Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
A statement read by St. Clair Fire Protection District board
of directors treasurer Dave Berkel has linked former Fire Chief Eric Hinson to
the ongoing investigation into the local department's financial irregularities.
Berkel read the statement making the connection during a
fire board meeting Tuesday night.
“We received a check from VFIS/Glatfelter Claim Service for
$100,000, and it has been deposited in our account,” Berkel said in reading the
statement at St. Clair Fire House 1 on North Street. “This check is due to an
ongoing investigation concerning Eric R. Hinson about his duties with the St.
Clair Fire Protection District as board treasurer.”
Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc. is the St. Clair
department's insurance carrier. Glatfelter is the claims firm the insurance
company uses.
Before becoming St. Clair fire chief for a short time last
year, Hinson was the board of director's treasurer from April 1997 to January
2011. Before he resigned as chief about a year ago, he had served with the St.
Clair Fire Protection District for about 25 years.
Berkel replaced Hinson as the board's treasurer when Hinson
was named chief in January 2011. The other two board members are President
Kirby Banderman and Secretary Danny Gossett.
On Sept. 28, 2011, during the same St. Clair Fire Protection
District board of directors meeting in which Hinson submitted his resignation
as chief, public minutes stated that the three-member board that night
unanimously voted to "engage the services" of BKD Certified Public
Accountants & Advisors "to investigate the financials for the St.
Clair Fire Protection District as necessary."
The vote came after the board went into executive session to
"discuss legal matters," the minutes stated.
On Tuesday during its meeting, the board said the $100,000
was given by the insurance company to the fire district because that is the
amount of money the department was insured for in this specific incident. At
the time, the district had a $100,000 insurance policy on each board member as
well as the district's office manager.
Fire board members said they could not release any other
information on Hinson relating to the case.
Earlier this month, Hinson quit his job as fire chief in
Ladue. Hinson was 41 years old when he became St. Clair's fire district leader
at the beginning of last year.
About 30 individuals attended Tuesday's meeting, most of
them St. Clair firefighters.
Background
Later during the same Sept. 28, 2011, fire board meeting,
the directors again voted to go into executive session "to discuss
personnel matters." When the meeting returned to open session, Berkel read
Hinson's letter of resignation, which unanimously was accepted by the board.
In January of this year, St. Clair Police Chief Bill Hammack
and Berkel both confirmed the investigation to The Missourian, but would provide
little additional information, including the names of any individuals
potentially involved. They did say the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation were involved.
"We are going through and looking into irregularities
in financials of the fire district," Berkel said in January. "These
occurred from 2011 and before. We're going through some questionable
transactions."
Jan Diltz, public affairs officer with the U.S. District
Attorney's Office in St. Louis, has provided no information on the case. In
addition, officials with the IRS office in Chesterfield have declined to
comment.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Gerding, Richard H.
Born in St. Louis, MO on April 10, 1934, and asleep in Jesus
on Sunday, September 9, 2012. Mr. Gerding married the late Yasuko Doi in
Tokyo, Japan. They were married for 52 years. Dear father of Edward
(Linda) Gerding and Deborah (Michael) Sykuta; dear grandfather of Ashton and
Callie Gerding, and Alyssa, Grant, and Jacob Sykuta. Mr. Gerding was a
graduate of St. Louis University. He then served in the U.S. Navy for
four years. Mr. Gerding retired from McDonnell Douglas as a manager of
accounting in 1992 after 32 years of service, and then worked for the Richmond
Heights Fire Department for 19 years, earning a second retirement in
2011. Mr. Gerding was a lifelong international traveler, had traveled to
all seven continents, and visited all 50 states. He also took each of his
grandchildren on an international trip.
Services: Memorial
Visitation will be held at Kutis Affton Chapel, 10151 Gravois, Saturday,
September 15, from 4:00-9:00 pm, with memorial service at Christ Memorial
Lutheran Church, 5252 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis MO, on Sunday, September
16, at 12:30 pm. A burial at sea in the Pacific will be at a future date,
with spouse and canines Yama, Hana, and Yuri. If desired, memorials may
be made to the Humane Society of Missouri, 1201 Macklind Ave., St. Louis, MO
63110.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, MO (KTVI) – An explosion outside Immacolata Catholic Church in Richmond Heights is under investigation by police, federal agents and the county bomb unit. The blast shook neighbors and their homes.
Police said a large amount of consumer grade fireworks was used to make the explosive device. Brian McMahon heard the blast, “It was a big explosion.” It happened around 10:20 p.m. Monday night. A woman who lives nearby said, “It was like a very, very loud crash of thunder.”
Police canvassed the area and found nothing. Tuesday morning church workers discovered the damage the explosion caused. Two dumpers were damaged, one had a hole in it. A parish grade school window was shattered. Captain Craig Mueller with the Richmond Heights Police said, “Right now it`s completely out of the blue and we`re not linking it to the church or school at all it`s in a very secluded area at the very far side of this parking lot.”
Church officials said the parish has not received any threats or had any problems. Authorities searched the grounds including the roof of the church look for evidence. The glass top of a neighbor`s patio table was destroyed. Captain Mueller added, ‘We`d like to know obviously what the device was and how far the device carried and any other evidence that might indicate who set off the device.’
The explosion won`t soon be forgotten by people who live near the parish. McMahon said, “My sister who lives right here called and said my windows just shook unbelievably.”
Captain Mueller said, “If anybody has any information related to hearing this, knowing someone in the area that maybe responsible, anyone bragging about such a thing please call the Richmond heights police department immediately.”
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