Former New Kensington (PA) police officer Nathaniel Cochran, 25, of Latrobe, faces five misdemeanor charges related to a 2024 traffic stop and subsequent interactions with a defendant. Prosecutors filed the charges in mid-October 2026 after evidence surfaced during a separate investigation into a July 2026 use-of-force incident. The five charges Cochran is charged with:
Tampering with public records
Unsworn falsification to authorities
Tampering with (or fabricating) physical evidence
Official oppression / denying rights
Obstruction of administration of law
According to the criminal complaint and Westmoreland County DA Nicole Ziccarelli office, the case stems from a November 24–25, 2024, traffic stop. Cochran filed narcotics possession charges against a woman. During the stop, he allegedly told her he could help her if she “set someone up.” He provided a phone number he claimed was a work line (New Kensington patrol officers are not issued work cellphones; it was personal). Communications continued; she visited his home twice and was told not to worry about the charges. Later that month they met (reportedly at a GetGo in Delmont), where he asked her to delete their text messages and gave her $1,000 in cash. In early December 2024 he withdrew the charges, claiming she was a confidential informant—a claim later confirmed as false by the department and the state Attorney General’s Office. When served a search warrant, he initially denied knowing her, but phone records showed otherwise. Ziccarelli stated that Cochran “egregiously defied and broke the law for his own personal benefit” shortly after taking his oath. He resigned in September 2026 after more than a month on administrative leave (having worked about three years for the department). A preliminary hearing was scheduled for late November 2026.
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Nathaniel Cochran, a former police officer in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, has resigned and faces multiple criminal charges. Following investigations into excessive force and a scheme to manipulate legal proceedings, he is now accused of official oppression, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice.
What up y'all, welcome back to No Direct. Today we're going
to New Kensington, Pennsylvania because
I'd like to introduce you to Nathaniel Cochran. He's 25, he's
a police officer for now. I say he
was the one for New Kensington Police, but he quit
because he's being charged by Westmoreland County
detectives with official oppression, tampering, and related offenses.
There's other charges, too,
but y'all can pause and read this if you like.
We're going to move on to the video.
You'll be getting citations
for probably 20 different citations tonight.
I'll take the time and handwrite every single one of them for you,
and it's going to continue until you just stop driving the way you do.
We first told you about now-former Officer Cochran after the...
Former police officer is charged
in what prosecutors describe as a scheme to set
someone up. Nathaniel Cochran resigned
from the New Kensington Police Force
following a KDK investigation into allegations
of possible excessive force. KDK lead investigator
Andy Sheehan was first to report on those allegations
and he has the new developments tonight.
You'll be getting citations
for probably 20 different citations tonight.
I'll take the time and handwrite every single one of them for you,
and it's going to continue until you just stop driving the way you do.
We first told you about now former Officer Cochran
after the violent arrest of a man who only moments before
had been picking up apples from the yard of this abandoned house.
Anthony De La Rosa went to the hospital with severe facial injuries
and was charged with resisting arrest.
A police report stating, quote,
Officer Cochran delivered a few elbow strikes
to De La Rosa's facial region in an attempt to prevent him from biting.
De La Rosa's attorney has promised to sue.
Now this is conduct that occurs in North Korea and Russia and China,
not here in the United States of America.
We don't put up with this.
With our reports, New Kensington police suspended Cochran
and the district attorney's office began its own investigation.
Out of that probe, other charges have emerged related
to Cochran's arrest of another defendant
for drug possession in 2024.
This criminal complaint details Cochran's alleged efforts
to enlist the defendant's help in setting up another.
According to the complaint, Cochran told
the defendant he could get the charges against her dismissed
and gave her a phone number he said was his work phone,
but was really his personal one.
The two began exchanging text messages about the scheme,
and Cochran invited her to his home,
where he allegedly told her not to worry about the charges.
Later that month, investigators say Cochran told
the woman to meet him in Delmont.
Where he asked her to delete all text messages
and gave her $1,000 in return.
Then in December 2024, Cochran withdrew the charges,
saying the defendant was a confidential informant.
But in the DA's investigation,
the New Ken police confirmed this was not true.
Cochran is now charged with a litany of counts,
including tampering with or fabricating physical
evidence, official oppression,
and obstruction of the administration of the law. In a statement,
Westmoreland D.A. Nicole Zaccarelli said, quote,
this was someone who swore to uphold and protect
the law, and within a few years of taking that oath,
he egregiously defied and broke the law
for his own personal benefit.
This behavior contradicts what the public rightfully expects from a law
enforcement officer and Mr. Cochran needs to be held accountable.
Since our initial report,
several people have contacted us alleging physical violence
and harassment at the hands of former officer Cochran.
Our investigation continues
as the Westmoreland County District Attorney's Office continues theirs.
