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Authorities say credit cards used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of electronic, household equipment. Date published: 8/18/2003
Falmouth Fire Department purchases probed
The Stafford County Sheriff's Office is investigating thousands of dollars of unauthorized purchases on Falmouth Volunteer Fire Department credit cards. Digital cameras, VCRs, DVD players, computer equipment, bicycles, televisions, binoculars, tires, refrigerators, air conditioners and dryers are among the merchandise paid for with firehouse funds, court records show. Detectives searched the home of former Falmouth fire Chief Chris Gower last Thursday in an attempt to locate some of the goods, or receipts showing when and where the merchandise was bought, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Stafford County Circuit Court. Gower resigned as chief in July after a yearlong investigation into the theft of narcotics from ambulances led to the arrest of his roommate, a former volunteer fire lieutenant at the station. Both men were suspended from service. In Thursday's search, investigators seized bank records, organizers, phone records, an OxyContin prescription bag and copies of fire department contracts, the warrant states. Gower has not been charged. He could not be reached for comment today. Stafford Sheriff Charles Jett said the drug and embezzlement investigation at the fire department continues. He refused to speculate on future arrests. He said the Falmouth Fire Volunteer Fire Association, which handles the station's funding, is cooperating with detectives. Jett said the investigation into the fire station is "a spider web." "The further we look, the more we find," he said. For more on the story, read Tuesday's Free Lance-Star.
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