Gregory Overstreet, a nine-year Anne Arundel police veteran once known as "Robocop" for his zealous pursuit of drug dealers and drunken drivers, was fired yesterday, four days after he pleaded guilty to one count of extortion.
On Friday, Anne Arundel Circuit Judge H. Chester Goudy Jr. sentenced Overstreet, 31, of the 100 block of S. Riva Clubhouse in Harwood to six months of house arrest.
"It is truly unfortunate," said Robert Beck, acting Anne Arundel County police chief. "The people I feel sorry for are Greg's family. But in our line of business we can't tolerate a rogue of the type he seems to have turned into."
Overstreet pleaded guilty to trying to extort $500 from a Pasadena man in Queenstown Park July 20. He had accused the man of fondling himself and had told him the situation "could be taken care of" for $500. He told the man to leave $100 under a trash can the next day.
Authorities learned of the scheme when someone in the man's family called the police. Officers then put $100 in an envelope, placed it under the designated trash can and waited. Overstreet was arrested when he tried to pick up the $100.
Overstreet was wounded while making a drug arrest in Pioneer City in 1991. A bullet hit him in the shoulder.
That year, the department named him "Officer of the Year" and gave him a Purple Heart. Gov. William Donald Schaefer also gave him a citation for making more than 180 drug arrests in a single year.
Chief Beck said that Overstreet's lawyers tried to use the 1991 shooting to explain his actions. The lawyers claimed Overstreet suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome. Chief Beck, a Vietnam War veteran, said he was not swayed by the argument.