Branford firefighter suspended in gas theft case

Firefighter suspended in gas theft case

Marissa Yaremich , Register Staff

03/16/2004

BRANFORD — A member of Volunteer Fire Company 5 has been suspended after being charged with stealing gasoline from a Department of Public Works’ pump station in January, police confirmed Monday.

Ryan J. Dugan, 22, of 15E Brown St., West Haven, was recently charged with sixth-degree larceny and operating a vehicle with a suspended license, said Lt. Thomas Fowler.

The Stony Creek volunteer recently turned himself in to police after learning they had a warrant for his arrest for allegedly stealing the gas for personal use on Jan. 3, according to the police report.

The taxpayer-financed station has separate pumps for diesel and gasoline, which are solely designated for municipal vehicles.

Early on Jan. 3, a paid firefighter "heard the fuel pump turn on, but could not see the person because his view was obstructed" as he stood outside the adjacent fire headquarters, Fowler said.

Upon filling the vehicle with 2.4 gallons of gas, the unidentified driver pulled away from the pump station, but not before the witness retrieved the license plate number and the driver’s description, which he reported to police.

A subsequent investigation by the police patrol division’s night shift led them to Dugan, whom they learned was driving a Guilford resident’s vehicle with a suspended driver’s license.

Fire Chief Jack Ahern confirmed that Dugan’s future as a local volunteer rests in the hands of the Board of Fire Commissioners, which suspended him in late January.

The suspension remains in effect pending the case’s outcome, Ahern said. The commission’s chairman, Robert Massey Jr., did not return phone calls.

Dugan is the third volunteer firefighter in less than a year to be arrested on criminal charges.

Last August, police arrested former Company 8 volunteer firefighters Diane M. McDade and Daniel S. Blakely on second-degree larceny and conspiracy charges for allegedly stealing about $5,000 from the company’s recreational funds.

Dugan is scheduled for a court appearance on March 30.

Marissa Yaremich can be reached at myaremich@nhregister.comor at 789-5742.