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Warren employee fired after being convicted of stealing city mower
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Dennis Griffing, a city operations department laborer, pleaded no contest to petty theft of a lawn mower from the city, was found guilty and sentenced to three years’ probation.
Judge Thomas Gysegem of Warren Municipal Court on Wednesday also ordered Griffing to pay a $100 fine and court costs on the first-degree misdemeanor. His 180-day jail sentence is suspended, but it can be reimposed if Griffing fails to meet the requirements of his probation.
Later Wednesday, Griffing learned it was his last day on the job.
Griffing, 57, of King’s Drive, signed a settlement agreement with the city July 18 that called for termination if he was convicted of the theft.
The charge was filed after city officials determined Griffing took home a lawn mower April 6 from the operations department on Main Avenue Southwest, where Griffing had worked nearly 30 years.
Griffing’s plea avoided a trial that was to begin Wednesday.
Law Director Greg Hicks has said the mower was among stolen items recovered by the police department in the spring.
Most of the items went to a police department storage facility, but the mower was accidentally left behind at the operations department, Hicks said. Griffing took the mower home and later returned it, Hicks said.
The city conducted an investigation and determined the theft was serious enough to warrant Griffing’s termination, but his union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, asked for his discipline to be held in abeyance until his criminal charge was resolved.
When asked about the case after his hearing, Griffing said he “wasn’t trying to steal” the self-propelled mower, only use it one time because his own mower was the push type, and he was having lung problems that made it difficult to breathe. He said people regularly borrow equipment from the operations department.
Griffing also said he has been advised he will get the retirement benefits due to someone who has reached 30 years of service with the city, even though his 30-year anniversary won’t be until Oct. 4.
When Griffing left court, he said he didn’t know when his employment would end. Enzo Cantalamessa, city safety-service director, said later Wednesday it ended “as of today.”