MONROE – A township employee was arrested last week for allegedly taking gasoline from the public works gas pump on several occasions.
Earl Wilson, 50, of Jamesburg, who is a foreman in the Monroe Township Public Works Department, was charged July 9 with theft and official misconduct. Monroe police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said an investigation revealed that Wilson used a 5-gallon can to take gasoline approximately 11 times over a two-month period.
The official misconduct charge is a third-degree offense because the value of the allegedly stolen gasoline was valued at less than $200. The charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Wilson was released after posting 10 percent of his $20,000 bail.
Wilson, a foreman with the department for 12 years, has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the judicial process, according to a statement released by Mayor Richard Pucci. He said there would be no further comment on the matter at this time.
Monroe Township Police Detective Peter Piro conducted the investigation that led to the arrest.
A similar arrest was made in June in Sayreville, where a volunteer firefighter from that borough was accused of stealing diesel fuel in 5-gallon tanks from the public works pumps, for personal use. Mark Johnson, 42, of Parlin, was charged with theft, official misconduct, taking by means of conveyance and wrongful impersonation. He was accused of using a fire department van to transport the fuel.