John Hammitt
A Parkwood woman and former civilian Philadelphia Police Department employee has been arrested along with her husband for allegedly using her old job as a clerk in the Auto Pound Unit to steal three all-terrain vehicles.
Sharon Hammitt, 45, and John Hammitt, 44, of the 12000 block of Cabell Road, were charged on Feb. 3 with multiple counts of theft, forgery, records tampering, identity theft, unsworn falsification and related offenses.
District Attorney Seth Williams said that the arrests resulted from an investigation by the police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Sharon Hammitt, who was hired as a clerk at the police impound lot in January 1989, allegedly took three ATVs from the lot between September 2005 and October 2010. Hammitt also falsified records to state that one of the ATVs was sent to the Philadelphia Parking Authority for auction while another was sent to Camden Iron and Metal Inc. for scrap, the DA said.
Instead, Hammitt and her husband allegedly forged ownership documents and a notary’s signature so that they could take title of the vehicles and register them in John Hammitt’s name.
The third ATV was originally purchased by the Hammitts in 2003, but later “went missing” and was confiscated by police in 2005, the DA said. Sharon Hammitt allegedly recovered that vehicle from the impound lot without obtaining the required court order.
Sharon Hammitt resigned from her police department job last December. ••
Sharon Hammitt
