Two men, one of them a firefighter in Milton Township, are charged with running a scam where one of the alleged victims was the township fire department.
Phil Bruss, a lieutenant with the department, and Dale Butterfield, a mechanic from Niles, were indicted this week by a Mahoning County grand jury on theft and stolen property charges. Police said the pair were partners in a company known as Northeast Ohio Emergency Vehicles, which reportedly sold parts for fire trucks online.
"They were taking orders from other fire departments as well. We did locate one from the Hancock Fire Department, where they had issued a check for $8,000 as well for parts which were obviously never sent. Check was cashed, their money was taken," said Milton Township Police Lt. Jeff Lewis.
Besides that volunteer department, which is located in Maine, police said the pair took nearly $85,000 from the Milton Township Fire Department for equipment that was ordered and delivered, but never paid for. Investigators said Bruss and Butterfield simply cashed a check from the township and kept the money for themselves.
"We check that (company name) out, we found out that was just another name for Phil Bruss. It was a sole proprietorship. We questioned Phil, you know, he admitted getting the money. I mean, we subpeonaed the records. It was obvious the checks went to him," Lewis said.
At one point, Bruss and Butterfield allegedly got some help for then-Fire Chief Rick Pellin, who reportedly steered a contract to the phony company.
"Chief Pellin, at the time, did award the contract to Phil Bruss. To my knowledge, I don't believe he gained anything monetarily from it," Lewis said.
While Pellin isn't charged in this case, he has his own troubles. He faces sentencing next week on theft charges for taking thousands from the family ambulance business he ran in Ellsworth Township that is now bankrupt.
In all, Bruss and Butterfield collected more than $180,00 in the scam. They are due in court later this month.
