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Highlands Today

Wright Smokes Out Unknown Gas-Theft Suspect

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: August 12, 2008

SEBRING - Once a cop, always a cop?

While his days as a police officer are long behind him, Highlands County Administrator Michael Wright used an old police trick to not only find an unknown suspect but also to get him to immediately admit his guilt.

That's how Larry Howard, a county parks and recreation employee for 16 years who earns $18.48 per hour, came to turn himself in and admitted that he stole 10 gallons of gasoline from the county's Sebring fuel depot.

Before Howard came forward, nobody in the sheriff's office, the clerk of court's office or in county government suspected that he might have been involved with the theft of county gasoline, which has been under investigation by the sheriff's office for several months.

Only five government workers were identified as possible suspects in the theft of county gasoline, and Howard was not one of them.

Last Wednesday, just after Sheriff Susan Benton said that three of the five suspects had already been cleared of any wrongdoing, Wright made an offer to all county employees: Those who were not one of the five suspects (who had been interviewed by sheriff's detectives) but had stolen county gasoline could come forward and admit their guilt for a three-day suspension without pay.

They would be required to pay restitution for the cost of the stolen gasoline, and keep their job.

While Howard's three-day suspension for stealing $37.70 worth of county gasoline has angered some citizens, Wright said he made that offer for one reason.

"I used to be a cop," he said. "Everybody knew there were five suspects and other people knew that nobody else was suspected.

"But I wondered, with hundreds of employees, is it possible that somebody else also was stealing gasoline? And if that is the case, how could you find them?

In layman's terms, Wright did what is called offering a deal to "smoke out" a suspect who is not known and probably never will be known.

It worked on Howard, who came to the county administration building the very next day and admitted stealing 10 gallons of gasoline from the county's Sebring fuel depot. If he had not come forward but was later found to have stolen gasoline, he might have lost his job.

Howard's supervisor in the parks and recreation department, Michael Lewis, and Wright signed Howard's disciplinary decision on Thursday. It states that Howard's violation of county rules was "removal of county property."

The disciplinary action, termed a "warning decision," was also signed by Howard. By signing it, he officially accepted his punishment and admitted to the gasoline theft.

Meanwhile, code enforcement officer Tommy Turnbull, one of the two county employees still under investigation by the sheriff's office for suspected gasoline theft, walked into the county administration building last Thursday morning and turned in a letter stating that he was quitting effective at the end of his work shift Aug. 8.

Turnbull was one of the five county employees listed initially as a suspect in the gas thefts, first by the clerk of court's office and then by the sheriff's office.

John Minor, director of the county's human resources department, accepted Turnbull's letter of resignation. Minor said Turnbull didn't say a word when he turned his letter. Minor didn't say a word to him, either.

Turnbull was making $18.23 per hour and had worked for the county for 20 years, according to his personnel file.

The sheriff's office investigation won't be completed until some time this week. At that time, Benton said, detectives will announce whether anybody is being charged with theft. The names of the three suspects who have already been cleared also will be released.

Wright said he made the decision to offer the special three-day suspension because it would not apply to the initial five suspects. He said the decision stemmed from his days as a Leon County Sheriff's deputy in Tallahassee, from 1971 to 1976. Wright said he wondered if other employees had been stealing, and how that could be found out.

Wright was promoted from a deputy sheriff to an administrative position, but he left the sheriff's office in 1976 when he finished his master's degree and landed a job in city management.

While some county residents might applaud Wright's decision, others might not think a three-day suspension is harsh enough for employee theft.

One citizen who doesn't like the three-day suspension is Louie Hernandez of Sebring. Hernandez said he is a retired New York City Department of Transportation worker. He drove both dump trucks and gasoline tanker trucks for the New York DOT.

When New York City employees were caught stealing even a small amount of gasoline, Hernandez said they got fired and also faced a possible state prison term.

"If you were accused (of fuel theft), you were suspended right away," he said. "Then, if you were found guilty of stealing, you lost your job.

"And," Hernandez added, "you could also do seven years in prison."

Hernandez doesn't think the three-day suspension will be an effective deterrent.

"They should do something about this," he said, "If they don't, others are going to steal gas, too, if they know they can't lose their job."

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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