The Associated Press
HOLLISTER, Mo. (AP) -- Police Chief George Stevens is free on bail after being charged with stealing from his own department.
Stevens, 36, a 10-year veteran of the department who was hired as chief in 1996, was arrested and charged Thursday.
Stevens, who was suspended without pay by Mayor David Tate, is suspected of stealing $6,900 from the Hollister Police Department, including $4,300 in cash bond money collected from the city jail.
He posted $20,000 bail and was released from the Taney County Jail on Thursday evening.
“This is something you hope against hope isn’t the case,” City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss said. “Certainly, you like to have confidence in your employees.”
Ziegenfuss said city leaders noticed irregularities in the financial books several months ago.
“We noticed a discrepancy in bond money. So I asked the chief to look into it,” Ziegenfuss said. “He did and then he gave me a formal report of what he found. The report said (the money) couldn’t be accounted for and he couldn’t come to a conclusion as to where it went.”
City leaders asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol for an independent preliminary inquiry into the missing money. In less than a week, the patrol recommended the city seek a full investigation, Ziegenfuss said.
“Certainly, the investigation wasn’t focused on an individual,” Ziegenfuss said. “It was focused on a situation.”
In Stevens’ absence, Capt. Ed Ripley will run the department, Ziegenfuss said. City leaders decided not to appoint Ripley as acting chief, Ziegenfuss said, because Stevens is on suspension and is considered innocent until proven guilty.