Officers Down 5K company founder charged, widows of fallen officers speak out

More critics are surfacing after a Channel 11 investigation into a former police officer who organized fundraising races across the U.S. but whose questionable business practices led to the program being shut down.

TJ Burke organized fundraising races for Officers Down 5K. On Thursday, 11 Investigates spoke to two of the widows those events were supposed to help.

"I was 29 at the time, I was naive, I had never attended an officer's funeral and so when he reached out to me, I assumed he was a good person,” said Stephanie Sprague West.

West spoke to 11 Investigates about her husband, Texas police officer William Jason Sprague, who was killed in the line of duty in 2013.

She said Burke organized a 5K in her husband's honor, but she never had a good feeling about him.

"My chief and my liasion officer at the time both spoke to me and said, ‘You know, we don't know this man, are you sure this is what's going to happen, are you sure he's an ethical person?’" she said.

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Another Texas widow, April Key, also spoke with 11 Investigates. She said the race to honor her husband, officer Chad Key, raised almost $35,000.

She said Burke hardly helped, partied lavishly during the race weekend and only gave her a small amount.

"I'm so mad thinking about, over and over, how many people he's done it to and he just kept doing it," she said.

On Wednesday, Oil City police filed a felony theft charge against Burke, accusing him of mishandling $13,000 raised last June during a fundraising 5K by the Oil City Police Department.

Both West and Key say they're glad to see a charge filed and Burke's organization shut down in the wake of the Channel 11 investigation.

“He finally got what's coming to him and he can't take advantage of someone else anymore," Key said.

Cox Media Group