Video captures former public works director filling personal pickup with Merriam fuel

Recently released video recorded over the span of about a year captured former Merriam Public Works Director Randall L. Carroll filling his personal pickup truck with gas from a city fuel truck.

In 18 video clips obtained by The Star from Merriam on Wednesday, Carroll was caught filling his truck with fuel. In some instances, he hoses off the floor and his truck.

Merriam Public Works foreman Randy Fine had set up the camera when he became suspicious after noticing fuel was missing from the truck.

The camera captured Carroll, who was Fine’s supervisor, filling up his truck multiple times from October 2014 to September 2015.

At one point, Fine reportedly disconnected power to the fuel truck to make it more difficult to get gas. In one of the videos, Carroll can be seen lifting the hood of the fuel truck to reconnect wires to get fuel.

Merriam fired Carroll in September 2015. He had worked for the city for more than 30 years.

Carroll, 62, of Olathe, pleaded guilty in Johnson County District Court in May 2016 to a felony charge of official misconduct. At the time, he admitted that he had taken steps to conceal the theft of fuel that belonged to the city.

A second charge of theft was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

At his sentencing, Carroll was granted 18 months of probation, conditioned upon him paying the city $850 in restitution. The court ended his probation in April, according to court documents.

Carroll could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

KSHB-41 had requested the videos in July under the Kansas Open Records Act. The city however, had rejected the request, saying it was part of Carroll’s personnel file and not subject to disclosure.

The TV station sued the city in Johnson County court for release of the videos. The court ruled in the station’s favor in April, saying the videos were public records and subject to disclosure without exception.

Merriam City Administrator Chris Engel said the city has implemented changes to prevent such thefts from occurring again, including adding meters to measure fuel use.

“Had those been in place at the time, they would have sent up red flags,” Engel said.

Engel wouldn’t comment on Fine’s actions specifically but said any employee who sees wrongdoing or misuse of public funds should be celebrated for bringing it to light.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Video captures former public works director filling personal pickup with Merriam fuel."