A City of Pittsburgh employee who works for the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is facing new criminal charges after police say they found crystal meth, Suboxone, and four crack pipes in and around his car during a traffic stop on Saw Mill Run Boulevard. Tim Terlecki told officers he was driving home from work, felt tired, and pulled over to nap in a parking lot along the busy South Hills roadway on August 21. Despite the arrest and an earlier fraud case involving more than $22,000 taken from a Hazelwood homeowner, Terlecki has remained on the city payroll.
According to WPXI, police charged Terlecki with four counts of possession of a controlled or counterfeit substance after the traffic stop. Officers reported finding crystal meth in his pants pocket, along with Suboxone in his vehicle, according to the criminal complaint cited by the station. Terlecki told police he did not have a prescription for the Suboxone, and the complaint does not make clear whether he provided any prescription documentation at the time.
Terlecki is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on the drug charges this month, and separately faces a summary trial in September on a charge of driving under a suspended or revoked license, a charge that dates to April. Under Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code, driving on a suspended license generally carries a $200 summary fine, though the penalty escalates to mandatory jail time of 60 days to two years if the underlying suspension stems from a DUI, per the state's Title 75 statute. The dossier does not specify whether Terlecki's suspension is DUI-related.
A Pattern That Predates the Traffic Stop
This is not the first time Terlecki's off-duty conduct has drawn police attention. In November 2025, Pittsburgh police charged him with taking more than $22,000 from a woman in Hazelwood after failing to finish a home improvement project he'd been paid to complete. Court records described in reporting from WPXI indicated Terlecki offered to set up a Venmo account for the woman, who was described as computer-illiterate and was caring for her ill mother at the time, then transferred $22,800 from her PNC Bank account to himself. The woman reportedly only discovered the missing money after receiving overdraft notices from the bank.
Those charges were later withdrawn after Terlecki agreed to repay the woman, sources told the station. Court records from the original filing put the misappropriated sum at $22,800, according to reporting from Beaver County Radio. Under Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, taking advance payment for home improvement work and then failing to complete it or return the funds can constitute criminal home improvement fraud, graded as a felony when the contract exceeds $2,000. A neighbor told WPXI she hadn't seen Terlecki around in a while, recalling, “I wonder why I haven't seen that guy in so long. I even offered him my tools. I thought he was an alright standup guy.” Terlecki reportedly works as a handyman on the side.
City Says It Was Unaware of the New Charges
City officials say they were unaware of Terlecki's most recent criminal charges until they came to light, and are now investigating the allegations, per the station's reporting. It remains unclear whether the city will take disciplinary action against him. Pittsburgh has previously placed municipal employees on unpaid suspension during pending investigations — the city suspended two EMS employees in November 2025 over timecard allegations — though it's unclear whether similar action is being considered in Terlecki's case.
Terlecki is employed by DOMI, the city department responsible for traffic engineering, street paving, and bridge maintenance across Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. The department received $1.3 million in new state infrastructure grants earlier this year, as Hoodline previously reported, and it kept up street milling and paving work across the city through August while officials reviewed Terlecki's status.
A South Hills Corridor Under Scrutiny
The parking lot where Terlecki was arrested sits along Saw Mill Run Boulevard, also known as Route 51, a heavily traveled artery connecting several South Hills neighborhoods. The corridor drew city attention earlier this year when Pittsburgh selected it for automated red-light enforcement cameras due to ongoing traffic safety concerns, a rollout Hoodline covered in its report on the camera hot spots.
Long before his city employment or his current legal troubles, Terlecki had a very different local reputation: as an amateur boxer with Pittsburgh's Brookline Boxing Club, he won a Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves medal in the 156-pound weight division during the 1997-1998 season, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette account of the club's history. For now, the drug possession charges and the driving case move toward hearings this month, while city officials continue reviewing whether Terlecki's employment status will change.
