Kinder police chief pleads innocent to theft, malfeasance charges
Published 10:05 am Wednesday, August 13, 2014
OBERLIN — Kinder Police Chief Gary Pelican accused of using town credit cards to fuel vehicles belonging to family members pleaded innocent Wednesday in state district court to malfeasance in office and theft charges.
Gary Pelican, 52 and his attorney John Demourelle, entered the plea during a brief court appearance before Judge Joel Davis in the 33rd Judicial District Court.
He is set to stand trial Feb. 23, 2015. A pre-trial conference has been set for January.
Pelican was arrested by State Police in January for theft over $1,500 and malfeasance in office after an audit fond he was using town credit cards to buy excessive amounts of fuel.
He is accused of charging $7,700 of fuel during the 2012-2013 fiscal year using town credit cards. While some of the fuel was for official use, much of it was allegedly placed into vehicles belonging to family members, investigators said.
