Firefighter charged in HD looting case

A 25-year-old firefighter was charged with misdemeanor theft In Joplin, Mo., for allegedly looting a Home Depot store after a tornado destroyed the building, according to an article in the Joplin Globe. 

Matthew Page was one of three firefighters dismissed June 9 by the town of Baxter Springs, Kan., for alleged misconduct during the emergency response to the tornado. But Joplin authorities said they only had enough evidence to charge one of the suspects.

Documents filed in Page's case allege that the firefighters took a chain saw, a gas-powered trimmer, a garden hose and wrenches from the store while on duty and engaged in the emergency response to the tornado.

Prosecutors valued the merchandise at approximately $245, short of the $500 threshold for the filing of a felony theft charge. All of the alleged stolen goods have been recovered except for the chain saw, which has not yet been not included in the charges.   

Page supposedly confessed to the theft to detectives, according to the newspaper.