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Fire official suspended over theft of district SUV

The veteran of more than 20 years in the St. Petersburg Fire District made a personal stop and left the keys in the front seat.

By MARCUS FRANKLIN
Published February 12, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - A St. Petersburg Fire District chief will be disciplined after the department SUV he was driving was stolen when he made a personal stop at a friend's home during his shift.

Neil Crumity, who already received a written warning, will be suspended without pay for one 24-hour shift, Fire Chief James Callahan said Friday. Crumity told fire officials he was delivering medicine to a friend's house the evening of Jan. 23 when the vehicle was stolen.

"A family friend was very sick for three or four days," Crumity said Friday. "I was in the area returning from a (fire) call. I was a block away. I was trying to do something good. A good deed turned out to be a nightmare."

Crumity said he parked the department's red 2001 Ford Excursion outside the home at 2340 10th Street S and left the keys inside. He locked the SUV using a keypad on the door.

While standing in the home's enclosed porch, whose windows were covered, Crumity heard the SUV start. He looked and saw the SUV driving away.

Police say the thief broke a window and likely used a blanket to muffle the sound.

Crumity borrowed the friend's car and tried catching up with the thief, "but did not see which way the vehicle went once it reached" 26th Avenue, according to a police report. "The Fire Chief circulated the area and was unable to to locate the vehicle."

Crumity called police and notified his superiors, he said.

Police found the SUV, which bears the department's logo on its side, the following day on 28th Avenue S, according to the police report. The department's mounted laptop computer, flash light and a kit containing a helmet, mask and other items were missing. Crumity's cell phone also was reported stolen.

Crumity was disciplined for "carelessness," "unauthorized use of a city vehicle," and misconduct negatively affecting relations with his employees.

"The biggest mistake was leaving the keys inside the vehicle," Crumity said. "I never thought anybody would steal a fire department vehicle. In hindsight it was a bad call."

Callahan said Crumity, who joined the department in 1980 and currently supervises 50 people south of Central Avenue to around the Sunshine Skyway bridge, is an "excellent employee" with no prior discipline problems.

"He's one of our best district chiefs," Callahan said. "He made a mistake, we've directed discipline and hopefully he'll continue to do an outstanding job as he's done for years."

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:24:15]