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A Pennsylvania police officer is facing charges after investigators said he took off his body-worn camera while on duty, went to a woman's apartment and used his handcuffs for "inappropriate and unlawful contact" with her.
Pennsylvania State Police on Wednesday announced misdemeanor counts of official oppression and false imprisonment as well as summary counts of harassment and disorderly conduct against 36-year-old Cambria Township Police Department officer Walter Joseph Maul Jr.
Troopers said in May, the Cambria Township Police Department requested an investigation into Maul, who was on duty at the time of the allegations.
State police said investigators learned that on May 16, around 8:30 p.m., Maul, who was on duty and in full uniform, visited "an adult female acquaintance" at her apartment in Ebensburg after texting her earlier in the day. Maul took off his body-worn camera and left it in his patrol vehicle before he went inside, police said.
The woman let Maul into her apartment, and once inside, troopers said Maul had "inappropriate and unlawful contact" with the woman, including handcuffing her.
After Maul was interviewed, police said the Cambria County District Attorney's Office approved charges against him.
Pennsylvania State Police did not comment on Maul's employment status, saying that was a question for the Cambria Township Police Department.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the investigating officer, Corporal Jesse Dumm, at Pennsylvania State Police's Ebensburg station at 814-472-1653.
