| For Immediate Release Case # 12HM14870 December 19, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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FIREFIGHTER CHARGED WITH STEALING $40
FROM WALLET IN FIRE STATION
NEWPORT BEACH – A firefighter has been charged with stealing $40 from a wallet in his Irvine fire station. Gregory Mark Konishi, 49, Rancho Santa Margarita, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of burglary and faces a sentence ranging from probation up to two years in jail if convicted. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 27, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-8, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
At the time of the crime, Konishi was a firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority and worked in an Irvine fire station.
Prior to Sept. 28, 2012, a fire captain working in the same station as the defendant observed that small amounts of cash were missing periodically from his wallet. The captain subsequently placed a small, hidden video camera in his room at the fire station.
On Sept. 28, 2012, and Oct. 22, 2012, Konishi is accused of entering the victim’s room at the fire station and stealing $20 each time from the victim’s wallet without the victim’s knowledge or consent.
The Irvine Police Department investigated this case.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brett Brian of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.
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