Winter Harbor’s fire chief of the past eight years was arrested Monday after being indicted last week by a Hancock County grand jury.
Tatum McLean, 51, was indicted Friday on charges of forgery, unsworn falsification and theft by misapplication of property, according to the Hancock County district attorney’s office. The unsworn falsification charge is a misdemeanor but the forgery and theft charges are each Class C felonies.
Few details about the allegations against McLean were available Monday, but court documents suggest they are related to his former job as fire chief in the neighboring town of Gouldsboro. McLean worked part time as Gouldsboro’s fire chief and emergency medical services director until he resigned from those positions last spring to accept full-time employment in Winter Harbor as that town’s fire chief, road commissioner and facilities maintenance director, according to Winter Harbor Town Manager Cathy Carruthers.
The charges refer to attempts by McLean to “defraud or deceive another person or government” by misuse of payroll warrants and to “deceive a public servant in the performance of his/her official duties.” The alleged crimes occurred between April 7, 2021, and April 23, 2022, when he was still Gouldsboro’s fire chief. The amount of money involved is not specified but the documents indicate it is more than $1,000.
District Attorney Robert Granger declined to comment beyond confirming the indictment.
Gouldsboro town officials, including Gouldsboro Police Chief Patrick McNulty, who investigated the case, also declined to comment. Documents filed in court list 11 people, all of whom are current or former Gouldsboro officials, that McLean is not allowed to have contact with if he makes his $5,000 bail and is released from jail.
Carruthers said Monday afternoon that she was still trying to get in touch with members of Winter Harbor’s board of selectmen to tell them about McLean’s arrest.
She said the board will likely discuss McLean’s position as fire chief, road commissioner and maintenance facilities director in executive session at its regular meeting on Wednesday.
“No decision has been made,” she said about McLean’s employment status with the town.
She had no comment about his arrest or about the allegations against him.
McLean is a licensed emergency medical technician and founded Gouldsboro’s ambulance service, known as Schoodic EMS, when Ellsworth-based County Ambulance went out of business in 2018, Carruthers said. McLean also previously served as an EMT for the town of Winter Harbor, but now Winter Harbor contracts with Schoodic EMS for ambulance services, she said.
A conviction for a Class C felony can result in a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
