Former dispatcher charged with antiterrorism fund theft

Citizen. Soldier. Crook?

That’s what the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office says about a former 911 dispatcher who collected $55,000 in payments meant to go to city workers fighting the war on terror.

Pendarvis Williams, 51, was charged with theft by deception and theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake for collecting cash from a program he was ineligible for. He turned himself in Tuesday.

In Jan. 2002, former Mayor John Street authorized $500 monthly payments to city employees supporting the war on terror.

Williams, who was hired as a police dispatcher in 1999, served in the National Guard from Dec. 2002 until October 2003 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. He continued as a guardsman through May 2004, when he was ordered to full-time National Guard duty in active guard reserve status.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office says that at some point, Williams became ineligible for the program. He collected 111 monthly payments he was not entitled to, for a total of $55,500,prosecutors say.

Williams was no longer employed as a police communications dispatcher at the time of his arrest.