JENNY LIND (KFSM) -- Two former Jenny Lind firefighters are facing theft of property charges for allegedly giving away fire equipment to a different department after their fire station disbanded in late March.
Former chief Brian Allison, 33, and his father, James Dean Allison, 60, both of Jenny Lind, are facing felony charges of conspiracy to commit theft.
The Jenny Lind Fire Department was shut down and its district was reassigned to surrounding fire departments in March. Shortly afterward, Sebastian County officials noticed that fire equipment, including two fire trucks, gear and radios, were missing from the station.
The equipment ended up in Crawford County at the Cedarville Fire Department. On March 30, Sebastian County officials went to Cedarville to return the equipment, which the Jenny Lind Fire Department board had voted to turn into the Sebastian County Judge's office for safekeeping until the district could be reassigned.
"The Cedarville Fire Department thought they were OK that everything had been cleared. All the boxes had been checked. All the paperwork signed but unbeknownst to them, that wasn't the case," said Philip Pevehouse with the Sebastian County Sheriff's Department.
The Allisons had no authority to remove the equipment from the Jenny Lind fire station and give it away, according to a Sebastian County Sheriff's Office press release.
5NEWS reached out to Brian and James Dean Allison but an on camera interview was turned down.