Former Monessen Fire Department president accused of stealing more than $30K

MONESSEN, Pa. (KDKA) — The former president of the Monessen Fire Department has been charged with stealing over $30,000, the Westmoreland County district attorney announced on Thursday.

According to prosecutors, 49-year-old Stephen Gaydos III stole $31,000 from Monessen Fire Department Station #1. 

Monessen police said the investigation began in November after they were contacted about the misappropriation of department funding. Investigators said Gaydos handed over only about $7 after he was asked to close a checking account that was used for funding and social hall rentals. 

"When one account was closed, a total of $7 and some change was turned in. Bells started going off," said Monessen Police Chief David Yuhasz.  

Prosecutors said the board of directors believed there was more money in the account. When they contacted the bank, investigators said the board of directors was told the account was still open and there was recent activity.

Bank statements showed transactions and transfers that investigators said hadn't been authorized by the fire department. The district attorney's office said Gaydos also had a debit card for the fire department account that the board of directors didn't know about. 

Prosecutors said the board met with Gaydos and agreed to let him pay back the money, but after several months and several extensions, the directors called police. 

During the investigation, police said they learned about $31,600 was missing from the fire department account, dating back to December of 2020. Bank records showed transfers of money and transactions at places like Family Dollar, Lowe's Harbor Freight and Cricket Wireless, police said.

Gaydos was arraigned and released on $100,000 unsecured bond. He's facing multiple charges, including theft, receiving stolen property, unauthorized access device use and misapplying entrusted property.

Both the city of Monessen and the mayor released statements to KDKA-TV calling the news disappointing. Yuhasz said it's "a tough pill to swallow" because of how the fire department operates." 

"They depend very little on taxpayer funds. It's mostly all fundraised and all donations. They make a go. They make it work. Every little bit helps with them. This incident here, it's a big blow to the fire dept trying to recoup from that incident," Yuhasz said.