CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — A former fire chief in Caldwell County has been accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from his volunteer department.
According to arrest warrants, Bryan Edwards deceived the department by falsely listing hours worked for the Grace Chapel Volunteer Fire Department on his time sheet. He deceived the department by falsely listing hours worked for Grace Chapel Fire on his time sheet, according to the arrest warrant.
He allegedly embezzled more than $150,000, according to documents.
The Grace Chapel community said Bryan Edwards had been fire chief since 2017 before resigning late last year.
Channel 9 spoke with several neighbors who said they were stunned to hear the news.
“I don’t put up with any of that, so if he’s done that and it’s proven that he’s done that, throw the book at him. In my opinion, people around here are trustworthy,” neighbor Chris Smith said.
Resident Diane Dockery said she had a heart attack in her backyard and firefighters from Grace Chapel got to her home within minutes.
She credits them with saving her life and was disappointed to learn about the allegations involving the former chief.
“We’re all local here and everybody probably knows him really well,” Dockery said. “So really sad to hear that’s going on in your community when you trust everybody.”
The fire department said in a statement that the arrest doesn’t represent the department or the community’s character and values.
Edwards was arrested on Monday and has been charged with embezzlement, forgery, and several counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
He has since posted a $50,000 bond, according to the clerk’s office.
VIDEO: Former CEO pleads guilty to embezzling more than $15M to fund lavish lifestyle
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
