By FireRescue1 Staff
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A former fire chief was arrested after being accused of theft.
Brownsville Herald reported that former Brownsville Fire Department Chief Carlos Elizondo turned himself in after being accused of withdrawing $8,000 from the Brownsville Firefighter Association’s political action committee while he was president of the organization from 2014 to 2016.
Elizondo denies the allegations and said the accusations are being made for political reasons.
“It’s not normal procedure that you turn yourself in at the districts attorney’s office and have the media waiting for you,” Elizondo’s attorney, Noe Garza, said. “Normally, the process is you are arrested by an agency, you’re taken to the sheriff’s department – as we were also willing to do that, so I don’t see what the purpose of that was. The charges are bogus and we intend to litigate them fully in court.”
In September, Elizondo was demoted to lieutenant after an investigation uncovered that he rerouted nearly 80 calls to a private EMS agency, costing the city an estimated $62,000, according to KRGV.