Ex-Vt. Firefighter Allegedly Stole Rescue Truck

DOVER, Vt. -- Police say a former East Dover volunteer firefighter is responsible for stealing a rescue truck and abandoning it in Albany, N.Y., last year.

An arrest warrant for the crime of grand larceny for Brian L. Roberts, 31, previously of Williamsville, was recently issued by the Windham Superior Court Criminal Division.

Dover Police Detective Sgt. Richard Werner said during the investigation of the stolen 2005 Ford Rescue vehicle, one member of the department couldn't be contacted.

On Oct. 20, 2010, East Dover Fire Chief Jon Abel, reported the 2005 Ford Rescue vehicle and its equipment, valued at nearly $250,000, stolen.

It was discovered missing after Abel and four other members of the department were dispatched to a fire at a sugar house in Williamsville.

Abel said they were serving as a cover vehicle to the other responding departments and didn't enter the building where the two rescue trucks were parked until returning from the fire at about 5:30 a.m., which is when he noticed something wasn't right.

"My initial reaction was to find out if someone had taken the truck to assist us and for whatever reason never ended up on the scene," Abel said.

After retracing the two paths the truck could have taken and ensuring it wasn't sent out for service and he had forgotten, Abel contacted dispatch through Fire Mutual Aid in Keene, N.H. They informed him that there was no record of the truck being sent out to an emergency.

"That's when I knew it was stolen," Abel said.

According to police, someone saw the truck leaving East Dover at about 5:45 a.m. the previous day. The vehicle was last seen two days prior by one of the volunteer firefighters who was performing maintenance on it.

One witness reported seeing the rescue truck in Bernardston, Mass., and the description of the driver matched that of Roberts, the missing fire department member, said Werner.

When the vehicle was found, abandoned in a parking lot near the Greyhound bus station in Albany, evidence was recovered from the cab of the truck, which was returned to the East Dover Fire Department, he said.

"With the exception that the truck was almost out of fuel and had been left for two days unlocked in the parking lot, nothing was damaged or missing from the truck," Werner said.

Evidence taken from the truck was sent to the Vermont State Lab and it matched a sample of Roberts' DNA that was on file, Werner said.

It's been reported that Roberts has been seen in the Carolinas and Colorado but his whereabouts are unknown at this time, Werner said.

Anyone with information regarding this case or the location of Brian L. Roberts, is encouraged to contact the Dover Police Department at 802-464-2020.