Former Glen Cove firefighter accused of stealing $200G

In what the city's mayor called a breach of trust among brethren, a 44-year veteran of the Glen Cove Fire Department was charged Tuesday with using nearly $200,000 from the agency's coffers to buy model railroad equipment, pricey cigars and items from Home Depot and Walmart, among other purchases.

George William Gray, 68, of Hendersonville, N.C., who prosecutors said chaired the department's fund drive for about two decades before retiring in March 2009, pleaded not guilty in Nassau County Court Tuesday afternoon to charges of second-degree grand larceny, 104 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and other charges.

He turned himself in earlier in the day to investigators with the Nassau County district attorney's office. Judge Frank Gulotta ordered Gray held on $50,000 bond or $10,000 cash bail and set his next court date for Monday.

Over the course of nearly six years - between May 10, 2003, and March 6, 2009 - Gray wrote more than 300 checks out of the department's general fund to cash, to himself and to his personal credit-card accounts, District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. On more than 100 of the checks, he forged the fire department treasurer's signature, she said.

Gray's lawyer, Peter Bongiorno of Mineola, said he needs to review the evidence against his client before commenting on the facts of the case.

Gray worked for the City of Glen Cove for 34 years as a fire dispatcher and served as a volunteer firefighter for 44 years, Rice said.

Mayor Ralph Suozzi said he contacted the district attorney's office after members of the fire department found problems with the agency's accounts following Gray's retirement.

"The fire department, like many organizations, is a brotherhood where you watch each other's back," said Suozzi, himself a former member of the venerable department, which traces its beginnings to 1837. "It's not something you'd expect from a fireman."

The case led the fire department to install procedural safeguards against theft, the mayor said. The department now requires two signatures on checks and regular audits of its finances, he said.

Glen Cove Fire Chief Anthony Tripp declined to comment. Family members would not comment, and former neighbors of Gray either declined to comment or said they did not know him well.

Suozzi said he worked with Gray when he himself was a volunteer firefighter during the 1980s and 1990s. "He did a lot of good work for the department in terms of technology," Suozzi said, recalling that among Gray's projects was a database listing every fire hydrant in the city.

"If these allegations are true, then it's really a sad day for him and his family," he said.

Stolen funds

George William Gray, a retired Glen Cove Fire Department dispatcher, is charged with stealing nearly $200,000 from the department over six years.

Here's how Nassau prosecutors say he did it:

Headed fund drive

Gray headed the fire department's fund drive for about two decades and was in charge of maintaining the general fund, into which the fund drive proceeds were put.

Wrote, forged checks

Between May 2003 and March 2009, the indictment charges, he wrote more than 300 checks to cash, to himself and to his personal credit-card accounts out of the general fund. Prosecutors say he forged the signature of the department's treasurer on more than 100 of those checks.

Used the funds

He used the department funds to pay for model trains, expensive cigars and items from Home Depot and Walmart, among other purchases.

Prosecutors said Gray's theft was discovered after he retired in March 2009 and department members noticed the missing money.