By Andy Sevilla
A former Kyle Fire Department (KFD) officer turned himself in to authorities on an active warrant Tuesday morning during his arraignment hearing on two felony indictments in the 22nd Judicial District Court.
Richard Craig Kolls, Jr. was indicted on theft and abuse of official capacity charges, both state jail felonies, by a Hays County Grand Jury on June 19.
Kolls, the former training division chief for KFD, was first arrested on March 26 on two charges – a felony forgery of a financial instrument and a Class A Misdemeanor abuse of official capacity – after a Texas Rangers’ investigation found that the suspect allegedly conducted firefighter and EMT training courses under the auspices of KFD, but without the department’s knowledge, according to Kolls’ arrest warrants.
Kolls training exercises in Hays County and around the region included signed contracts that legally bound KFD for up to $1 million in liability damages, but invoices for the work were in the suspect’s name and fees collected were paid directly to him and not reported to the fire department, the documents state.
After the grand jury upgraded his original abuse of official capacity charge, from a Class A Misdemeanor to a state jail felony, Kolls’ bond for that charge was increased from $1,500 to $10,000, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The grand jury also indicted Kolls on a felony theft – of $1,500 or more but less than $20,000 – instead of the original felony forgery of a financial instrument charge. Both charges carried a bond of $10,000, according to court documents.
During the course of the Texas Rangers’ investigation, then-interim Kyle Fire Chief Clay Huckaby told investigators on March 11 that he had recently become aware of an agreement entered into between Kolls and the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to provide coordination for an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training course conducted at the LBJ Fire Academy in Austin, according to Kolls arrest warrant.
Kolls was allegedly paid $1,000 for that training, according to an invoice Nov. 1, 2012, the documents state.
The AISD agreement with Kolls noted that the suspect would “serve as an EMS Coordinator at the LBJ Fire Academy in charge of filling and obtaining course approval with the Texas Department of State Health Services; creating student’s handbook; keeping records on file for the state; keeping track of clinicals; (and) others duties as assigned,” according to the arrest warrant.
Nowhere in the agreement was the Kyle Fire Department mentioned and Kolls’ home address and personal email address was included on the consulting agreement form, the documents state.
The agreement also stated that the Kyle Fire Department would be responsible for maintaining liability insurance for the students and faculty, according to the arrest warrant.
Leon Hudson, the EMS Instructor for the LBJ Fire Academy, told investigators that he entered into a training agreement with Kolls under the belief that the work was being coordinated through KFD’s training program and that Kolls had obtained the necessary course approval through the Texas Department of State Health Services, according to court documents.
Brett Hart, EMS Compliance Manager with the Texas Department of State Health Services, told investigators that no application had been received, nor approval granted for the EMT training course at the LBJ Fire Academy, according to the arrest warrant. The training began on December 2012 and was scheduled to run through May 2013.
Kolls was certified through the Texas Department of State Health Services as an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Training Coordinator and he had routinely coordinated various EMS training classes through KFD as part of his normal duties as the training coordinator for KFD, the court documents state.
However, former Fire Chief Glenn Whitaker, who resigned in March amid tensions with the Hays County Emergency Services District Number 5 – which took over KFD operations in October 2012 – had no knowledge that Kolls had entered into a training agreement with AISD, the arrest warrant states.
Also, In February, Doris Whitaker, KFD’s bookkeeper, told investigators that sometime in August or September 2012, she became suspicious that monies collected through KFD’s training program had not been turned in to her by Kolls, for various training courses at KFD, according to the arrest warrant.
On Sept. 17, Doris Whitaker was in Kolls’ office at KFD and noticed a receipt book on his desk which contained receipts for cash payments for tuition fees that she had not received, court documents state. She then opened Kolls desk drawer and found other receipts and checks for course tuition payments, many of which were dated several months prior, the documents state.
Doris Whitaker made photocopies of the checks and receipts and she attempted to reconcile them with monies Kolls turned over to her for trainings, and it appeared many cash payments, about $3,800, had not been handed over to the department, according to Kolls’ arrest warrant.
Through Doris Whitaker’s photocopies, investigators were also able to pinpoint alterations made to at least one check Kolls handed over to Doris on Sept. 28, 2012, for an Emergency Medical Response (EMR) class.
Kolls worked at KFD from August 2008 until March 6, 2013, when he was reorganized out of the department as part of cost saving measures ESD5 was implementing with then-interim Fire Chief Huckaby, as the department was in financial straits.
