The Times Union (Albany, New York)
Copyright 2007 The Hearst Corporation
All Rights Reserved
TROY. N.Y. — A captain in the Troy Fire Department was arrested Friday on charges that he stole painkillers from a home during an emergency call. Maurice Catel, 47, of 406 19th St., Watervliet, was charged after a monthlong investigation following a tip from his estranged wife, a source familiar with the case said.
He is accused of taking a prescription bottle of hydrocodone pills, sources said.
Catel, a member of the department for at least two decades, was indicted on felony drug sale and possession charges and an official misconduct charge, a misdemeanor.
The investigation has continued for more than a month, the source said.
The arrest came sometime after a grand jury handed up a sealed indictment against Catel.
The indictment was unsealed Friday.
Catel was arrested at noon Friday at his home, said Troy Police Sgt. John Cooney, a police spokesman.
Catel was arraigned before Rensselaer County Judge Patrick McGrath and sent to Rensselaer County Jail without bail.
Cooney said that department policy calls for suspending someone in Catel’s situation.
But the spokesman did not know Catel’s employment status Friday night.
City Fire Chief Tom Garrett did not return messages left on his cellphone Friday night.
He told NewsChannel 13 earlier in the evening, “Everybody will be disappointed,” according to the station’s Web site.
“A lot of unhappiness over this. Everybody takes pride in the job. This is a disappointment to the whole department.”