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Tow-fee collector accused in theft of $22K
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A trusted 20-year employee of the city, a civilian police department worker, is accused of stealing $22,000 in towing fees over two years.
Police Chief Tim Bowers said he expects “serious criminal charges” to be filed against the person early next week.
“I personally gave my trust to this person,” said Bowers, obviously disturbed by the allegations, which resulted after the Warren auditor’s office audited the funds and Sgt. Jeff Cole conducted an internal-affairs investigation.
“It’s very disheartening, very disappointing, but nobody’s above the law,” said Bowers, explaining that he personally set up the system for collecting a $75 towing fee from each person seeking retrieval of his or her vehicle.
City council enacted the $75 fee in late 2009.
When he first learned that the towing money — 90 percent of it in cash — was below expected levels, Bowers said he felt sure that the problem didn’t involve his employee.
Eventually he ordered the internal-affairs investigation to determine what happened.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” he said of the conclusions reached by the investigation.
It took only two days for Cole to complete his investigation because only one employee handles the money from the time police department shift commanders turn it over to the main office until it is deposited with the auditor’s office, Bowers said.
The auditor’s office reported that it had received $34,580 in towing fees in 2010, about $15,000 less than the $50,000 that should have been deposited.
The employee has not been placed on leave, but the employee is “not working right now,” Bowers said. Until charges are filed, the employee will not be identified.
Bowers said the missing money was first discovered when a council member approached Bowers to discuss using towing fees to buy cruisers.
Nearly two years worth of fees should have been about $91,000, but the fund showed only around $69,000.
Greg Hicks, Warren law director, said it’s likely that the city will be able to recoup the lost money through restitution paid by the suspect.
The case has been turned over to the Trumbull County prosecutor’s office, Hicks said, so that a determination can be made as to what charges to file.
Theft or theft-in-office charges are possible, both felonies, and felonies are handled by the county prosecutor’s office, Hicks said.
Bowers said there were several redundancies built into the system to keep track of the funds, such as multiple copies of the paperwork from each payment being kept by different offices at the police department.
Additional measures are being implemented now, Bowers said.