A felony theft charge has been filed against the Orange County emergency management director in connection with writing nearly $17,000 in hot checks to pay for installation of drywall.
The charge was filed Monday by the Vidor Police Department through the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 office against 34-year-old Ralph Vincent Valenciano.
In the affidavit of probable cause, Vidor Detective James Blankenship said two men from Gutierrez Drywall of Lufkin came to him complaining that Valenciano wrote four checks totaling $16,880 for five completed jobs. The man had contacted the company several months ago to do the work.
Detective Blankenship said the checks were returned for insufficient funds after the company deposited them in a Lufkin bank. The company sent a request for payment through certified mail, but Valenciano did not send any more money.
The detective contacted Valenciano on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 21. He said Valenciano assured him he would transfer the money to the Gutierrez bank account by 5 p.m. the next day.
On the afternoon of Monday, February 26, the men from Gutierrez Drywall went back to the Vidor Police Department and the money still wasn’t there. They told the detective they wanted to file charges.
Brint Carlton, oversees the Emergency Management Department as the County Judge, read a prepared statement during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting. He said Valenciano would be placed on administrative leave with pay. “The Orange County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, Mr. Leon George, will be the acting Orange County Emergency Management Coordinator until further notice,” Carlton stated.
On Wednesday, Valenciano turned in his resignation.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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