Ex-cop sentenced for pulling over woman for number

[August 14, 2008]  BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A former part-time Pennsylvania police officer has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for pulling over a woman while he was off duty -- just to give her his phone number. Steven Klinger, 32, was charged with official oppression, or acting outside his authority as an officer.

Police said he used red and blue lights mounted on the dashboard of his pickup truck to pull over a woman in Berwick in eastern Pennsylvania in April 2007. The woman became suspicious when he began asking her if she was married or had a boyfriend, police said.

Klinger was also sentenced Tuesday to three additional days in jail and fined $1,000 for driving drunk in July 2007. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of .40 percent, five times the legal driving limit.

Klinger last worked for the Dallas Police Department in northeastern Pennsylvania. He is currently unemployed.

He apologized for his actions, and told the judge he had checked into treatment for alcohol abuse.

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Information from: Press Enterprise, http://www.pressenterpriseonline.com/

[Associated Press]

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