declined to comment Tuesday and referred questions to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

Painter was hired in Jeannette in 2021 after leaving the Uniontown Police Department, where he was a police dog handler. His dog briefly worked for the Jeannette force, and Painter filed a lawsuit against the city in June claiming it violated labor laws by not paying him an overtime rate for time spent caring for the canine.

He was making $30.19 per hour in 2024 and $45.29 in hourly overtime.

Painter is at least the eighth police officer in Westmoreland County to be arrested in recent years:

• Brenda Sawyer, 61, of North Versailles was charged in September with stealing money from the state Attorney General’s Office in North Huntingdon, where she worked as regional director of the Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Drug Control.

• Josh Stanga, 41, was working as Arnold’s police chief when, authorities said, he pocketed more than $200 during a sting led by the Attorney General’s Office to see if he would properly handle cash and drugs staged in a purportedly stolen vehicle. Court documents indicate he created a fake report to cover his tracks.

• Shawn Denning, 43, of Delmont, Greensburg’s former police chief, is awaiting sentencing in federal court on a charge of conspiracy to distribute drugs.

• His former coworker, Regina McAtee, 51, of New Kensington is awaiting sentencing in a related conspiracy to distribute drugs case.

• Suspended state trooper Nicholas Hood, 32, of Derry Township is awaiting action in a domestic case in Westmoreland County Court.

• Former Ligonier Valley police Chief John Berger, 52, of Ligonier Borough is awaiting action in a sexual assault case in Westmoreland County Court.

• Former Greensburg officer Kenneth J. Burke, 37, was sentenced to one year of probation last year in a domestic case.