New Hyde Park Fire Commissioner Michael Dolan and his son, Michael J. Dolan, face a departmental hearing next month on allegations that they improperly removed smoke detectors from department headquarters.
The fire commissioners have retained an attorney who will act as an arbitrator at the Jan. 7 hearing, according to sources close to the investigation. The arbitrator will hear the case, which sources say includes witnesses who will testify against the Dolans, and make a recommendation for any actions the commissioners should take.
The Nassau County District’s Attorneys Office recently dropped charges against the Dolans for allegedly stealing the smoke detectors from the New Hyde Park Fire Department headquarters last summer,
The two men currently remain suspended from duty as firefighters in the department.
Outgoing New Hyde Park Fire Commissioner John Brown said the senior Dolan admitted taking the smoke detectors.
“He did admit before every member of the board that he took them. But he wouldn’t say why he took them,” Brown said.
Rich Stein, chairman of the board of New Hyde Park Fire Commissioners, declined to comment on the case. A source said Stein is among the witnesses who will testify in the departmental hearing next month.
Thomas Stock, the attorney representing the fire commissioners in the case, also declined to comment.
Joseph Frank, an attorney who normally represents the New Hyde Park Fire Commissioners, has recused himself from the case because he also represents the Nassau County Firefighters Museum, which donated the smoke detectors to the New Hyde Park Fire Department.
Grand larceny charges against the Dolans, both of 1736 Aladdin Avenue in New Hyde Park, were dropped in October by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, which subsequently sealed the court record. The Dolans had allegedly stolen 65 Kidde smoke detectors on June 21 at 7:30 a.m. from a secured room in the New Hyde Park Fire Department headquarters located at 1555 Jericho Turnpike.
Brown said he’s not certain of the exact number of smoke detectors involved. But he said there is no question that Dolan and his son did not have permission to remove the smoke detectors from fire department headquarters from the chief or two of the other four fire district commissioners, as fire department protocol requires.
“He took the property. He did not confer with the chief. He did not confer with any of us,” Brown said of the senior Dolan. “He was told to return it. He did return it. And then he took it again.”
Brown said it remains unclear what the 68-year-old Dolan and his 32-year-old son intended to do with smoke detectors. He said there is no evidence that they were selling them. But Brown said distribution of the smoke detectors without following department protocol would have been improper.
The smoke detectors were intended for distribution to New Hyde Park seniors, who are required to sign liability waivers when they receive them from the department.
A question remains about the number of smoke detectors involved.
Brown said the senior Dolan picked up 200 smoke detectors from the Firefighters Museum. He subsequently delivered 100 smoke detectors to the fire department headquarters before taking them.
“They weren’t New Hyde Park Fire Department property,” Dolan said in a brief telephone conversation last week, declining further comment.
Sources say that Dolan has said that the smoke detectors were his personal property.
Brown said after the fire commissioners notified Nassau County Police Department about the alleged theft, a detective assigned to the case gave Dolan a chance to return the smoke detectors without facing criminal charges.
Brown said Dolan told the detective he would return the smoke detectors, but failed to return them.
“He was warned repeatedly to return the detectors and he ignored us,” Brown said. “He was given 15 different opportunities to return the stuff before the police were called and after the police were called.”
Brown said he feels “terribly responsible” for Dolan’s actions because he supported Dolan in his campaign for fire commissioner.
“He put everyone, both department and district people, in very bad positions with his behavior. He was not the person I thought he was and I have very little respect for him,” Brown said.
