Friday, January 07, 2000
More bribery allegations at E-check site
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — More arrests are possible as residents continue reporting to police that they were solicited for bribes to get their vehicles passed at the Ohio E-check station in Middletown.
One inspector at Envirotest Systems Corp. on Lefferson Road was charged this week with tampering with records, a third-degree felony, after he was accused of taking $20 to approve a vehicle that had failed the emissions test. Palmer Debusk III, 20, of the 1700 block of Sheffield Street is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Middletown Municipal Court.
Since word of that incident spread, at least a half-dozen new complaints have been filed with police about employees of Envirotest, said Middletown Police Detective John Magill. “There may be other arrests and charges,” he said.
The complaints vary from people who said they were offered false papers for an extra cost to those who said they heard acquaintances brag about bribing E-check employees, Detective Magill said.
He said one teen who came forward apparently paid the extra money, then told his uncle about it. He did not realize his actions could be illegal, said Detective Magill, who was uncertain whether the teen would face charges. He declined to name the teen.
Police say that on Dec. 31, Kenneth Riley took his old truck to E-check, and was surprised when an employee told him he could bring in a car that would pass, along with paperwork for the truck plus $20, and the numbers would be switched.
Mr. Riley worked with police, who set up surveillance when he went back to Envirotest and received falsified papers from Mr. Debusk, who was not the inspector who initially suggested such a deal, Detective Magill said.
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