Two people accused of stealing $39k from Anderson County Rescue Squad

ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — Two people have been indicted on charges accusing them of misappropriating thousands of dollars from the Anderson County Rescue Squad.

Jessica Starr Ridenour and Alexander Rule Ridenour were indicted on one count of of theft of property between $10,000 and $60,000, which is a Class C Felony, one count of conspiracy to commit theft of property between $10,000 and $60,000 and three counts of forgery between $2,500 and $10,000, which are Class D felonies.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s office released its investigative report into the case Tuesday afternoon. The report accuses Jessica Starr Ridenour and Alexander Rule Ridenour of knowingly misappropriating at least $39,310.97 between March 2021 through December 2022.

The report claims that there were 17 unauthorized checks worth a total of $35,010.97 were written from the rescue squad’s checkbook to Jessica Ridenour. The report states that she falsely documented on rescue squad check stubs that 12 of those checks were for “reimbursement, monthly vendor payments, or voided.” The report added that she did not retain or complete the required information on the check stubs.

The report continues to state that five unauthorized checks worth a total of $4,300 were written from the rescue squad’s checkbook to Alexander Ridenour. According to the report, Jessica Ridenour falsely documented on two of the check stubs that they were voided, and she did not retain check stubs for the other three.

Investigators determined that all 22 of the unauthorized checks were endorsed by the person they were written to and were then either deposited into Jessica and Alexander Ridenour’s joint bank account or cashed, the report explains.

The report also included a graph of rescue squad expenses alongside the misappropriated checks.

The comptroller’s office report also notes some deficiencies in the Anderson County Emergency and Rescue Squad board of director’s actions that contributed to the funds being misappropriated without prompt detection, including that some checks were pre-signed prior to their preparation and issuance, and the board of directors did not review and reconcile bank statements. To view the full report, click here .

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