Employee theft charge prompts rule change for La Joya
Former employee may have stolen as much as $1,500 of gas
La JOYA — The city of La Joya bought a new cordless drill and a kit to recharge an air conditioner.
That would have been great, had the city wanted those things or known about the purchases.
Now, those two items have landed a former city employee behind bars and sparked a rule change within City Hall.
Earlier this month, police say, a former city employee bought $200 of equipment — including the drill and the kit — and charged it to the city. He then allegedly took the tools home for personal use.
Police have since recovered the items and charged Gilbert Sanchez Jr. with two counts of theft, said Officer Joe Cantu, a La Joya police spokesman.
Sanchez was fired a few weeks ago for using city vehicles for personal reasons, City Manager Mike Alaniz said.
After Sanchez’s termination, the city received a bill for the equipment, but a quick check revealed the city didn’t have the items in its inventory. So when Sanchez came to pick up his last pay check Friday, police arrested him and sent him to be arraigned, Cantu said.
Further investigation has revealed misuse of a city credit card given to Sanchez to purchase gas. For instance, bills show 14 gallons of gas purchased one day at 9 a.m. Less than an hour later, 15 more gallons of gas were purchased.
Though police continue to investigate, Cantu said early findings reveal as much as $1,500 of misappropriated gasoline. Authorities plan to bring more charges, possibly by the end of the week.
This type of situation is not foreign to La Joya. In June, a volunteer firefighter confessed to obtaining beer and cocaine using a city credit card meant to buy gas for employee vehicles.
In light of that situation and the more recent charges against Sanchez, city officials have now made some changes.
“We want to emphasize zero tolerance,” Alaniz said. “We won’t put up with this anymore.”
All fuel purchases must now be pre-approved by city officials.
There was no word on what City Hall has planned for the drill or the air conditioner recharging kit.
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Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.
