Former sheriff’s deputy accused of not turning in evidence from narcotics case

A former deputy with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office was charged Tuesday with official misconduct for allegedly tampering with evidence while still employed by the department, Sheriff Jeff Easter said.

Justin Price — a four-year veteran with the department — is accused of not turning over evidence during a narcotics investigation, Easter said.

The department was made aware of the allegation by a resident on Dec. 17. Easter declined to go into more detail about the case, but said the resident was involved in the original narcotics investigation.

Price’s employment with the department ended a couple weeks ago, the sheriff said.

The Wichita Police Department investigated the complaint against Price. Easter said this is an isolated incident.

Easter said Price is not related to a former Wichita police officer with a similar name — Joshua Price.

Joshua Price was arrested in October on suspicion of stalking and misdemeanor official misconduct. The 21-year police veteran is accused of “relentlessly working to conduct surveillance” on his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend over a period of several months, according to an arrest affidavit.

This story was originally published February 14, 2018 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Former sheriff’s deputy accused of not turning in evidence from narcotics case."