The former Bar Nunn fire chief is accused of stealing from the department, including taking money raised during a Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser.
Robert William Hoover, 56, also is accused of making unauthorized purchases with a fire department bank card and selling a side-by-side to the department for more than $1,000 above its value.
Hoover made his initial appearance Thursday in Casper Circuit Court. He’s charged with two counts of theft and one count of credit card fraud, all felonies, as well as official misconduct and interference, both misdemeanors.
Charges stem from a three-month Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Hoover’s conduct following a Bar Nunn firefighter who also is a Wyoming Highway Patrol employee raising concerns with the about a phone call he was on with other firefighters, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
The phone call involved a discussion about a Labor Day 2024 MDA Fill the Boot fundraiser where Hoover initially reported raising $7,327, then sent a check to MDA for $4,667.
An affidavit filed by NCSO Cpl. Kenneth Jividen shows that in a series of interviews with members of the volunteer fire department, including Hoover’s daughter and son-in-law, that Hoover had established a separate bank account for the fire department from the city and handled the department’s finances alone or with his daughter and son-in-law.
The fire department is listed as a 501(c)3 nonprofit established as Bar Nunn Volunteer Fire Department Mutual Benefit Corp. filed Aug. 4, 2023, according to state records. Hoover is listed as the registered agent.
Side-By-Side Sale
The investigation also uncovered that Hoover allegedly sold a Polaris Rzr 800 side-by-side to the department for $5,000.
A captain in the department told him that it was not needed because the department already owned one, the affidavit says. He said he told Hoover he did not agree with the purchase. A later estimate of the value of the machine, which had damage to it, by a Casper firm put its worth at between $3,500 to $4,000.
“(The captain) explained that the BNFD had their own bank account that was not controlled or accessed by the town of Bar Nunn,” Jividen wrote in the affidavit. “Hoover was the person who oversaw the bank account for BNFD.”
The affidavit states that in a September 2024 business meeting of the fire department, Hoover reported raising the $7,327 for the MDA. That figure was recorded by a firefighter taking notes for the meeting and confirmed in interviews.
However, when a Bar Nunn firefighter contacted the MDA for a receipt, it showed it received just $4,667.
During an interview about the matter, Hoover initially denied supplying an exact figure at the business meeting, the affidavit states. He alleged that there was no formal process for counting the money and that he just took it all to the bank to be counted.
However, bank video showed him arriving with bills neatly stacked and rubber bands around them. He brought no coins to the bank, the affidavit says.
Interviews with his daughter and son-in-law initially stated that after the boot fundraiser, the money was taken to the fire department to be counted, and they helped Hoover count it, Jividen wrote. His daughter would later tell investigators that her dad asked her to lie and that the money was actually counted at his house.
Bank Folder In Hand
When deputies first arrived to interview Hoover, he was working his maintenance job in Bar Nunn.
The affidavit states deputies never contacted him prior about the subject of the interview, but he showed up to the interview with a folder of the fire department’s bank account.
After first stating he took all the money to the bank and never counted it, Hoover when confronted with evidence that he had not taken coins, and that the bills were neatly stacked, blamed his daughter and son-in-law for organizing the money.
Hoover said it was possible they took the missing $2,660, the affidavit states.
Hoover would later claim he found boots with the coins in them from the MDA fundraiser during the week of Nov. 10-16. The coins he turned over were worth $495.43.
The affidavit states Jividen confronted him about it appearing that he was going to keep the coins.
“Wasn’t going to keep the coins,” Hoover replied, as quoted in the affidavit. “Sometimes, I mean there’s been years that we’ve gone through where we’ve kept coins for the, until next year. I mean, we don’t always take the coins in (to the bank.)”
And while Hoover initially denied that anyone was responsible for counting or organizing the money in the tote, Hoover told deputies he would “pay back the missing $2,660 to the MDA.”
The three-month investigation led to a review of finance records at the fire department and the Hilltop Bank account opened in November 2023. The records show $5,500 removed from the account, a figure in line with Hoover’s statement that he sold the Polaris for to the department.
Bank Account Investigation
An investigation into the fire department’s bank account with three members of the department identified 43 expenditures that were “suspicious” totaling $20,317.15. It also identified 13 “fraudulent transactions that include:
• $75.15 for food at Chatter’s Bar and Grill on March 19, 2024.
• $49.88 for food at Charrito’s Mexican Grill on May 24, 2024.
• $237.80 at Walmart for groceries, medications, Vagisil and cleaning products.
• $5,500 cash withdrawal for the Polaris.
• $307.33 for groceries from Sam’s Club online.
• $1,376.91 from Sam’s Club online for Christmas decorations.
On May 27, 2024, Hoover bought $618.76 worth of food and supplies for a fire department barbecue, but the transaction also included a Dyson Animal 3+ $279.98 vacuum. Firefighters told investigators they never used that particular brand of vacuum.
Investigators tracked it to Hoover’s daughter’s house.
She and Hoover’s son-in-law confirmed Hoover had brought it over after hers had broken and she had borrowed her parents’ machine, according to the affidavit. She said when her dad brought the Dyson vacuum over, it had been used previously because she had to clean it. Hoover’s daughter said her dad told her she could keep it.
When questioned about it, Hoover said he taken the vacuum from the fire department to his daughter’s house. Firefighters interviewed said they had never seen that brand of vacuum in the department.
Fired From Town Positions
A statement on the Town of Bar Nunn’s website states that the charges against Hoover stem from his role as fire chief and not as head of the town’s maintenance department. Hoover also had served as a member of the town council in the past.
He has been fired from both positions.
“Bar Nunn has conducted its own internal review of the facts and circumstances leading to these allegations and is satisfied that it has fully internally responded appropriately,” the statement says. “Bar Nunn separated Mr. Hoover from his roles and employment with Bar Nunn several weeks ago and he is not currently an employee of Bar Nunn.
“Mr. Hoover has not served as a Bar Nunn town councilman for over two years. The Volunteer Fire Department and the Maintenance Department are being administered by interim department heads and there have been no interruptions in services.”
Both theft charges and the credit card felony charge against Hoover each carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines. The official misconduct charge carries a fine of up to $5,000 and the interference charge a penalty of up to one year in jail and $1,000 fine.
Bond was set at $3,000 cash or surety.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
