READING — Town Manager Robert W. LeLacheur Jr and Police Chief David Clark report that a Reading police officer has been placed on unpaid administrative leave as a result of news from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office that the officer has been indicted in connection with a 2018 fatal officer-involved shooting.
Officer Erik Drauschke has been on paid administrative leave, consistent with the department’s collective bargaining agreement, since the Feb. 3, 2018 incident in which Drauschke shot and killed a man who was under investigation for domestic violence.
As a result of today’s indictment for one count of manslaughter, the leave has been changed to unpaid pending the outcome of the court proceedings.
The District Attorney’s office conducted the investigation into the 2018 incident.
“The Reading Police Department has cooperated fully with the district attorney’s investigation over the past two-and-a-half years, and the agency will continue to cooperate fully,” Chief Clark said.
Drauschke has been employed by the Reading Police Department since Sept. 2006.
All further media inquiries regarding this matter should be referred to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office.
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