Dighton Fire Chief suspected of using town money on women’s clothing
By: News Staff
news@ac6.com
DIGHTON, M.A. – The Chief of the Dighton Fire Department faced a judge on Tuesday; accused of using town money to buy women’s clothing.
Fire Chief Antone Roderick Jr. was charged with larceny, intimidation of a witness and two counts of public employee standards violation.
Court documents obtained by ABC 6 News showed how the Town Accountant noticed irregularities with multiple invoices from September of last year.
In one case, the State Police Trooper investigating points to an item labeled Nike "space" men’s pro haze. The Trooper says the town accountant requested an original invoice of that item only to realize the actual order was for Nike Women’s Pro Haze Capri pants.
State police point to three other instances like this where they believe invoices were altered to get rid of the word "women’s."
State Police questioned the Chief about the spending on multiple occasions.
When pushed about the extra small women’s rain coat, the report reads: "He stated that he was embarrassed to be buying a women’s jacket for himself so he changed the item to read as if it was a men’s jacket. Chief Roderick stated that the jacket was better for his size, and he lost 30 pounds recently."
The Chief admitted to altering that invoice, but initially told police he "did not recall" whiting out words to hide the "women’s" description on 3 others.
At one point during the interview process the Chief tried on the clothing for police insisting it was all for him.
As for those Capri pants, the report reads: "The pants were tight but he was able to wear them."
The Chief’s girlfriend was questioned. She denied knowing about 3 of the items, but eventually said that the Capri pants were given to her by Roderick.
An important point of note, firefighters in Dighton are given a uniform allowance to buy clothes. The Chief maintains that the clothes he bought were for his use.
He could face significant jail time if convicted of the charges he’s facing.
The town Board of Selectmen is holding a special meeting Wednesday to address the issue.
©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2016
