BRIDGEPORT— The former Fairfield town Chief Financial Officer accused of stealing documents related to an ongoing illegal dumping investigation plead not guilty during an arraignment Monday.
On January 15th, police said 78-year-old Robert Mayer was terminated from his position as Chief Financial Officer. The day after, in the early morning hours, Mayer, who still has an office key, reportedly entered Sullivan Independence Hall and removed several file folders containing documents belonging to the town.
Some of the files were related to the investigation of the “Fill Pile”. In August, 2019, several town employees were arrested in connection with an illegal dumping fill pile.
According to the arrest warrant, some employees noticed the files missing from Mayer’s office on January 16th and contacted police.
According the warrant, Mayer admitted he took the “work” files so that he could put together his resume to look for a new job and agreed to return them to police immediately. When asked if he was aware the files included documents from the fill pile investigation and if he realized what he did was wrong, he responded
A statement from the warrant:
“He did not think anything in the files was related to the Julian matter and maintained he was not involved at all, and did not destroy any documents or files."
Meehan Jr. said Monday his client is surprised by the charges and had no ill intentions when he grabbed the files from his office.
“He brought the documents back he has cooperated fully with them And I’m amazed he’s been charged with burglary in the third degree this is a public building,” Meehan Jr. said.
Mayer is charged with burglary in the third degree, larceny in the third degree, and tampering with evidence.
He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on March 2nd.