Pleads "Not Guilty"

REBECCA "BECKY" BRYAN WAS FORMALLY ARRAIGNED ON MURDER charges Tuesday, accused of killing her husband Fire Chief Keith Bryan last September 20.  The Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, fire chief was shot in his own home and Rebecca reported to the police that a man intruded into the house and said something about not being hired before killing him.

Her story quickly fell apart when detectives found the gun, ammunition and gloves inside the clothes dryer.  Several witness statements also refuted her story and she was arrested two days later and charged with first-degree murder.  Firegeezer reported on the crime and following activities at the time and you can read the story and following events HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.  She has been held without bail since then.

At yesterday's appearance Bryan, 53, pleaded not guilty to the charges.  The judge set a motion hearing for June 26 and ordered her to remain jailed.  He also set a tentative trial date for September 10.

The Oklahoman has this latest REPORT.

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Party Doll's Weekend Comes to Quick Conclusion

ANOTHER RURAL/METRO AMBULANCE was stolen Sunday morning in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, New York.  It all began around 6:30 am when a policeman brought Heather Sullivan, 37 and drunk, into the emergency room of the ECMC hospital.  Once she was left unattended, she dashed out the ER entrance where she found the ambulance, also unattended and with  the keys in the ignition.  WGRZ-TV continues the tale:

She started heading east down Kensington Ave. with police in pursuit. Once she reached the first traffic circle, she lost control of the ambulance and went straight through the circle and continued towards the Walgreens. She slammed into a brick wall surrounding the parking lot, slowing her down before the ambulance came to a rest.

WIVB-TV

"Thank God she missed the building though. The brick wall stopped her, otherwise, she would have been definitely into the building," said Amherst Police Senior Investigator Scott Lawida.

The ambulance was heavily damaged due to the impact of the brick wall.

The woman has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, grand larceny, criminal possession of a stolen vehicle and other charges.

A Rural/Metro spokesman says that the ambulance will probably be a total loss with damages estimated at $80,000 to $100,000.  The police said that she was driving at an extremely high rate of speed.

WGRZ-TV filed this video report:

The Buffalo News has the STORY.
WIVB-TV has MORE.

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One of Those "Over Many Years" Cases

OLD FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA, POLICE CHIEF LARRY SEMENZA was arrested Wednesday and charged with six counts of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent exposure, and failing to report suspected child abuse.  Another police officer and a third vol. FF are also implicated in the unfolding story following formal complaints filed by a woman who was age 14 when the series of sexual misconduct began.

Semenza being led into the courthouse for
his arraignment Wednesday  (Times-Tribune)

Semenza was also a volunteer fire captain in the local VFD and the incidents covered in the complaints took place in the firehouse between November 2004 and March 2007.  The Scranton Times-Tribune continues:

The alleged victim is the same girl Old Forge police Capt. Jamie Krenitsky and former volunteer borough firefighter Walter Chiavacci are accused of sexually assaulting between 2004 and 2005.

The victim, now 23, was 14 when she became involved the Old Forge Fire Department, where Chief Semenza was fire captain at the time, according to the criminal complaint. The victim said she attended fire house training taught by Chief Semenza, describing him as a friend, teacher or mentor, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim told police Chief Semenza took her for coffee, gave her rides to training and took her to purchase new fire equipment, which she was not required to pay for, the complaint says. He also took her to purchase a new fire helmet that cost several hundred dollars, which she did not pay for, according to the criminal complaint.

During the fall of 2004, the victim said the relationship progressed to more of a dating relationship, with the victim visiting Chief Semenza dressed in her Halloween costume in 2004, according to the criminal complaint. Shortly after the Halloween visit, "things became hot and heavy," between her and Chief Semenza, the victim said in the complaint.

The Scranton Times-Tribune has a more detailed report outlining the series of complaints HERE.

The Times-Tribune provided this brief video taken at the courthouse following Semenza's arraignment:

Apparently Semenza took recorded admissions from the other two men that they had also participated in the long-term indecencies.  The State Police raided the Old Forge police station earlier this week and seized several records.

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Easy Money Leads to Easy Arrest

THE FORMER CHIEF AND TREASURER OF A NEW JERSEY volunteer ambulance squad was arrested Monday and charged with hindering apprehension, third- and fourth-degree theft, witness tampering, obstruction and unsworn falsification. The case will be presented to a Burlington County grand jury for indictment.

James Daly, 42, was the Chief of the Beverly-Edgewater Park Emergency Medical Squad when, in May 2011, the treasurer became gravely ill and Daly took over the duties of the treasurer.  The Beverly-Edgewater Park Squad is a volunteer organization that has paid administrative officers and 15 part-time employees.  Within a few weeks of taking over the books, Daly phoned the accounting firm that handles their payroll and told them that he had just been given a $15,000 yr. raise above his current salary of $53,560 to $68,500.  Next he began using the Squad's credit account to purchase gasoline for his personal cars.

When the county prosecutor's office began investigating Daly, he produced a letter purportedly written by another member stating that Daly had been given the go-ahead to use the county gas by the ill, and since deceased former treasurer.  That letter was soon determined to be a forgery.

Following his arrest, Daly was released on $25,000 bond.  He was dismissed from the squad's rolls in November 2011.

The Burlington County Times has  more details HERE.

Hat tip:  Ron Y.

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Twin-Hatter Chief Faces Felony Charges

A LOUISA, VIRGINIA, POLICE OFFICER will be appearing in court today to be tried on felony charges that he embezzled thousands of dollars from a volunteer fire department where he also served as volunteer fire chief.

Mark McGhee, 31, was arrested February 24 following an investigation into the Trevilians VFD financial accounts following a tip.  McGhee had resigned from the fire department six months previously and that is when the investigation began.  He was also placed on administrative leave by the Town of Louisa Police Department.

WTVR-TV Ch. 6 Richmond filed this video report following McGhee's arrest in February:

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Costly Prosecution for Small Town

KEVIN HOWARD, 44, WAS ONCE PRESIDENT of the Nahant, Massachusetts, firefighters union local and most recently served as the town's acting fire chief.  Now his current title is "convicted" following his recent trial in Lynn District Court.  Completing an investigation and trial that all began two years ago, Howard's case was continued after he admitted that he had stolen several thousands of dollars from the Local 2718's treasury during his tenure as president.

Kevin Howard  (Daily Item photo)

The Boston Globe is reporting today:

The case was continued without a finding after Howard admitted to sufficient facts to the charges and agreed to pay $14,000 in restitution. Howard also read a letter of apology.

Judge James LaMothe’s sentence also includes administrative probation, which carries an automatic two-year sentence if the terms are violated. The Essex district attorney’s office asked for a two-year sentence with six months served, and the balance suspended for three years of probation, plus restitution and an apology.

His troubles began more than two years ago when, as president, he acquired an ATM/debit card for the Local's bank account without anybody knowing about it.  He then began a systematic pattern of using the debit card to make thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals plus purchases of personal items for his home and use.  When he was promoted to the acting chief position in March 2010, the officers of the Local – acting on a tip – reviewed the union's books and discovered the unauthorized withdrawals.

At an April meeting with Howard, the Local's directors made a few offers to allow him to make good, including to resign from the fire department without making restitution.  Howard declined the offers and instead mounted an ill-conceived plan to obfuscate his way out of trouble by inventing personnel problems.  First he told the Town Aldermen that none of the firefighters were properly qualified as EMT's.  Then he told that cocaine use was rampant in the department and had recently been confronted by the current Local president who threatened to kill him (Howard) if he went public with the EMT scandal.

All of the allegations were quickly proven to be false and his defense collapsed.  The Globe continued:

"We can see the court’s side – they don’t want to hurt his family – and the union accepts the decision,’’ (union president Joshua) Mahoney said. "Obviously we’re disappointed, and we’d like to see him do jail time, not for [stealing money], but for what he did afterward. He lied, tried to slander us, and did everything he could to ruin our reputations in a small community where people have to trust us.’’

Neil Rossman, attorney for the union, said that members suspected that Howard took as much as double the $14,000 he agreed to make in restitution.

The Daily Item has additional details HERE.

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Trying To Strike Fear With a Flare

A NEW HAMPSHIRE TEEN IS IN A HEAP O' TROUBLE after being charged with felony reckless conduct and criminal mischief.  Nicholas Richer, 18, of Manchester instigated a "road rage" incident on I-93 Monday evening when he cut off another car during an illegal lane change near the Hooksett toll plaza.

The usual indecent gesturing and name calling ensued along with erratic driving and then Richer pulled out what looks like a pistol but was actually a flare gun.  During the name-calling phase of the discussion he waved the gun around and aimed it through the right front window at the other driver before pulling it back.  Just then the flare gun went off, sending the charge bounding around the inside of his own car.

About 20 minutes later the State Police found the car in a gas station parked along the side of the lot.  They noticed that the windshield was smashed out (from the discharge) and some heavy fire damage to the passenger seat which had been occupied by a younger boy during the escapade.  A look around the area turned up a shell casing and shortly after the discovery of Richer himself, hiding in some bushes with his gun.

WMUR-TV describes the story with a Trooper in this video report:

He was arrested and then released with a court appearance scheduled for June 4.

The Concord Monitor also has the STORY.

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Checking Out Life Behind Bars

KEVIN DEGROAT, 49, AND HIS WIFE THERESA, 46, are now known as the former fire chief and former treasurer respectively of the Matamoras Fire Company in Pike County, Pennsylvania.  They lost their positions in the department after it was found that they had stolen at least $67,000 from the company's Bingo proceeds during the span between 2002 and 2009.

Theresa and Kevin Degroat in February 2012.  (Pocono Record)

The Pocono Record reported:

Police uncovered purchases for DVDs, men's shoes, a computer monitor and household goods, with purchases amounting to more than $2,800, according to court records. Fire officials told police those purchases were "absolutely not" related to departmental business.

Theresa DeGroat admitted to opening sealed money bags from the firehouse bingo games and changing the deposit slip and writing out a new one to be deposited in the bank, according to court documents. Also, Kevin DeGroat told police he used $400 in bingo cash to buy tools, according to court papers.

After previously pleading guilty in February to the theft charges, they were in court last Friday for sentencing.  Judge Joseph Kameen ordered them each to serve 60-days to 23-½ months in jail plus an additional five years of supervised parole.  He also ordered them to pay $26,000 in restitution to the fire company.  Following their sentencing Friday they were both immediately incarcerated and began serving their time.

Company vice-president Scott Gillette told tv station WNEP:  "We were very lax. We got caught up in this and any organization, whether it be Girl Scouts, little league, football fire department, churches, don’t go single signature on any checks."

The Matamoras Fire Company serves a tiny borough of one-square-mile in the Poconos.

Read the complete account from WNEP HERE.
Matamoras Fire Company WEBSITE.

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Sunday Morning

"Low-life" doesn't begin to describe the cretin who showed up at a fund-raiser in Philadelphia Friday night.  Brian Haughton, the owner of SmokeEaters Pub on Frankford Ave. (and an active Philadelphia firefighter) held a "casual night" fundraiser to help the families of the two firefighters who died in the warehouse fire a few days ago.  Haughton collected gifts donated by other businesses in his neighborhood and gathered them into three gift baskets to be auctioned off later in the evening.  The waitresses all decided to donate their tips for the night as well. 

SmokeEaters Pub photo

The gift baskets were kept in the basement until the auction time was scheduled, not far from one of the restrooms.  KYW-TV Ch. 6 continues:

During a benefit for the families of the two fallen firefighters, police say someone stole items meant for a raffle to help the families.  The suspect was caught on surveillance tape.

"Neither one of these firefighters is in the ground yet and someone stole their money and it really angers me a lot," Haughton said.  "Somebody came in, pretended they were going to the bathroom and pulled a knife out of their pocket and sliced through all of the gift baskets," Haughton explained.

According to police, the suspect cut open one of the baskets then ran to the restroom. He’s seen on tape returning minutes later to remove contents from the other two baskets. Police say he took whatever he could fit in his pockets and got away.

The Philadelphia Police Dept. has posted the surveillance tape so that the public might be able to assist in identifying this man who is about 5'-10" tall and weighs near 300 lbs.

There is also a $1,000 reward for identifying him.  Firegeezer suspects that the police will probably put some extra effort into closing this one.  That's a pretty good video and should make him recognizable to somebody.

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 The National Hockey League playoffs are underway with seven of the eight matchups having two games behind them now.  The first two games in all the best-of-seven series are played on the home ice of the top seeded teams, so the underdogs hope to snatch at least one win away from home to swing the home-ice advantage back to them.  And that has happened in all eight series.  Playoff hockey is always exciting and the level of play rises above the regular season.

In our lead-in last Sunday I predicted the Philly vs. Pittsburgh series would be the top attraction of the first round and that has turned out to be the case.  Pittsburgh finished up the regular season on a roll, winning almost all of their final 15 games and showing a lot of strength offensively.  They started out Game 1 the same way by scoring 3 goals in the first period to take a commanding 3-0 lead.  But then the wheels came off as the Flyers rallied to tie the game and then win in overtime 4-3.  That obviously had a moral effect on the Pens because the Flyers really unloaded in Game 2, winning that one, too, 8-5.  And that was on Pittsburgh's ice.

Our pick for "Cinderella Team," St. Louis Blues is trying their best to make me look good by taking San Jose into overtime before losing Game 1.  Then they showed that they are not deflated by that by blanking the Sharks 2-0 yesterday.

There is a real goaltenders' duel going on in the Washington vs. Boston contest.  The first game was scoreless after regulation and went to overtime before the defending champions Boston Bruins beat the Caps 1-0.  Game 2 was more of the same with a tie score after regulation 1-1.  It took two overtime periods before the Caps returned the favor and won it 2-1.  That's a grand total of five goals in nine periods of play.  The side story is Washington's goaltender, Braden Holtby.  He has spent the last two seasons playing for the Capitals' farm team in Hershey and only had a very few NHL games under his belt.  But at the end of the season both of Washington's goalies were injured and the #3 guy was catapaulted into the starting slot for the playoffs.

Another bit of drama last night took place in Chicago where the Blackhawks had lost their first game to Phoenix in overtime.  But last night they were losing yet again but, after pulling the goaltender and going into full-press in the final minute, they tied it with 5 seconds remaining.  Then they won it in the overtime.  Here are highlights from that game:

Rangers vs. Ottawa:  series tied at one each.
Boston vs. Washington:  series tied at one each.
Florida vs. New Jersey:  New Jersey leads series 1-0.
Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia:  Philly leads series 2-0.
Vancouver vs. Los Angeles: Los Angeles leads 2-0 (biggg upset in the making here).
St. Louis vs. San Jose:  series tied at one.
Phoenix vs. Chicago:  series tied at one.
Nashville vs. Detroin:  series tied at one.

Of the 15 games played so far, 7 of them have been settled in overtime.

We're running overtime now, so we'd better get this equipment checked out before cook has that big Sunday breakfast ready.  I'll get more coffee going.  See you back in the day room.

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New Jersey and Florida will be playing their second game tonight.

Always, Always….

THERE WAS NATIONWIDE COVERAGE this week given to the tragic event in New Hampshire where a police chief was killed and four other officers wounded in a botched attempt to serve a search warrant.  The raid was aimed at ridding the town of what the police called "a menace," referring to the culprit Cullen Mutrie.

When the operation was wrapped up, the police found Mutrie and his girlfriend both dead from apparent suicides or murder/suicide.  While the news was rightly focused on the tragedy of the police officers, we would learn a few things if we take a look at the drug dealer, Cullen Mutrie.

For the past several years, despite his growing criminal record, Mutrie was serving as a volunteer firefighter and had hopes to become a paid firefighter on a New Hampshire department.

2006 mug shot Portsmouth NH police

His criminal history begins in 2003 when he had a violent confrontation with a former girlfriend who had get a court protective order against him.  WMUR-TV posts:

(She) claimed Mutrie, "forcefully grabbed me, choked me and pulled my hair … as well as pushed me down several times." The woman also said Mutrie was "threatening," was "prone to jealous rages" and indicated he had guns and knives in his possession.

On Dec. 12, 2003, she accused Mutrie of calling her, "intoxicated in a rage, asking where I was and verbally abusing me. I then woke up on Dec. 13 to find two of my car tires slashed," she wrote, "I am very scared of him because of our history and his explosive behavior and past history of violence."

In 2005 he applied for a gun license and was denied "due to his criminal background" according to court records.

In 2006 he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault following a fight with another man, but the next year he applied to the court to have the conviction dismissed and be permitted to have a trial on the charges.  His reasoning was that he had been given poor legal advice from his lawyer to told him that a misdemeanor conviction would not prevent him from getting a job as a firefighter.  He since found out that was not the case and wanted to get his record cleared.  At the time he told the court he has been working as a volunteer firefighter for seven years and has been going to school nights and weekends "to get certified."

Hampton Falls Fire Chief Jay Lord said Mutrie was a volunteer firefighter from 2004 to July 2010. He said Mutrie was nice and polite and dreamed of a career in the fire service.

In 2010 he was arrested again for beating up another woman.  He was ordered then to surrender any guns that he possessed, but the woman told police later that there were still several in the house.  A report by Officer Wayne Young quoted the victim as saying Mutrie had "a few" guns in his bedroom, one in his vehicle, one in his living room and that he usually carried another one on his person. So local police went to Mutrie's home on July 24, 2010 to collect them.  It was then that they found more contraband in his house and arrested him on drug charges again.

In February of this year the state drug lab sent more evidence of drug possesion and it was this week's raid that was based on this recent report.

On his Facebook page that was recently created (and is no longer posted) he claimed that he was currently working for the Hampton Falls FD and also studying "paramedicine" at a local community college.

Mutrie is at the far right in the above photo.  He was 6'-2" and weighed 260 lbs.

There are several lessons in this relating to the necessity of background checks for firefighter and EMT applicants.  Mutrie was obviously trying to construct a phony resume here, including a Linked In account.  Just "surfing the web" does not equate to a bona fide investigation.  And there is no excuse to avoid performing this function.  Firegeezer has been preaching this for years, yet there are still hundreds of departments who skip this necessity.  It's not enough that they are "nice and polite."

Thanks to Mark Donovan for research assistance.

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