By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The city of Chehalis’s former building official pleaded not guilty yesterday to stealing money from a city safe.
Jeffrey C. Shine, 41, was fired earlier this month following an investigation into the November 19 discovery.
According to charging documents, an employee arrived to work at the community development building on the 1300 block of South Market Boulevard and discovered somebody had opened a safe and removed some of its contents.
Five money bags there had been sealed and locked but someone cut their bottoms and also got into an envelope, according to the documents. The total is described as about $962.
The charging documents don’t note if any money remained in the safe or if it was cleaned out.
About $360 were funds raised for the medical needs of the daughter of Jeff and Angie Elder, a pair of police department employees, according to the documents.
Charging documents say Shine took a polygraph test and then admitted he went into the building wearing gloves, opened the safe and took the money. They don’t indicate if it was after hours or not or offer any explanation.
Shine, who lives in Longview, was 16-year city employee with the city. He was responsible for looking over construction sites and making sure code was followed. He was terminated April 1.
He pleaded not guilty yesterday afternoon to second-degree burglary and second-degree theft.
A trial date was set for the week of June 27 in Lewis County Superior Court.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter