Ex-officer guilty in theft from N.E. Phila. bar safe

A former Philadelphia police officer was convicted Friday of stealing $825 from a Northeast Philadelphia bar last year while on duty.

Prosecutors said Kenneth Crockett, 57, and two other officers were responding to a burglar alarm at a neighboring business about 4 a.m. July 27, 2010, when they discovered that the basement door of Pat's Cafe, at Castor Avenue and Arrott Street in the Northwood section, was unlocked.

Surveillance video showed Crockett taking three bags of money from a bar safe, Assistant District Attorney Terri Domsky told jurors this week. Defense lawyer L. George Parry maintained that Crockett was picking up items that had fallen from a vest pocket.

Pat's Cafe was where Officer Gary Skerski was shot to death in 2006 during an armed robbery. Crockett, who had taken part in the ensuing investigation, was fired last year after his arrest in the theft. Sentencing was set for Jan. 12. - Staff report