The treasurer of the Akron firefighters union has been charged with felony theft and is in jail in North Carolina, arrested as he fled Akron after the charges were filed on Thursday.
Joe Ruhlin, 40, treasurer of Local 330, is accused of stealing perhaps as much as $100,000 from the union. The exact figure has not been determined because the union and investigators have just begun combing the books.
Ruhlin left a suicide note at his house and was reportedly driving to Florida when he was picked up near Charlotte, N.C., early Friday morning.
He is in custody at the Mecklenburg County Jail and is scheduled to have an extradition hearing on Monday.
Union President Russ Brode said the charges were filed after Ruhlin was confronted with discrepancies in the union’s bank accounts and books that he could not explain.
“First of all,” Brode said Saturday afternoon, “I want to make it clear anything that’s been misappropriated is from Local 330. It has nothing to do with the city of Akron.”
Authorities were able to locate Ruhlin by locking in on his cellphone. The arrest came as he was sitting in his car not long after midnight on Friday.
Brode, a lieutenant in the department, was stunned by the turn of events.
“Joe’s been our treasurer for six years, and I consider him one of my very good friends,” he said.
“This is a huge shock to not only myself but our entire local, our entire fire department. And I’m sure it’s a huge shock to all of his family and friends.”
Ruhlin is married and has two children.
Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards said the investigation is in its infancy and that investigators haven’t even gotten the union’s books yet.
He confirmed that Ruhlin left a note but doesn’t know what it said. The department’s first priority, Edwards said, was locating Ruhlin.
Meanwhile, Brode insisted that his Local 330 members won’t miss a beat.
“I want to make sure that the citizens know that this in no way is going to detract from the job that our members do on a daily basis. The great job that they do is going to continue every single day.
“And on this end, we’re going to handle it through the legal process and keep our members informed, and we’re going to come through this and regroup and hopefully come out stronger than we were before.”
Akron and Summit County court records show no significant previous charges against Ruhlin. He rang up four minor traffic violations from 1997 to 1999, three of them stemming from one crash.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.