The New Hampshire State Police recently concluded a six-month investigation of state safety inspection facilities that resulted in four arrests.
Allen Demers, 57, of Gorham, New Hampshire, Alan Moody, 51, of Whitefield, New Hampshire, Randall Grondin, 44, of Bethel, Maine, and Luke McGillicuddy, 24, of Gorham, New Hampshire, were arrested on a variety of charges, according to a press release issued earlier this month.
According to the release, on May 20, Trooper Brandon Girardi and Logan Ramsay, an automotive equipment inspector with the New Hampshire State Police, went to Berlin City Ford in Gorham to conduct a routine audit of the automobile dealership and inspection station.
During the course of the audit, Girardi discovered that employees of Berlin City Ford had been improperly conducting state safety inspections. Girardi learned that employees who were not authorized by the Division of Motor Vehicles as certified mechanics to conduct safety inspections had conducted numerous improper inspections.
Additionally, Demers, the service manager for Berlin City Ford, and Moody, who was a supervisor, had allowed employees access to the New Hampshire On Board Diagnostics and Safety Testing computer network to complete unauthorized state inspections, the release said.
A similar routine audit was conducted at Berlin City Chevrolet in Gorham, according to police, where Girardi learned employees had also conducted improper safety inspections. Girardi learned that Grondin, the service manager for Berlin City Chevrolet, had allowed employees access to the NHOST computer network to complete unauthorized inspections, according to the release.
Demers was charged with computer crimes; criminal solicitation to commit tampering with public records; criminal solicitation to commit unsworn falsification; and criminal solicitation to commit counterfeit, unauthorized or forged stickers. He surrendered himself at the Gorham Police Department on Nov. 21 and was released on $2,500 personal recognizance bail.
Grondin was charged with computer crimes; criminal solicitation to commit tampering with public records; and criminal solicitation to commit counterfeit, unauthorized or forged stickers, the release said. He surrendered himself at the Gorham Police Department on Dec. 2 and was released on a summons.
McGillicuddy was charged with computer crimes; tampering with public records; and counterfeit, unauthorized or forged stickers. He surrendered himself at the Gorham Police Department Nov. 21 and was released on a summons pending.
Moody was charged with computer crimes; criminal solicitation to commit tampering with public records; criminal solicitation to commit unsworn falsification; and criminal solicitation to commit counterfeit, unauthorized or forged stickers. He surrendered himself at the Gorham Police Department on Nov. 23 and was released on $1,500 personal recognizance bail.
All four were scheduled to appear in Berlin District Court Jan. 31, according to the release.
According to Staff Sgt. Andrew Player of the New Hampshire State Police, the men charged were not selling inspection stickers.
He also said the improper inspections had been going on for at least a year, and a large number of vehicles had gone through the process. They were a mix of new and used, he said.
Player said there was no way of knowing for sure if any vehicles that should not have received stickers got them.
State Police were assisted in the investigation by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Grondin also serves as the fire chief in Gilead, a position he has held since 2014, according to town officials.
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