By Valerie Chinn
WDRB
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bullitt County Sheriff’s deputies searched the home and office of Southeast Bullitt Fire Department chief Julius Hatfield on Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged insurance fraud and abuse of public trust.
Several agencies have been looking into Hatfield and his department for six months, seizing dozens of documents believed to be related to the fire department on Thursday. Tuesday afternoon, officers executed the search warrants on Hatfield’s home and the fire station where he works.
They are specifically looking into whether the fire department bilked insurance companies by inflating clean-up costs for automobile accidents to which firefighters responded, WDRB has learned. The sheriff’s department says it plans to take the evidence directly to a grand jury for possible indictment. The FBI is also investigating, along with the State Auditor’s Office and the State Fire Board.
Full story: Embattled fire chief investigated for fraud, abuse of public trust