Dec. 13--MANCHESTER -- The warrant for the arrest of a former Eighth Utilities District fire chief tells of missing documents, records mysteriously left at a district official's home, and a false certification that granted tax breaks to former Chief Paul Litrico, his wife and other firefighters.
Litrico was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree larceny (defrauding a public community), and false entry by an agent of a public community. He was released without having to post bail and is to appear in at Superior Court in Manchester on Jan. 8.
The arrest warrant affidavit by Det. Andrew M. Young centers on documents used to certify motor vehicle tax abatements for firefighters.
Under a town ordinance, district firefighters are eligible for a tax break of up to $400 on their motor vehicle taxes each year if they respond to 120 emergency calls, at least 25 of which are mutual aid calls. District firefighters cover calls in the northern third of town and answer mutual aid calls in other areas of town.
District President Mary O'Marra complained to police in early July that records of mutual aid calls and roster information used to certify the tax break were missing from the district's Main Street headquarters. O'Marra had described the missing documents as "rosters of response and availability of district volunteer personnel to handle calls received by the fire department during the October 2011 snowstorm and its aftermath."
She told police that copies of mutual aid documents had been left anonymously at the home of John Topping, then and now a member of the district's board of directors, according to the affidavit.
Topping said Wednesday that he found the photocopies of mutual aid records in his mailbox on June 18. The documents covered calls from May 2011 to April 2012, Topping said. He said he immediately turned the copies over to the district.
O'Marra told police that she believed the person who left the documents was trying to alert Topping, who is also a member of the town's board of directors, that Litrico had sought tax abatements for ineligible firefighters, the affidavit said. O'Marra reviewed the files that same day and learned that some members who had been certified for tax abatements had not answered the required number of mutual aid calls, the affidavit said.
The matter was brought before the district's board of directors that night, and Litrico was told to prove that the firefighters he had listed as eligible for the tax break in a certified letter to the town in May were, in fact, eligible.
On June 26, Litrico visited O'Marra at her home and told her that the mutual aid paperwork documenting responses to the October 2011 snowstorm "was missing from the rest of the documents," according to police.
Police found that from May 2011 to April 2012, only three firefighters met the requirements to receive the tax abatement. Litrico had turned in a list to the town with 17 names. The list included Litrico, himself, and his wife, then Assistant Fire Chief Mary Beth Litrico, even though each was credited with only seven mutual aid calls in that period, police said.
"Given the clear discrepancy of mutual aid calls to those that were 'certifed' by Litrico and those that actually met the minimum of 25 mutual aid calls, it is unreasonable to believe this was an oversight on Litrico's part," the affidavit says.
"Therefore, it's evident that Litrico intentionally filed a false document to the Town of Manchester for this tax relief program," the affidavit says.
Current District Fire Chief Ron Russo subsequently found forms that had been misfiled and mutual aid records in the computer system that were not coded properly, the affidavit said. Russo's research, which included records from the October snowstorm, found that six of the 17 firefighters on Litrico's list were eligible for the tax break, the affidavit said.
Litrico did not talk to police, according to the affidavit. His attorney, Kevin O'Brien, said Wednesday that records the Eighth District provided to police were incomplete and did not show the full range of mutual aid responses. O'Brien said he will make a freedom of information request to the district for complete records of calls for service from May 2011 to April 2012.
"The chief is innocent and we'll prove it," O'Brien said.
Litrico, 48, had been fire chief for nine years when the board of directors voted not to reappoint him to the position at a meeting in mid-July.
Russo said Wednesday that Litrico is still a district firefighter, but has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of his court case. Mary Beth Litrico was not reappointed as an assistant chief. She is still listed as an Eighth District member, but has not responded to calls since July, Russo said.
Town General Manager Scott Shanley said Monday that the town is seeking refunds from ineligible firefighters who received the tax break.
Copyright 2012 - The Hartford Courant
