Inspector General: Worker helped himself to gas

A veteran state highway worker from Bay Shore assigned to a HELP truck has been accused of filling his personal vehicle with gasoline he was supposed to have available for stranded motorists on the Long Island Expressway, according to a report released Wednesday.

"He turned this public service into his own private fueling station," state Inspector General Ellen Biben said in the report.

The worker, Brian Lee, 38, a 10-year employee at the state Department of Transportation facility in Syosset, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

According to a report released by the IG starting last summer, Lee is suspected of filling his vehicle with the gasoline and reporting the fuel as being used by stranded motorists he was to help as part of his 6 to 10 a.m. shift. Supervisors twice saw him using the gasoline for himself, according to the report.

"To determine the frequency of his misconduct, the Inspector General obtained Lee's logs for a four-month period, June to September 2010, and created a list of all instances of Lee providing fuel to a motorist," said the report, adding that he listed 32 times.

"Those motorists were then contacted [and] . . . 11 reported that they had never received fuel or assistance," the report continued.

The case has been referred to the Nassau County district attorney's office. Chris Munzing, a spokesman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice, said "we are reviewing the matter to determine what criminal charges are appropriate."

Biben's office recommended that DOT officials "implement more stringent monitoring of the HELP program" including random checks on HELP drivers' logbooks.