Misspent money total increases in firefighter investigation; former Patterson fire chief arrested

An investigation into the misuse of funds belonging to the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department turned up more missing money than the audit report on which the probe was based, Police Chief Garrett Grogan said Monday.

Former Fire Chief Scott Domingue was arrested Friday at the Patterson Police Department on a charge of theft and a warrant alleging malfeasance in office. He was released on bond after his bail was set at $9,000. Domingue came in on his own, Grogan said.

Interviewed by phone last week after a legislative auditor’s report made the allegations public, Domingue said mistakes with funds may have been made. But Domingue denied intentional wrongdoing.

Domingue was terminated as chief of the volunteer department last year.

The allegedly misspent funds involved in the case total about $25,000, Grogan said.

The legislative auditor’s report released last week said “an officer of the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department is believed to have made personal purchases and/or ATM withdrawals totaling approximately $14,774 using a debit card linked to a checking account owned by the City’s volunteer fire department.”

The city government’s management response to the audit report’s findings identified the officer as Domingue, who was fire chief during that period.

More purchases totaling $13,587 have been identified that could not be determined to have been for fire department operations, the report said.

After the Patterson Police Department accepted the responsibility for investigating the case, officers had access to information from an accountant who performed the audit here, from the legislative auditor and from the current fire department leadership, Grogan said.

The legislative auditor’s report said the case resulted in “deception of the former fire department officer and the City’s failure to establish and enforce appropriate policies and procedures.”

The city government, over the signature of Mayor Rodney Grogan, offered this response:

“In 2016 there had been discussion about whether the Patterson Volunteer Fire Department checking account was public or private and whether the funds were under the City’s authority unlike the funds in the revenue sharing account.

“The Volunteer Fire Chief, the alleged officer of the PVFD, was aware of the policy and procedures imple mented by the city due to discrepancies within the Patterson VFD and the use of a debit card in 2015.

“In the future, all city departments associated with the City’s Tax ID number will adhere to the City’s credit card, savings, checking, and check signing policy as recommended by the Legislative Auditors. Also, the City will eliminate the use of debit cards within all departments.”