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UPDATE: Former fire chief arrested in wake of audit findings

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Posted at 1:16 PM, Feb 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-10 14:16:03-05

PATTERSON, La. — The former chief of the Patterson Fire Department was arrested Friday following an investigation into audit findings of missing money.

Scott Domingue was booked Friday into the Patterson City Jail on charges of malfeasance in office and theft, Police Chief Garrett S. Grogan said. Domingue posted $9,000 bond and was released Friday afternoon, the chief said.

Domingue's arrest follows an investigation by the police department and the 16th Judicial District Attorney's office into $15,000 that was found to be missing from the VFD's bank account by an audit.

The audit found that, from January 2016 to August 2019, an officer of the department made purchases and ATM withdrawals with a debit card for that account.

Those withdrawals are believed to total approximately $14,774. Of that amount, $13,587 in purchases could not be determined to have been made for fire department operations.

The report says that the person who used the card had sole access and that reporting of fire department activities to the membership was limited.

Upon discovery, auditors say the card was frozen and the individual who allegedly made the purchases was fired.

The investigation is ongoing and the report states that no formal charges have been levied.

To date, cash and materials totaling at least $6,522 have been recovered by the volunteer fire department.

Read the audit, click here.