FORMER ARNOLD POLICE OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE CHARGES

A former Arnold police officer pleaded guilty on Monday to filing false charges after staging what he called a hit-and-run crash of his city-issued SUV.  The Trib reports that 33-year-old Matthew Sarver entered his plea to one count of making a false report while a charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed.  Court records say that Sarver crashed his police SUV on June 21st and then set the scene to make it look like a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of an Arnold convenience store and gas station A subsequent investigation by New Kensington police and Westmoreland County detectives found video from surveillance cameras at the gas station did not support Clark’s story. The video depicted Clark drive into the parking lot, later leave the store and approach the vehicle’s passenger door, remove a piece of its damaged side panel and placed it against the rear fender, according to police.