State police use warrant to search Aliquippa municipal building

Pennsylvania State Police searched the Aliquippa municipal building Friday morning as part of a grand jury investigation apparently related to allegations of theft.

Troopers ordered everyone in the building at 581 Franklin Ave. to step away from their computers, said city solicitor Myron Sainovich.

The troopers had in hand an eight-page search warrant that gave them the authority to search computers and software for information related to a possible theft, Mr. Sainovich said. Six of the eight pages were under seal. Mr. Sainovich said he has no idea of any specific allegations against any particular person or people.

Troopers took two computers from a general administrative area, one from a tax office and one computer from the office of a former code enforcement officer who died several months ago, Mr. Sainovich said.

“It’s my understanding they took the computers, and on Monday they’ll mirror the hard drives and then hopefully return the computers,” he said, adding that the removal of the computers will put a strain on the city’s ability to function but shouldn’t be a major problem.

“It’s not like the city can’t conduct business,” he said.

Troopers did not take a second computer in the tax office or several others in the general area, Mr. Sainovich said. The search warrant was issued on Feb. 28 and had to be executed by March 2, he said. A copy was not immediately available.

Mr. Sainovich said the search doesn’t necessarily indicate any wrongdoing.

“People make allegations that things aren’t done correctly or whatever, they may be unfounded all together, but there is a duty to review it and to check to make sure everything is OK,” he said.

A state police spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.