A Dunmore police sergeant was found unconscious at his desk two hours after his Thanksgiving Day shift ended after ingesting cocaine he took from a borough evidence room, detectives charged Friday.
Stephon D. Burgette, 40, told Lackawanna County detectives he used “cocaine over the last few months, citing family problems” during an interview nine days later.
“Burgette admitted to taking cocaine from the evidence room and ingesting it for a period of approximately three months,” detectives Chris Kolcharno and Michelle Mancuso wrote in the affidavit.
The affidavit cites one specific case affected by Burgette taking cocaine, but no others.
District Attorney Brian Gallagher said he expects other cases will be affected, but couldn't say how many because investigators are still sorting through all the borough's evidence. He said his office will contact defense lawyers for suspects in any cases involving Burgette and "it's definitely a possibility" he may have to withdraw charges against suspects, but the investigation isn't at that point yet.
"We're doing a complete inventory of every case in the Dunmore evidence room to ensure there are no other cases," Gallagher said. "Now, every case that he's involved in, we obviously have an ethical and legal duty to disclose that he's under investigation for a crime of deceit or dishonesty, which would be theft, so it could have an effect. We haven't made any determination on that yet ... We're prioritizing them to to see whether or not one to disclose to defense counsel and the defendants that this is going on. It relates to credibility, but (also) to see whether or not any, if they're drug cases, if items were taken or not. So right now, we haven't come across any. But we're going through all that."
Efforts to reach Dunmore Police Chief Sal Marchese were unsuccessful.
Attorney Robert J. Munley, Burgette's lawyer, declined to comment.
Burgette turned himself in Friday to face charges of intentional possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and obstructing the administration of law or other government functions. He is free on $20,000 unsecured bail.
Mayor Max Conway said the borough placed Burgette on unpaid administrative leave, pending the case’s outcome.
“The borough remains committed to maintaining public trust and ensuring the integrity of its police operations,” Conway said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
He said the borough would not comment further. Conway said Burgette started working as a Dunmore officer on Aug. 10, 2015, and had a salary of $83,851.98 a year.
The affidavit says Burgette’s “paramour” called borough police at 12:45 a.m. Nov.28, concerned he had not arrived home from his shift, which ended at 10:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Borough officers working overnight went to the police office and spotted Burgette’s police vest hanging in the department’s vestibule.
That wasn’t unusual.
When they entered the office, they found the unusual: Burgette, “slumped over his desk.”
They tried to revive him through a “sternum rub.” The technique involves firmly rubbing a clenched fist on the breastbone.
That didn’t work, but while officers waited for an ambulance, Burgette slipped in and out of consciousness.
After paramedics arrived, Burgette refused treatment and refused to go to the hospital.
“Responding medics stated to Dunmore police that Burgette had pinpoint pupils, which may have been indicative of ingestion of an opioid,” Kolcharno and Mancuso wrote. “They also observed a brown, unsealed evidence bag in Burgette’s office.”
Officers summoned Marchese and other ranking officers, who ordered Burgette to go to the hospital because his condition did not improve.
“Burgette was complaining of back pain and asked for the initial responding officer to ‘crack his back’ and he would be alright,” the affidavit says. “Burgette was incoherent and could not have a conversation.”
He was transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center. A blood test found traces of a byproduct of cocaine and actual fentanyl “and demonstrated that Sgt. Burgette ingested cocaine and fentanyl on Nov. 27th (Thanksgiving) and 28th 2025.”
The evidence bag contained evidence collected Nov. 3 at a local hotel.
“The bag was supposed to contain a black box containing 6.3 grams of cocaine, 5.4 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, ‘Simply Herb’ packaging, two cut straws used to inhale or snort illegal drugs,” Kolcharno and Mancuso wrote. “But when it was inventoried, the 6.3 grams of cocaine was missing.”
The detectives repackaged the evidence and took custody of it.
“This incident is really sad," Gallagher said. "I have (had) a lot of respect and a good friendship in law enforcement for years with Stephon. Always thought the world of him ... Unfortunately, he kind of went down the wrong path. So has to be held accountable like everybody else, and I feel bad that this happened, but really disappointed and shocked. I was taken aback by it, to be honest with you."
