Winfield Cop Busted Buying Cocaine; Claims He Was Replacing Damaged Police Evidence

Hmm. Something tells me they do not teach this at the police academy.

Winfield police officer Bud Chrum was arrested Friday on charges of purchasing $160 worth of cocaine. As the Post-Dispatch reports today, Chrum told narcotics officers that he was buying the drugs to substitute for police evidence he inadvertently damaged.

"The only reason I'm doing this is because I spilled something on about two grams of cocaine, and I had to replace it so I didn't get fired," Chrum allegedly told a Lincoln County Narcotics Enforcement Team officer.

According to police, Bud Chrum, 39, asked his brother, Tony Chrum, 38, to purchase cocaine on his behalf. Tony Chrum found a dealer who arranged a transaction outside a local movie theater. Only the dealer turned out to be a police informant.

Tony was arrested in the cinema parking lot. Bud Chrum was later arrested when he arrived at his brother's home -- dressed in his police uniform -- to pick up the cocaine.

The brothers are each being held on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

This is the second drug-related story this week out of Winfield, located an hour's drive northwest of St. Louis. Yesterday the Associated Press used Winfield in its dateline for a story examining how heroin is making inroads into rural America.