TOWANDA, Pa. — The former Bradford County coroner has been arrested.
Tom Carman, 55, was led into the state police barracks in Towanda in handcuffs Wednesday morning. He was charged with theft.
State police said Carman stole more than $400,000 from Western Alliance Ambulance Service while he was the CEO.
Carman was led into the state police barracks in Towanda in handcuffs, arrested on charges of theft for stealing more than $430,000 from Western Alliance Emergency Services, where he was the CEO from 2000 to 2019.
He was also elected as the Bradford County coroner during the same time. The coroner's office was connected to the business until recently.
Officials with Western Alliance say they noticed the numbers weren't right with the banking and account records, and an audit was launched for information from 2014 to 2019. Carman resigned as CEO in March of 2019 but continued with his county coroner position.
During the audit, investigators say it was discovered that Carman had used the money for things such as events, restaurants, clothing, and attorney fees for a DUI arrest in 2016.
Rodney Decker, the current CEO of Western Alliance Emergency Services, was shocked to hear Carman was arrested and the amount of money that was stolen.
"Really, you wouldn't have known anything was going on. Our day-to-day operations were just regular day-to-day operations, so when the investigation had been going on, and I was talking to them on the phone, and they were here obviously talking to me, that it was a significant amount of money, but I didn't know it was that significant."
Carman is locked up in the Bradford County jail on $175,000 cash bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 11.
Carman submitted his resignation as Bradford County coroner late last month after video was posted online by Musa Harris, known as the "Luzerne County predator catcher."
The video shows Carman allegedly trying to meet up with someone who was posing online as a 15-year-old boy for sex.