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.

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