Police arrested five people from Switzerland County Monday on numerous theft-related charges after a six-month Indiana State Police investigation into theft from the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department that allegedly included a secret meeting and filing fake state paperwork to take over department accounts.
State police said the investigation began in March, after they were notified that a group of people was attempting “to fraudulently gain control of the equipment and assets of the fire department,” which had closed in 2017. Investigators said on March 16, 37-year-old Christopher See filed fraudulent paperwork with the state to take control of the fire department.
Then See, along with Christopher Miller, 32, Caitlyn Staat, 19, Jacob Parker, 35, and Lewis Fritter, 42, held a meeting without giving proper public notice and without telling the remaining members of the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department.