Newport Police Officer Resigns During Welfare Fraud Probe

A Newport police officer under investigation for welfare fraud was fired this week.

Officer Rick Rohrer had been on the city payroll only since October 1996, and was still in his six-month probationary period.

Because of that, the city needed no reason to fire him and gave none, City Administrator Jack Henderson said.

Efforts to reach Rohrer for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.

Pend Oreille County Prosecutor Tom Metzger said he will hire a special prosecutor to review evidence against Rohrer and handle any prosecution that may result.

Metzger confirmed that state Department of Social and Health Services investigators say Rohrer was drawing welfare payments from August 1995 through May 1996, while he was employed at Groom Enterprises in Newport.

Henderson said the city intends to hire a replacement as soon as possible, and will add a new sergeant’s position as well. Currently, the police force consists of the chief and one officer.

The department already was shorthanded when Rohrer was fired. The city hadn’t yet replaced Officer Ed Miller Jr., who resigned in December 1996 after being suspended for entering a house without a warrant and roughing up a resident he said harassed him on the telephone.

Miller pleaded guilty last November to a charge that he conducted an illegal search, and was sentenced to a month of home confinement.

, DataTimes