News report: Long Island fire chief served three years for armed robbery
Even thought its by-laws state that convicted felons can’t be active members of Long Island’s Elmont Fire Department, WNBC-TV reports its current chief, 40-year-old Robert Schriefer, spent three years in prison for a 1998 armed robbery. Both Chief Schriefer and a lawyer for the department defend Schriefer’s membership and role in the department. But the former company secretary disputes some of their claims.
Long-time readers of STATter911.com may recall that WNBC-TV and the Elmont Fire Department have tangled before. In January 2011 the TV station published concerns the department had a Confederate flag on display. The department seems to be responding to the current issue a little more swiftly and directly than the 2011 problem (Click here for 2011 story). WNBC-TV has also reported on how the Elmont Fire Department uses its money and questions about fire department drill teams.
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The felony complaint says Schriefer, then 23 years old, helped two other men steal cash from patrons of a bar while they were “armed with a handgun.”
Schriefer, a long-time volunteer firefighter whose family has served Elmont for generations, described his crime in an email to the I-Team as “a significant mistake — one that I regret deeply.”
He said volunteer firefighting has been a kind of restitution, in his eyes, to those he hurt and the larger community.
Joseph Frank, an attorney for the Elmont Fire Department, told the I-Team bylaws that provide a blanket ban on felon applications are not enforceable under state law unless the crime was arson.
