Ukiah Police arrested Joseph John Szupello, 35, of Lakeport on March 6 on charges of grand theft and embezzlement. He was arrested shortly afterward after posting $15,000 bail, according to Mendocino County Jail records.
According to a report from the Ukiah Police Department, in March of 2009 the Ukiah Fire Department requested assistance from Ukiah Police in attempting to locate and possibly retrieve a missing generator from an emergency response vehicle.
Ukiah Police reported that its detectives learned that Szupello, a volunteer firefighter who was on inactive status with the fire department, may have used the generator during a family camping trip in January 2009.
When contacted by police, Szupello denied taking the generator, but claimed to have borrowed an identical one from friends. Ukiah Police reported that its detectives spoke with numerous associates of Szupello, none of whom corroborated his statements.
The investigation continued through April of 2009, but despite following up on several leads and searches of various areas of Lake County, the missing generator was not located and detectives were unable to determine substantively that Szupello had stolen the missing generator, according to the Ukiah Police report.
Then, earlier this month, Ukiah Fire once again contacted Ukiah Police about the missing equipment, which was reportedly being held by Lakeport Fire Protection District.
Ukiah Police detectives determined that members of Szupello's family had apparently turned in a set of self-contained breathing apparatus – commonly called SCBA – to the Lakeport Fire Protection District after Szupello had allegedly stored the equipment at his family members' residence.
Detectives determined that the SCBA gear was missing from the Ukiah Fire Department's inventory and was valued at more than $6,000, police reported.
They retrieved the equipment and spoke with Szupello, who they said admitted to taking the gear from the Ukiah Fire Department, according to the report. He told detectives he intended to use it for a legitimate training but eventually “forgot about it.”
Ukiah Police reported that its detectives determined that Szupello had allegedly moved the SCBA equipment to various locations after the date of this training, which they said would have given him the opportunity to return it, which he did not do.
Detectives subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Szupello for embezzlement and the investigating detective arrested Szupello.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
