Published: October 29, 2005 12:04 am      

Officer accused of selling steroids

SOUTH FORK — A part-time police officer was arrested on charges of dealing illegal steroids he ordered from overseas.

Brock J. Hendrickson, 28, of Sixth Street in South Fork is accused of obtaining the drugs over the Internet and selling them to a police informant working for the Cambria County Drug Task Force.

Hendrickson has been a Summerhill Township police officer since 1998, Chief Paul Bonfanti said.

Steroids are hormones used to promote muscle growth in athletes.

Investigators said they have not encountered the problem previously in Cambria County.

“It is the first incidence of this type that I know of,” Detective Kevin Price said from District Attorney David J. Tulowitzki’s office.

Price is drug task force field supervisor.

Detectives intercepted a package of steroids that was sent to a South Fork area address, the task force press release said.

The task force traced the drugs to Hendrickson and set up a purchase by the informant, Price said.

Further investigation showed Hendrickson ordered steroid pills from Serbia, paid by wire and had them shipped to various locations throughout the Mainline area, police said.

Hendrickson was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Mary Ann Zanghi and released on $5,000 unsecured bail.

Hendrickson immediately was placed on temporary suspension from the Summerhill Township force, Bonfanti said.

Township supervisors are expected to make the suspension official at their meeting Tuesday, Supervisor Hap Evancic said.

Bonfanti said he was surprised to learn his officer was being charged, noting Hendrickson never has had any problems in the past.

“It’s a bad situation anytime a policeman breaks the law,” Bonfanti said. “Unfortunately, policemen are human just like everybody else. Unfortunately, sometimes policemen succumb to the same hazards that the rest of society succumbs to.”

A large, powerful physique can help police deal with offenders, but that’s no excuse for using illegal drugs, Bonfanti said.

Dr. Daniel Wehner, chairman of Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, said steroids’ hormones can cause a number of harmful side effects.

Because they are hormones, they can cause mood swings, Wehner said. Emotional change can be so severe it’s been called “ ’roid rage.”

There are also sexual side effects, he said. Men develop more feminine features, and women develop masculine features. Impotency, acne and accelerated baldness all have been attributed to steroid use, Wehner said.

“The real bad problems are the ones that affect our cardiovascular system,” Wehner said.

Steroids elevate cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, leading to heart, liver and kidney failure.