18-year-old Lordstown seasonal employee charged with theft in office

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

Gregory C. Free, 18, of Salt Springs Road was arraigned Monday in Newton Falls Municipal Court on two counts of theft in office.

Free was a seasonal employee working parttime for the village of Lordstown. His work period ended just before Thanksgiving.

A full-time village parks-department worker reported Nov. 29 that about $215 was missing from a canvas money bag kept in a desk drawer at the parks maintenance office.

About $100 was from the parks employees’ coffee fund and the other $115 was provided by the village administration to buy refreshments for a Christmas-lighting celebration that recently took place.

The $215 was missing from the bag when the full-time employee checked it to buy doughnuts, said Brent Milhoan, Lordstown police chief. The last time the full-time worker saw the money was Nov. 21, he said.

An investigation pointed to Free as the person who took the cash, Milhoan said.

Free returns to court Dec. 18. If convicted, he could get jail time or probation.

Free was booked into the Trumbull County Jail on Friday morning and was released that afternoon after posting $5,000 bond. He remains free on bond.