East Lyme — Former Fire Marshal Christopher T. Taylor, who resigned last month and was then charged with larceny, stole more than $13,000 from the New London County Fire Marshal’s Association over the last three years, according to his arrest warrant.

Taylor, 45, of 9 Monticello Drive was charged last week with second-degree larceny. He was released on a $25,000 bond and is due in New London Superior Court on Nov. 13.

According to the warrant, Taylor has been the town’s fire marshal since 2018, and worked the prior 14 years as the deputy fire marshal. He served with the Montville Fire Department for five years before that.

Taylor has no prior criminal history or arrests, the warrant said.

The allegation came to light on Oct. 1 after Joseph Lombardi, a state trooper and president of the New London County Fire Marshal’s Association brought the larceny allegations to state police.

Lombardi told police that Taylor, the association's treasurer, had made 157 unauthorized transactions in varying increments, totaling $13,339, from the association’s account from January 2016 until July 2019.

According to the warrant, there were five unauthorized transactions made in 2016 totaling $297.40; 44 unauthorized transactions made in 2017 totaling $3,800.73; 58 unauthorized transactions made in 2018 totaling $6,431.31; and 50 unauthorized transactions in 2019 totaling $2,809.67.

The fire marshals' association is comprised of about 50 fire officials and investigators through the state of Connecticut, with the heaviest representation working in New London County. The association’s executive board is comprised of Lombardi, who is its president and secretary, Waterford Fire Marshal Peter Schlink, who is its vice president, and Taylor, who was the association’s treasurer the past 8 years.

The association collects money from annual member dues and hosting education seminars. The money, which is kept in an account at the local branch of Bank of America and was accessible by Taylor through a debit card in his name, is partly used to award a scholarship to a college student pursuing a degree relating to public safety.

On Oct 10, the same day he submitted his resignation with the town, Taylor admitted to state police that he took money from the association's account for the last five years. He said the association made around $3,000 in annual profits.

Taylor told police that he had been struggling with money after having been divorced twice and needing to pay alimony and child support.

“I make approximately $68,000 a year as a full-time fire marshal,” Taylor told police. “And after paying support, I don’t have much money left.”

Taylor said that about five years ago, “I needed lunch and did not have any money,” he said. “I made the decision to use the debit card given to me by the association. I had every intention of paying the money back, but never did. I knew it was wrong. However, I kept using the debit card.”

Taylor said he used the card to “buy groceries, pay money I owed people, pay bills, and such.” He told police that he was extremely “remorseful” and was willing to cash out his 401K to pay back the money.

On Oct. 1, Lombardi told police that he discovered Taylor had been taking money from the association’s account after realizing last spring that Taylor's treasurer reports seemed “inconsistent and incomplete.”

Lombardi said that last spring he and Schlink met with the association’s past president Richard Morris, who is also East Lyme’s former fire marshal, to express their concerns about the reports. Morris then suggested that Lombardi conduct an internal audit of expenses from the past several years.

According to the warrant, Lombardi then met with Taylor to talk about the reports. Taylor then agreed that an audit was in order and explained that he would request bank statements for the past several years, gather receipts and documentation, and he would contact Lombardi and Schlink when the documents were ready for review.

Lombardi told police that after several months without Taylor bringing any records forward, he and Schlink attempted to contact Taylor about the records. Taylor then seemed to become “despondent” and did not respond to their message. Around that time, Taylor also went on “an indefinite leave of absence” from his position with the town for an “undisclosed medical condition.”

Lombardi told police that he, Schlink and Morris worried that Taylor’s sudden medical condition was possibly brought on by the association’s audit request.

After obtaining bank records around Oct. 1, Lombardi said it was immediately apparent that the account reflected “activity outside of the normal business of the Association,” such as ATM cash withdrawals.

Lombardi told police that after he discovered Taylor had been taking money from the account, Taylor approached him, Schlink and Morris “teary eyed” and “visibly upset.” Taylor told them he was sorry for taking the money and used the account when he was “short on cash.”

Taylor also told the three men that he had had a nervous breakdown, had recently attempted suicide and was currently undergoing therapy for the stress of having to face the fact the thefts had been discovered.

Taylor offered to resign from his fire marshal position and pay back the association in exchange for not being arrested.

Lombardi told police that he, Schlink and Morris had asked Taylor to “continue down his road to recovery and deal with the consequences on another day.”

m.biekert@theday.com