CLEARFIELD – A woman accused of stealing more than $43,000 from the Winburne Volunteer Fire Company waived all charges to court at her preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Clearfield County Jail.
Brittany Nicole Bell, 30, of Grassflat has been charged with 168 counts each of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen property and 162 counts of other reason access device is unauthorized by issuer. Bail has been set at $25,000 unsecured.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Nov. 19, 2015 Morris-Cooper Regional police were dispatched to the Winburne Volunteer Fire Company. Upon arrival an officer met with William Gaines, the fire company’s president.
Gaines advised that a large sum of money was missing from the general fund account. The fire company, he said, had received notice from the property insurance company that the insurance was going to be cancelled for non-payment.
Gaines, along with Vice President Sarah Dunlap and Fire Chief Bobby Dunlap, went to CNB Bank earlier in the day and learned that the bank debit/VISA card used in transactions was assigned to the treasurer who was Bell at the time.
The bank printed off the purchases and withdrawals from February of 2015 through Nov. 19, 2015. These were allegedly more than $17,000 at the time, Gaines told the officer. The officer advised he needed to locate records, receipts, accounts and equipment from Bell due to the investigation.
Gaines requested that the officer be present when this was done. The officer made contact with Bell and told her about the missing money, and she said there wasn’t any problem with it. The officer explained fire company officials needed all accounts that night and asked Bell what time she would be home.
Bell told the officer she was on her way home from work, and it would be a little while. He asked Bell to call when she arrived home, so that he and fire officials could retrieve the accounts. About 20 minutes later, Bell arrived at the fire company, and the officer went outside to meet with her.
She allegedly looked at the officer and started crying when she said: “I did it. I am not going to lie to you.” She wanted to speak with fire company members, and they agreed to meet with her in the parking lot.
Bell allegedly told them she was sorry and she needed help when she lost her job last year. Bell was crying and upset to the point that the officer felt she may not be safe to drive. The officer asked the fire chief to drive Bell home, and he would follow them.
Bell agreed to let the fire chief drive her home and to collect bank accounts, records, receipts and all equipment belonging to the fire company. She collected several receipts, checking account documents, equipment, the company’s laptop and printers.
Upon return to the fire company, the officer and officials began reviewing the accounts, receipts, etc. Gaines advised the officer that Bell was permitted to use the ATM/bank card but only for fire company purchases and not for her personal use.
On Nov. 25, 2015 the officer met with Bell in order to get a statement from her. She had prepared her statement prior to their meeting and turned it over to the officer. On Nov. 30, 2015 the officer had his secretary review all bank statements, receipts and point of sale purchases to calculate a grand total.
On Dec. 6, 2015 fire company officials met with the police secretary at the department to finalize the accounting paperwork. The total amount allegedly missing was $43,136.65, according to the affidavit.