Published on 8/16/2007 in TheDay.com
By Julie Wernau

Mystic— The deputy fire marshal of the Old Mystic Fire Department is on paid leave after he was charged with stalking a woman and her young children.

William A. Welles, 56, of 67 Welles Road, Mystic, was arrested July 27 on third-degree stalking charges after a woman on his street said he had stalked her for approximately seven months, sometimes in a fire department-owned truck he uses during work hours to perform fire inspections.

The woman, who is married, wrote in a “relief from abuse” application filed in New London Superior Court, that she had had an extra-marital relationship with Welles, who is divorced with one child, during a period in which she and her husband were having problems. She broke off the relationship nearly a year ago, the woman wrote, but said Welles has refused to leave her alone although she has asked him to stop seeing her and her children.

“I do love my husband,” the woman wrote.

According to the arrest-warrant application that led to his arrest, the woman told police Welles would watch her in his truck while she picked up her youngest child from the bus stop, stop by her home and work unannounced and repeatedly give her children presents — including a charity donation in their names — in order to try to get them and her into his good graces.

“I don't want him giving them anything,” the woman wrote. “They know him as a nice neighbor and a friend and trust him.”

The court issued a protective order against Welles July 30 that disallows him from harassing or stalking the woman or family, coming within 100 yards of them or entering their home.

Old Mystic Fire Chief Kenneth W. Richards Jr. said Welles has been on paid administrative leave since the day he was arrested. Welles posted $25,000 bond and later met with the department's board of directors and officers following the incident, Richards said. The department has decided to keep Welles on leave until his Sept. 10 disposition.

“Anytime something like this goes down, the person meets with the board and the officers and is asked to tell their side of the story,” Richards said.

In addition to acting as the department's paid deputy fire marshal, Welles is trained as an EMT, a firefighter, a driver and a hazardous-materials handler.

Richards said Welles does use the fire department truck during the day to drive back and forth for inspections, and since the woman lives on his street, may have driven by her house on his way home for lunch.

“We're just kind of letting it shake out,” Richards said.

j.wernau@theday.com