Ex-police officer tests positive for meth

Former Des Moines police officer Brandon Singleton's urine tested positive for methamphetamine twice this month, prompting a parole violation complaint that put him back in the Polk County Jail on Thursday morning.

The Iowa Board of Parole granted Singleton, 31, parole on Jan. 13, releasing him from prison after serving just more than two years of a 16-year sentence. Singleton received the prison sentence in November 2012 after a string of arrests for drugs, domestic assault and a probation violation.

Parole officer Robert Pederson filed a criminal complaint on Thursday, claiming the former officer violated the conditions of his parole by testing positive for methamphetamine at 10:30 a.m. that day, as well as on March 5. Singleton admitted to using the drug, and was appointed an attorney from the Marshalltown public defender's office, according to court records.

Before going back to jail Thursday, Singleton earned around $25 an hour doing part-time work for a landscaping and snow removal company, according to an application for a court-appointed attorney. Singleton listed the Altoona home owned by his parents as his current address.

On April 24, 2012, Singleton was arrested after crashing his patrol car into a parked car while on duty. An investigation led to the discovery of marijuana and methamphetamine inside the patrol car.

Singleton lost his job with the department after the arrest. In July that year, a judge gave Singleton one year of probation and a chance to receive a deferred judgment.

Less than a month later, however, Singleton was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying weapons after a firearm was found in his truck during a traffic stop. He was put on probation again, but was arrested when he took off an electronic monitoring bracelet and hid out with a girlfriend, who claimed she was pregnant with his child. The move ultimately led to a revocation of his probation and the prison sentence.

Singleton's father, retired Des Moines police Maj. Rick Singleton, told The Des Moines Register at the time that his son abused drugs as part of a larger battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Singleton's father claimed his son killed someone during a firefight along Korea's demilitarized zone while stationed there with the Army in 2004.