New Jersey firefighter shoplifts $7.98, loses job [View all]

ATLANTIC CITY - A New Jersey firefighter will lose his $78,096-a-year job after being convicted of shoplifting $7.98 worth of items.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a Superior Court judge in Atlantic County denied Ashton Funk’s appeal of a lower court ruling on Thursday. He’s required to forfeit his jobs as a firefighter and lifeguard.

Funk wasn’t on-duty as a Margate firefighter or member of the beach patrol at the time of the offense in August 2015. But prosecutors wanted him dismissed from the job he’s held since 2011, saying a public employee is subject to dismissal if convicted of an offense involving dishonesty.

Prosecutors say Funk passed two long lines at a Wawa convenience store then left without paying for sunflower seeds, a breakfast sandwich, Gatorade and coffee.

Read more: http://www.app.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2016/12/15/nj-firefighter-shoplifts-loses-job/95502578/