By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A 25-year-old Mineral resident has been charged with alleged misuse of a fire department department gas card while he was a volunteer firefighter.
Brady J. Mounce was summonsed into Lewis County Superior Court and appeared before a judge yesterday afternoon.
Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller said her client works as a farm hand and his earnings indicated he was eligible for a court appointed lawyer.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer requested Mounce’s bail be set with a $10,000 unsecured bond and Judge Joely O’Rourke agreed.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this summer a detective investigated after a Washington State Auditor’s Office report came back showing misappropriation of fuel from Lewis County Fire District 9 in Mineral. Mounce was a volunteer and his father was fire chief.
In June, Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said the information showed some of the activity occurred in the Morton area and some in Eatonville. Theft charges were filed in Pierce County, Breen said.
Lewis County prosecutors filed a charge of second-degree theft against Mounce on Dec. 5.
The affidavit regarding probable cause states the issue arose at the Jan. 24, 2016 fire commissioner’s meeting after the acting fire chief scrutinized a fuel bill from Stanley’s Oil Company and found Mounce’s use of the card did not match the run sheets. The matter was forwarded to the state auditor.
Sheriff’s detective Gene Seiber spoke with a fire commissioner who said she had recently resigned because of the issue.
Seiber wrote in his police report that the auditor’s findings showed Mounce made 20 purchases of fuel at Stanley’s Petroleum in Morton, totaling $1,503.12.
The time period of the activity is shown as three years during 2013, 2014, 2015 and through Jan. 1, 2016.
Detective Seiber spoke with the acting chief who told him Mounce had admitted to the “whole thing” in both counties, but when Seiber attempted to talk with Mounce, Mounce denied doing anything in Morton, according to charging documents.
After his court hearing yesterday, outside the courtroom, Mounce said he didn’t have any comment about his case. He will be represented by Centralia attorney David Brown.
His arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday.
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For background, read “News brief: Mineral Fire Department audit shows fuel misappropriation” from Wednesday June 14, 2017, here [1]