Former EMS workers accused of paying themselves for ambulance trips never taken



JEFFERSON CO. (WITI) -- Two former members of the Sullivan Emergency Medical Service (EMS) are in hot water after Jefferson County investigators say they stole nearly $45,000 from the community.

It all started when Rick and Kim Heine bought candy with a company credit card.

"No sodas, no candy, no nothing. Diesel fuel only. You want anything, you personally buy it with your own money," said Bill Ingersoll, former director of the Sullivan EMS District Board.

But they didn't listen. So Ingersoll put them on probation for two days.

"And then when we were trying to check on that, looking at the receipts, we found we were locked out of the computer," said Nancy Emons, former secretary of the Sullivan EMS District Board.

"We found a drawer full of bills that weren't being paid," said Ingersoll.

In fact, Sullivan EMS, which provided ambulance services for five towns and villages, was broke.

Prosecutors say it was because the Heines were paying themselves for ambulance trips that were never taken.

Rick and Kim Heine now face charges in Jefferson County for misconduct in public office, identity theft and fraud. They were both fired from Sullivan EMS back in 2012.

"The community really lost. We lost Sullivan EMS," said Emons.

"Do we want that money back? Of course we do. And we want the community to know what they did," said Ingersoll.

FOX6 News was able to speak with Kim Heine on the phone on Thursday, August 28th. She and her husband are currently out of town. They said they did not know about the criminal charges pending against them -- and they did not see this coming. The Heines say they did not intentionally steal any money.