Pa. officer fired in custody death wants job back

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A fired Punxsutawney police officer wants his job back now that state prosecutors won’t charge him in connection with an intoxicated man who died after spending about five hours in the officer’s police cruiser.

Sixteen-year veteran officer Brian Andrekovich didn’t speak at today’s news conference where his attorney, Ralph Montana announced efforts to get him rehired.

The state attorney general on Monday closed its investigation without filing charges in the death of 48-year-old Stephen Obbish.

Obbish died about 3 p.m. Aug. 15 and had been arrested just before 10 a.m. the same day. Andrekovich was fired in November.

Montana says police officers and the mayor repeatedly checked on Obbish before he died of a combination of his own medications and drinking too much.