South Whitehall Man Fired then Arrested for Stealing from Company

A South Whitehall man was fired from his job at a repossession company in late October amid allegations he had stolen an Apple MacBook A1181 laptop as well as money the company kept in a coffee cup.

The employee, Timothy A. Fegely, 22, returned the laptop and some of the money the same day he was fired from Upstate Recovery LLC on Gun Club Road, Upper Nazareth Township, court records say.

But also that day, he was confronted with another allegation: He used a company credit card to pay the $141 bill on his cell phone that had been shut off.

Fegely was fired on Oct. 28, a Sunday, by the Upstate Recovery manager. An arrest warrant was approved Nov. 21 and on Sunday night, he was arraigned and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Nazareth Officer Jake Carrick, Fegely -- of 3838 Broadway -- was charged with the following:

• Access device fraud. On Oct. 19, he allegedly used a company credit card to pay his Sprint Wireless bill of $140.98.

• Two counts of theft by unlawful taking. One was for allegedly taking the laptop, with an estimated value of $1,000; the other was for allegedly taking $535 from the coffee cup. Both the laptop and the cash belonged to Upstate Recovery, according to the charges.

• Two counts of receiving stolen property, one for the laptop and one for the coffee cup money.

Carrick’s detailed complaint describes a head-spinning series of allegations and responses on Oct. 28.

For instance, Fegely at first told the Upstate Recovery manager he could not find the money or the laptop. Then he told the manager he found the money and dropped it off at her house.

But where was the laptop, she asked him. He said he had forgotten about it but would drop if off later.

Also, he had told another employee he couldn’t find the money or the laptop, but sent the employee a text message saying he found both.

The money kept in the coffee cup that Fegely dropped off totaled $360. But the manager thought there was $685 in the cup, and she later gave police three receipts for repossessed vehicles totaling $535 -- the amount Fegely was charged with taking.

Carrick was at the business when Fegely, who had told the manager as well as Upstate’s owner he had taken the laptop to an Apple store to get it fixed, finally returned the computer. The manager then found Fegely apparently had used the company credit card for his cell phone bill.

Fegely told police he had asked the other employee to tell the manager Fegely wanted to use the credit card to pay his bill and then deduct the amount from his paycheck.

The employee later told police Fegely had never asked him to convey the credit card request to the manager.

Fegely was arraigned by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township.