BY RYAN O’CONNOR
A 24-year-old Dunbarton resident and former volunteer for the Dunbarton Fire Department, has been arrested and charged with theft by unauthorized taking, a Class A misdemeanor, after allegedly stealing fuel from the Dunbarton town pumps.
Derek Milioto turned himself into the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office on Tuesday, May 22, and was released on $500 personal recognizance bail.
Lead investigator Michael Russell, of the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office, said he doesn’t anticipate further charges coming against Milioto, who will be arraigned at Concord District Court on June 26.
Dunbarton selectmen initiated the investigation after an Oct. 26 meeting with Chief Jon Wiggin exposed discrepancies in fuel consumption.
The Oct. 26 selectmen’s meeting minutes state the following:
“Jon Wiggin questioned the amount expended in the Gasoline item. He stated he felt this was incorrect. There is only the old rescue truck which uses gasoline. He will check his slips. (Town Administrator) Janice VandeBogart will also check the item.”
Selectmen Chairman Les Hammond said, after the discrepancies were discovered, surveillance cameras were installed at the facility, which helped obtain helpful evidence.
“We found a year-and-a-half of missing gas, but we may not be able to prove that far back,” said Hammond. “We think roughly $3,000 to $4,000 is missing, but it’s a little murky as to exactly when it started. We feel we can prove at least $600 worth of fuel was taken.”
Working closely with the Police Department, road agent and County Attorney’s Office, Hammond said the town has been able to piece together a solid case.
“We found the problem, turned it over to police and through due diligence, have a suspect,” he said.
“The (investigators) have worked very well to get (the case) to where it is today. Now we’re just looking forward to a successful conclusion.”
The town, said Hammond, will attempt to be reimbursed, through legal action.
Though the case was opened by Dunbarton police, Chief Christopher Connelly said a conflict of interest arose, forcing his department to turn the case over to the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office.
“Any time there is the potential for a conflict of interest or the potential that we may appear to be exercising favoritism, we will turn the case over to an outside agency,” said Connelly. “We certainly don’t like there to ever be any questions in terms of the integrity of our investigations.”
Russell said because the investigation is ongoing, no details on the subject can be revealed.
Though details of the investigation are still limited, Hammond said the gas and diesel tanks at the town garage are used for public works, police and the fire department.
After a similar case of missing fuel several years ago and the replacement of an old fuel system with new tanks and pumps, Hammond said the town instituted a key system where each department recieved several fuel pump keys for their vehicles.
In this case, Hammond said it is apparent that one of the Fire Department’s keys went missing.
Since the discovery of the recent fuel stealing, he said the town has decided to update the security system so each of the town’s vehicles will have a unique key, which will remain on the key ring of that vehicle.