by Joe Mandak, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A judge under fire for allegedly drinking on duty and otherwise behaving erratically gave his luxury car to a parking lot attendant in January, police said, then reported it stolen after forgetting the gesture.
The incident with the car is the latest in the bizarre actions attributed to Allegheny County Judge H. Robert McFalls Jr., who is already on paid leave from the bench. He could lose his job if state court officials determine he was drinking on duty. McFalls, 58, fired three staff members in November who then sued him in December, saying they were wrongly fired for reporting his on-duty drinking to superiors.
Since then, he’s come under fire for an arrest in Florida, where police said he stiffed a cabbie out of a fare while drunk; and for reportedly dropping his pants in a Pittsburgh restaurant on Valentine’s Day.
In the latest incident, California University of Pennsylvania Police Chief James Hansen said Thursday that McFalls gave his Mercedes Benz to a college student who was working as a parking lot attendant at a Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game on Jan. 20.
Hansen said McFalls gave the car to the attendant because he liked him and the attendant expressed admiration for the vehicle.
“They struck up a conversation and he gave him the car, a $60,000 Mercedes,” Hansen said. “All people ever give me is a hard time.”
McFalls didn’t return calls to his cell phone or home Thursday. His attorney, Robert O. Lampl, said the judge is in an unspecified treatment center on leave, still collecting his $119,000 annual salary.
Lampl said Thursday he wasn’t aware of the stolen car incident.
“It’s news to me. I guess I’ll work through that, too,” Lampl said.
Lampl filed papers with the state Supreme Court on Wednesday saying that McFalls, who has been treated for alcoholism in the past, wasn’t drinking on duty last fall and began drinking only in the “very recent past.”
Lampl blamed McFalls’ behavior on “episodic stress syndrome, some kind of a stress or a trauma. I’m not a psychologist, but there’s been some erratic behavior here.”
Asked if the treatment center McFalls is attending addresses alcohol or mental problems, Lampl said, “I’d say it’s full-service.”
According to a Pittsburgh police report, McFalls parked his car in the players’ lot at the football game, a courtesy the Steelers sometimes extend to judges and other dignitaries. McFalls went to a restaurant for several hours after the game and returned discovered his car missing.
Pittsburgh police said he didn’t report the vehicle stolen until Feb. 5, however. That’s because McFalls believed the car had been towed and tried to locate it for several days, then left town for several more days before returning to make the report, the report states.
Hansen said police at his campus 26 miles south of Pittsburgh learned the car was reported stolen on Wednesday. But they aren’t charging the student or identifying him because he truly believed McFalls meant for him to keep the car.
The student returned the keys and all other items that were with the car, which was towed from the campus Thursday morning. The towing company is waiting for the judge or a representative to pick it up, Hansen said Thursday night.