By David Fleet
Editor
Groveland Twp.- On Monday night the township board of trustees agreed to engage the Oakland County Sheriff Office to seek possible suspects following an investigation of unspecified written allegations against the Township Fire Chief Kevin Mason.
Last December, following a four month analysis by Jane Doe Investigations, that included dozens of interviews with fire department personnel and others, it was determined that each of the alleged nine charges against Mason in the letter were without foundation. The allegations listed in the anonymous letter were found to have no merit and were clearly not sent by the Groveland Township Fire Department, according to the report. The township had allocated $25,000 for the investigation in June when the letter was delivered.
The investigation was conducted by Jane Boudreau who has more than 28-years of experience in law enforcement and private investigations including the Pontiac Police Department and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office serving as deputy sheriff, deputy supervisor, substation commander, corrections sergeant, satellite services, sergeant and training sergeant. Boudreau worked in conjunction with the township attorney William Hosler.
‘The board is interested in finding out who did this,” said Jim Christopher, township trustee. “It’s important that we send a message and find out who they were and prosecute them. The investigators we have, (have) a very solid background in law enforcement and through their contacts, but on an informal basis, we have been in touch with the FBI and the Michigan State Police. We can’t go any further through those informal channels.”
Christopher requested the board approve moving forward with the Oakland County Sheriff Office who will hopefully utilize the whole gamut of possible investigation including subpoenas and fingerprinting.
“(The sheriff office) will add some legal horsepower or teeth in terms of what the county could do with true legal proceedings that we can’t do on an informal basis,” he said.