Pubdate: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press AFTER FAILING DRUG TEST, ATLANTIC CITY POLICEMAN HANGS HIMSELF ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A police detective hanged himself after finding out he had flunked a drug test. Michael Strehle, 44, a 24-year veteran who was planning to retire, was suspended Friday after testing positive for an unidentified substance during a random test. After returning to his Galloway Township home, he told his wife he feared losing his job and that by killing himself, he would preserve the financial benefits she and their three children would be eligible for, friends told The Press of Atlantic City. Then Strehle locked the bedroom door and hanged himself from an outside balcony. He had been scheduled to retire in 15 months. "When the drug test results came back, he just felt that he failed his family and that there was only one way he could provide for them financially. This is the way he felt he could do that," said Harry Goldenberg, the family's lawyer. He was one of 10 officers randomly tested for drugs earlier this month. He was the only one who showed signs of drug use, police said. Strehle, who was on injury leave from his job in the Juvenile Bureau, had been taking medication after undergoing surgery for a herniated disc last May. It wasn't clear Tuesday whether that was why he failed the test. Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Tullio declined comment on the case. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake