Warren worker who admits stealing newspapers charged with theft

Staff report

WARREN

A misdemeanor theft charge has been filed against a Warren Operations Department employee who a detective says has been stealing about 20 newspapers per day from vending machines for more than a year. He is scheduled for arraignment in Warren Municipal Court today.

Major Thomas Stewart of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office began an investigation April 10 after management at a Warren newspaper contacted the sheriff’s office with information that a Warren employee was stealing newspapers.

Theft from machines resulted in a loss of $100,000 in 2012, according to the paper.

Stewart set up surveillance on one of the vending boxes. Wednesday morning, Stewart followed the suspect, Dennis J. Griffing, 52, of North Street Northwest, from his home to a parking lot on North Park Avenue, where Griffing inserted coins and received newspapers.

Stewart pulled over Griffing nearby and found 15 newspapers in the car.

Griffing admitted not paying for most of the newspapers and said he’d been taking 15 to 20 per day for more than a year. He said he takes them to work, and his co-workers read them.

Griffing, brother of Auditor David Griffing, is an equipment operator in the operations department.