A Strafford County grand jury has indicted a former Dover Police officer for allegedly stealing drug evidence in 2016.
R.J. Letendre is accused of taking a “significant” quantity of marijuana-laced Jolly Rancher candies from a Dover home during an arrest, according to County Attorney Tom Velardi.
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Letendre faces a single felony charge of falsifying evidence, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. He hasn’t yet entered a plea.
Letendre was fired from the department in August following a high profile domestic abuse case in Rollinsford involving his wife. Sarah Letendre was initially charged with simple assault for her role in the dispute with RJ Letendre, who is a former mixed martial arts fighter.
Supporters of Sarah Letendre accused the Dover and Rollinsford police of showing favoritism to a fellow officer. Assault charges against Sarah Letendre, who suffered multiple rib fractures during the altercation, were eventually dropped.
She continues to face other charges stemming from the incident, including fleeing from an officer.
During its internal investigation of Letendre, Dover Police found evidence of the alleged drug theft, according to Velardi. The quantity of marijuana candies found at the scene of the investigation in 2016 failed to match the amount returned as evidence, he alleges.
