PITTSBURGH — The man selected to be Pittsburgh’s next police chief had been the subject of a criminal investigation in Maryland.
Jason Lando resigned on Thursday as police chief in Frederick, Maryland.
He was accused of sending disparaging and harassing text messages to a former corporal. The sheriff’s office traced the text messages back to Lando.
Investigators referred the case to the state prosecutor’s office, which declined to pursue the case.
Chief investigator Rick Earle spoke with Lando Thursday evening.
He provided us with a letter from the state prosecutor’s office, which he says cleared him of any wrongdoing.
However, published reports out of Maryland indicate the mayor of Frederick is calling for a new investigation.
Lando provided the following statement to Channel 11:
“Law enforcement leaders are frequently criticized for failing to hold bad cops accountable. Unfortunately, doing the right thing is rarely the easy thing, and sometimes comes with negative consequences. To that end, over the past two years, I have been the target of relentless harassment by retired Frederick Police Corporal Daniel Sullivan, after I held him accountable for two incidents where he was found to have used excessive force on Frederick citizens. Rather than accepting responsibility for violating his oath as a police officer, Mr. Sullivan instead elected to launch a smear campaign, in an attempt to ruin my reputation. It is important to note that the allegations lodged by Mr. Sullivan were investigated by Maryland’s Office of the State Prosecutor and were deemed to be unfounded.”
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