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Resignations of firefighters, manager accepted in Beaver
NORTH LIMA
Beaver Township trustees formally accepted the resignation of two firefighters Tuesday who pleaded guilty to theft earlier this month.
Richard “Rocky” Carr Jr. and Randall “Randy” Carr were accused of falsifying time spent on the job to pad their paychecks. They pleaded guilty to felony theft Nov. 2.
Trustees also accepted Tuesday the resignation of their father, Richard Carr Sr., who was a facility manager employed by the township. Carr Sr. sent his resignation letter Oct. 31.
Carr Sr., another family member and township resident Rich Bartholomew Sr. sent letters to the trustees about two weeks ago and argued that police and fire officials should have simply intervened and told the pair to stop the offenses rather than pursue a criminal investigation,
“...They should have been immediately told that they cannot do that. Instead it was left go [sic] for months and then they were charged,” wrote Bartholomew.
The police and fire chiefs maintain they did the right thing by investigating the two for theft.
After the brothers entered a guilty plea, prosecutors recommended a sentence of a $2,500 fine for each.
Court records state prosecutors also recommended Randall Carr and Richard Carr Jr. pay $3,861.19 and $2,559, respectively, in restitution to Beaver Township. They will be sentenced Dec. 21.
Although the Beaver Township Fire Department is volunteer, stipends are provided to ranking officers and volunteers are paid a nominal fee, Fire Chief Russ Osborne said.
Randall Carr was an assistant chief and received $550 each month, while Richard Carr was a lieutenant and received about $110 a month, Osborne said. Both men were put on paid administrative leave when the investigation began in June and resigned Nov. 2.
“To begin with, these guys were good firefighters and have had long-standing service to the township and they were friends of mine, and still are,” Osborne said.
“But when it comes to serious things like this, the township, fire and police departments take it seriously,” he continued.
Volunteers receive a flat $15 fee per call that they respond to and a flat $15 fee for standby shifts between 3 p.m. and 7 a.m., the fire chief said.
When a fire call goes out, volunteers who are able to respond dial in and their name appears on the computer screen in the fire department, Police Chief Carl Frost said.
Randall Carr had administrative access to the system and began to log into the computer system after a call, sometimes days later, and report that he was, in fact, on call and entitled to the fee when he wasn’t, Frost said.
Randall shared this information with his brother and the two purportedly stole more than $1,000, according to police records.
The guilty plea could have more implications for Richard Carr Jr., who is one of four second-grade teachers in the South Range school district. He was placed on administrative leave Nov. 4, and the school board is investigating, said Superintendent Dennis Dunham.
“This is new territory. I can’t say we have a procedure on this,” he said.
Dunham said he did not know how long the board would take to make a decision. The board’s next meeting is 7:30 p.m. Monday. .
The state board of education could review the matter, but “at this point, it seems it would be handled at the local level,” said Patrick Gallaway, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education.
Gallaway said Ohio law prevents him from confirming if the state is investigating any individual teacher or specific situation.
The law also says the state board “can pursue a disciplinary action if a licensed educator ... has engaged in conduct unbecoming the teaching profession or has pled guilty to or been convicted of any felony offense, misdemeanor sex offense, violent offense, theft offense or drug abuse offense,” according the department’s website.
Disciplinary action can range from a formal admonishment letter to suspending a teaching license, to revoking a license.
Staff writer Christine Keeling contributed to this article.