Update: FBI Takes Files, Computer from Middlebury Fire Department

Several FBI Agents were at the Middlebury Fire Department Thursday morning removing boxes of files and the computer the department uses to manage the company’s finances.

Middlebury Fire Chief Paul Perrotti said agents came to the station Thursday after a complaint was made charging malfeasance and misuse of department funds.

“The FBI came and took a bunch of files,” as well as the computer the department uses to do their banking, he said, adding that they “complied 100 percent” with the investigation.

Perrotti said he was not given any advanced notice that the FBI was coming.

Special Agent Daniel Curtin of the FBI New Haven office confirmed that federal agents were at the Middlebury Fire Department Thursday “working in support of an ongoing investigation,” but declined to comment further on why they were in Middlebury or the direction of the investigation.

First Selectman Edward St. John — a former Middlebury Fire Chief himself — said he was made aware of the FBI's presence at the fire station after the fact but didn't know it was going to happen.

"I have no idea what brought [the FBI] here but we'll see the investigation through," St. John said Thursday.

"I totally support our fire department — they provide an invaluable service to the community," he added. "We're going to cooperate fully with the investigation and we'll just have to see what comes of it."