District Attorney: Philly Police Officer Intimidated Brother’s Ex-Wife

A former Philadelphia police officer has been arrested and charged with intimidating the ex-wife of his brother, prosecutors said today.

They described three incidents in which then-officer Jermias Olivo allegedly participated in helping his brother, Samuel, intimidate Samuel’s ex-wife:

• In the first matter, says the D.A.’s office, Samuel Olivo “was in court for violating the Final Protection From Abuse Order that was filed against him by his ex-wife. While waiting for the hearing to begin at the Criminal Justice Center, Samuel Olivo saw his ex-wife in the hallway. Samuel Olivo called his brother, Jermias Olivo, who was a police officer at the time, and became threatening toward his former sister-in-law. Samuel called his ex-wife several curse words and said, ‘I know you ain’t got nothing to say.’ At this point she called a sheriff and dialed 9-1-1 to report the incident.”

• After that incident, Jermias Olivo, allegedly used the mobile data terminal in his patrol car to track down his former sister-in-law using her name and date-of-birth.

“Days later, Samuel Olivo’s ex-wife and one of his daughters saw Samuel Olivo in the parking lot of her apartment complex and his ex-wife found all four of her car’s tires slashed,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

• On a separate occasion, Jermias Olivo asked fellow officers to run the license tag number of a vehicle that had allegedly cut him off. The searched plates actually belonged to a person who accompanied Samuel Olivo’s ex-wife to court on the protection from abuse charge.

“Officer Jermias Olivo used his position as a Philadelphia Police Officer to obtain information that he was not authorized to have, especially since it had nothing to do with official business — which is deplorable,” D.A. Seth Williams said in the press statement. “Incidences of domestic violence are extremely high in the law enforcement community, and when it’s coupled with an individual that wants to use his police officer access for witness intimidation it becomes nothing short of criminal.”

Jermias Olivo resigned from the force in June 2014. He was charged with two counts of unlawful use of computer and other computer crimes; intimidation of a witness or victim; and harassment. The protection from abuse order against Samuel Olivo remains valid, prosecutors said.

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