Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Fired Cop Blames Tainted Balls On Dopey Wife

A counter-terrorism police officer who was fired for failing a drug test says his wife spiked his meatballs with marijuana and wants his job back.

Anthony Chiofalo, of the New York Police Department, has asked a Manhattan court to declare his dismissal unconstitutional and force the NYPD to re-hire him. He was suspended in 2005 after 22 years of service for failing a random test.

His wife Catherine told investigators she had secretly drugged his meatballs hoping a failed test would force him to retire. Both Chiofalo and his wife have passed lie detector tests about how the marijuana entered the police officer's system. Mrs. Chiofalo told investigators she had put enough marijuana for six cigarettes in her meatball recipe in July 2005.

She testified at a hearing that she just wanted her husband "not to die of a heart attack or get killed" while still in service, according to the Associated Press story. "I wanted him to be around to help raise my son," she said. She had reportedly expected him to retire in 2004 after 20 years in the force.

An administrative judge recommended that Mr. Chiofalo be reinstated to the Joint Terrorism Task Force but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly rejected that opinion and fired him.

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