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New Mexico Chief, 4 Firefighters Arrested on Felonies
EUNICE, N.M. - New Mexico state police say Eunice's fire chief and four firefighters have been arrested on various felonies relating to a Dec. 4 theft.
Fire Chief Ronald Grogan, 56, and 30-year-old firefighter Danny Cueto, who are paid city employees; John Dudley, 19, a volunteer firefighter and city employee, and volunteer Capts. Dustin Lord, 26, and Fernando Espino, 37, were arrested Wednesday, authorities said.
The charges stem from a theft of the radar detector from a wrecked vehicle at an accident site that fire department members had responded to, city manager Curtis Schrader said.
State police spokesman Eric Garcia said Grogan was charged with burglary and two counts of tampering with evidence.
Garcia says the other four were each charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence, and Dudley also was charged with tampering with evidence.
Schrader said Grogan has been suspended with pay and the others were placed on paid leave.
"It's certainly a difficult thing to go through, particularly in a small community," Schrader said. "We're going to get through this and learn from it and be better for it at the end of the process."
The fire department had 25 firefighters, including four paid positions, Schrader said.
He said he didn't think the arrests would affect the fire department's capability to serve the southeastern New Mexico town.
"Because we have a volunteer group that still has 20 plus members in it, we expect our volunteers to be able to respond to any emergencies," he said.
Grogan is already appealing a one-year suspension after being accused of feeling a woman's breast in an unprofessional manner during a May 23 emergency call.
The result of the appeal has not yet been made public, Schrader said.
All five men were released Wednesday after being booked into jail.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Fire Chief Ronald Grogan, 56, and 30-year-old firefighter Danny Cueto, who are paid city employees; John Dudley, 19, a volunteer firefighter and city employee, and volunteer Capts. Dustin Lord, 26, and Fernando Espino, 37, were arrested Wednesday, authorities said.
The charges stem from a theft of the radar detector from a wrecked vehicle at an accident site that fire department members had responded to, city manager Curtis Schrader said.
State police spokesman Eric Garcia said Grogan was charged with burglary and two counts of tampering with evidence.
Garcia says the other four were each charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence, and Dudley also was charged with tampering with evidence.
Schrader said Grogan has been suspended with pay and the others were placed on paid leave.
"It's certainly a difficult thing to go through, particularly in a small community," Schrader said. "We're going to get through this and learn from it and be better for it at the end of the process."
The fire department had 25 firefighters, including four paid positions, Schrader said.
He said he didn't think the arrests would affect the fire department's capability to serve the southeastern New Mexico town.
"Because we have a volunteer group that still has 20 plus members in it, we expect our volunteers to be able to respond to any emergencies," he said.
Grogan is already appealing a one-year suspension after being accused of feeling a woman's breast in an unprofessional manner during a May 23 emergency call.
The result of the appeal has not yet been made public, Schrader said.
All five men were released Wednesday after being booked into jail.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Cabage rots from the head down...reminds me of something else....hmmmmm, what does it remind me of?
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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Chief Grogan is starting to gather quite a rap sheet.
At this pace, he should be able to prolong this with his appeals until 2020. By then, maybe most of the witnesses will have died from old age.
But, it makes it easier for him if he wants to cop a feel...
Allegedly.
Art
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Permalink Reply by justin lee burch on
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hnag them all
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Permalink Reply by Charles Perkins on
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It saddens me that men like this have to result to thievery. I does nothing but give us all as either paid professionals or volunteers a black eye. The public looks to us to protect and save live's, and when people go out and think they can just take what they want from a scene they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law and should be banned from ever being able to serve on any department for the rest of their lives. What else upsets me it make's it hard to admit that I was born and raised in the same county just 20 miles north of Eunice, New Mexico
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Permalink Reply by Dave on
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Don't believe everything you hear on these one sided sound bites.
This is case of small town politics and juvenile actions from some sour grapes.
A person can be accused of just about anything, and these days with the rapid spread of (mis)information, the accused is often found guilty before the trial.
There's rot alright, but it's to be seen yet if it's on the accused or accusers side.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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As I mentioned in the KY Curfew post, the damage is already done with the public's trust for this department, for which the "accusations" speak loud regardess if they have any merit.
Professional organizations avoid these traps before they become fruition, through surrounding themselves with good members, quality policies, training, professional development, and organizational discipline.
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Permalink Reply by FIREMAN BRAD on
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thats sad all we can do is keep our heads up and show the communties we serve that we are not like them.
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well spoken sir, we all now how the media can mislead people on the facts
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Benke on
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The public and communities we serve certainly deserve better than this. It's embarrassing to say the least that this happens and we must do everything within our power to let it be known that this behavior will not be tolerated~top to bottom.
We are pillars of our communities, looked upon with the utmost trust and should strive to be held to that high standard.
Press on my friends.
Moth
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At this point, it really doesn't matter.
The damage is already done.
The accusations have already convicted them in the court of public opinion.
Journalistic slant is a lost argument.
As soon as they were arrested, charged and the story hit the wires, the fire service got hit in the face.
The end result will not change this outcome.
Unfortunately.
Art
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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stupid is born every minute. We are held to a standard we ourselves hold up. If you worry about every indiscretion or problem the media throws out you wouldnt do what you do. Thank God we dont. Yes, we are respected by our communities. And yes we can make mistakes. We must strive to do the service we do and rise above the indiscretions of others who swallowed the stupid pill.
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Permalink Reply by Steven Fox on
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This is a very sad. As a public servant, either full time career, paid-on-call, or volunteer, we are here to help, and render aid/assitance. What is going to happen if the public will no longer be able to trust it's fire service. I with the best for there department, for this is something there going to have to deal with for sometime.
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