Cops: Fairfield Man Stole $4,000 from Employer in Illicit Gas Purchases

A 56-year-old Fairfield man, an employee of Darien-based Ring’s End Lumber, stole more than $4,000 from the company by charging gasoline purchases to a company credit card, Darien police said.

Police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Jeffrey Lacey, of Buena Vista Road in Fairfield, was first caught in an internal audit for Ring’s End management, which contacted Darien police in January. The audit compared service logs for the company’s vehicle fleet with the actual gallons and costs posted to gasoline credit card statements.

Lacey, who worked at the Ring’s End location at 181 West Ave. in Darien, charged the company for gasoline bought for two personal vehicles. The statement for his company credit card showed purchases from across the state, but many of them were from a gas station close to Lacey’s home. Police looked at video surveillance tapes that showed Lacey fueling his own vehicles.

He later told police he had used the card for unauthorized purchases for his own vehicles about “100 times” in the past year.

The company fired him.

Police applied for and received a warrant for Lacey’s arrest. They told him it had been issued, and on March 20, he turned himself in at Darien Police Headquarters. He is charged with third-degree larceny and illegal use of a credit card. Lacey has been released on a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford. His next court date, his third, is scheduled for May 12.