City employees named in vandalism

By STACY L. NEITZEL
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW December 07, 2007 01:22 pm

— Several Cave City employees have been charged in connection with two separate incidents of vandalism occurring at the home of Cave City Councilman Todd Esters.
“Some were city employees, some were firemen and a couple weren’t associated with the city,” Cave City City Clerk Pam Hunt said about the nine Cave City residents who are charged in connection with the crimes.
John “Roger” Scott, 45, is a maintenance supervisor for the city and a captain on the Cave City Volunteer Fire Depart-ment. He and Dustin Neal, 21, a maintenance employee and volunteer fireman, were each served with a criminal summons to appear in court on charges of third-degree criminal mischief.
Five others who serve on the fire department were also charged, including Lt. Terrill Riley, 26, one of only two arrested in connection with the incidents, Capt. Michael Bale, 25, and firefighters Jason Logsdon, 27, Bruce Neville, 23, and William “Brian” Wilson, 24.
Two others charged in the case, Tommy Crain, 39, and Jorelle Minor, 28, who was also arrested, have no affiliation with the city. None of the men were working when the vandalism occurred.
“It was done on their own time,” the city clerk said.
Police said the vandalism took place on two separate occasions at Esters’ Cave City home, once on Halloween and again on Nov. 17. Esters said both his home and car were vandalized, causing several thousand dollars in damage.
“I can’t figure out what I’ve done to any of these people personally,” he continued, saying he believes the vandalism was an “attempt to get me to resign and intimidate my vote.”
Esters, who has served on the council for almost a year now, led the charge to amend the city’s 2008 budget. Under his proposal, the amount of money the city currently pays for insurance for its employees would have been reduced and criminal background checks would have been performed on all city employees and contract vendors. The measure failed after Cave City Mayor Bob Hunt vetoed the budget passed by the city council in August.
Esters declined to say whether he would seek legal recourse for damages, but confirmed he had retained an attorney in the matter. On advice of legal counsel, he declined any further comment.
It remains unclear if the city employees alleged to have been involved will face disciplinary action. Multiple messages left by the Daily Times for Mayor Hunt were unreturned as of this morning.