Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon today announced the arrest of a Town of Oyster Bay Plumbing Inspector on charges of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, Issuing a False Certificate and Official Misconduct. A town worker is accused of filing a false plumbing inspection report on a new home which falsely indicated the plumber of record. It's alleged that the town plumbing inspector performed the plumbing services and inspected the completed project causing a final certificate of approval of plumbing to be issued by the Town of Oyster Bay.

DA Dillon said, "In July of this year the Town of Oyster Bay fowarded a complaint to our office that they suspected that the inspector, a Huntington resident, was conducting a plumbing business and inspecting, in his official capacity, work which he had performed. The basis of the suspicions was the result of videotaped surveillance conducted on behalf of the town by a private investigation firm. The investigation revealed a pattern where the man would return to his residence and exchange his official town vehicle for a van equipped with plumbing supplies and proceed to conduct a private plumbing business. The inspector's official time sheets at the town indicate that he certified his town work day hours from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m."

The DA said during the investigation it was revealed that the inspector received nearly $20,000 to do the plumbing work at two homes under construction in Plainview. He was observed working at these locations while he was supposed to be working for the town. He later submitted documents to the town that reflected another plumber had done the work at the homes and he, as a Town Plumbing Inspector, had inspected and approved the job. The evidence indicates that the Huntington resident inspected his own plumbing work that was not performed by the plumber listed on the plumbing inspection reports.

The inspector was arrested on Nov. 19 and was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges later that day in First District Court in Hempstead. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison. The charges are merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.