Philly Cop Benched Over Bizarre Bucks County Incident

A contractor claims officer Michael Winkler robbed him during a dispute, sources said.

Police brass have put a veteran Philly cop on desk duty and taken away his gun while they investigate a bizarre confrontation in Bucks County last week.

According to law enforcement sources, Officer Michael Winkler was on duty in Northeast Philadelphia on May 5th when he got into an argument over the phone with a contractor who had done work on his home in Levittown. (Philly cops won the right to live outside the city in an arbitration ruling seven years ago.)

The contractor has claimed that Winkler drove to Levittown in a city-owned vehicle and robbed him, a source said. Bristol Township police apprehended Winkler after they became aware of the incident, and notified his bosses in Philly. A Bristol Township police official declined to comment.

The case is being reviewed by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office; no charges have been filed against Winkler thus far. Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said Internal Affairs is keeping tabs on the Bucks County investigation. “[Winkler] has been put on administrative duty, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation,” he said. “There are departmental issues here that will have to be dealt with as well.”

Winkler, 36, was the subject of a federal lawsuit in 2011. A Philly man accused Winkler of breaking into his house without a valid search or arrest warrant and assaulting him. The case was dismissed in 2013 after a settlement conference.

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