Former Sugarcreek officer David Strubel pleads to midemeanor in drug theft

Midwest Ohio

1878 Hits

The missing drugs were police dog training aids.

March 27, 2019

The agreement calls for Strubel to forfeit his state certification as a police officer and spend 30 days in jail.

NEW PHILADELPHIA Former Sugarcreek police officer David M. Strubel accepted a plea deal Wednesday to resolve charges that he stole drugs from the State Highway Patrol.

Strubel, 33, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor theft charge before Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos, who found him guilty.

In exchange for the plea, the Tuscarawas County Prosecutor's Office dismissed a charge of theft in office and reduced a charge of theft of drugs to the misdemeanor theft charge. The agreement calls for Strubel to forfeit his state certification as a police officer and spend 30 days in jail.

The theft charge carries a maximum punishment of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. The original indictment for two felonies carried a potential for 18 months in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

Strubel, of Bolivar, was seen on a police video recording going into locked areas he was not supposed to enter on Sept. 27.

The missing drugs were police dog training aids.