WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Former Arnold Police Chief Eric Doutt is facing six felony counts of felony possession with intent to deliver for allegedly selling cocaine.
According to police paperwork, “the (confidential informant) advised that they have purchased cocaine from Doutt on multiple occasions over the past several years, at times, 2–3 times per day, and that he/she contacts Doutt at his telephone number to arrange these transactions.”
Police say Doutt, 56, was seen on three separate occasions selling cocaine. The most recent was Thursday morning.
Shortly after, Doutt was pulled over in East Franklin Township and taken into custody.
“Anytime a police officer, particularly a police chief, is arrested, it has this tendency to erode confidence, in the children, in the parents, the residents in the area, the people where he works now at UPMC. It has a chilling effect,” said John Cencich, a professor and criminologist at Pennsylvania Western University.
Doutt worked for the Arnold Police Department from 1990 to 2024, holding multiple roles, including DARE officer and police chief. He is currently employed, according to his LinkedIn, as an officer for UPMC Passavant, and formally sat on the New Kensington-Arnold School board.
This is now the second police chief in Westmoreland County to be arrested in two years. Shawn Dennings, the former Greensburg Police Chief, was sentenced in May of this year for selling narcotics.
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“It has to do with the profit. Whether it’s being involved in illegal gambling, illegal narcotics, human trafficking,” Cencich SAID.
UPMC has not responded to our request for comment about Doutt’s job at Passavant.
Doutt was unable to post his $250,000 bail and remains in the Armstrong County jail.
People in Arnold say they’re shocked, particularly because Doutt was a member of the school board and a former DARE officer.
“That is absolutely crazy that somebody could betray the trust of the public like that. Absolutely insane,” neighbor Joe Deluca said.
“They are supposed to be the ones that are the outstanding members of the community,” neighbor Anthony Yohe said, adding, “That’s very disturbing, that somebody who is supposed to be taking care of our children is accused of all of this stuff.”
“I mean, absolute power corrupts, though, ya know,” Deluca said.
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