Down the Drain may yield criminal probe

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - TRANSCRIPT FROM TARGET 12 INVESTIGATORS EXCLUSIVE "DOWN THE DRAIN" - PART 3

Tonight, new information in our Target 12 Investigators' probe of the Providence Sewer Department, that shows your tax dollars going "down the drain."

Providence Mayor David Cicilline is reacting to our findings and he's not only calling for potential firings, but a criminal investigation as well.

During this week's taping of NewsMakers, Mayor Cicilline told us he has asked the Providence Police Department to look into the possibility of criminal charges surrounding the use of a backhoe to work on a foreman's house.

Cicilline couldn't be more clear.

"Claiming you are at work when you're not, taking city property. If those allegations are true, of course they should be fired without question," Cicilline said.

Those "allegations" made in a Target 12 Investigation into the city sewer department. Our undercover unit caught workers running personal errands with city trucks, outside Providence and even the state - all against city policy.

We even caught a backhoe delivering a load of sand to a foreman’s house and doing work. All on the taxpayer's dime.

"They are suspended pending the completion of that investigation underway," added Cicilline.

The two men are suspended without pay.

In a new development - the mayor asked the Providence Police to examine our findings; both for the use of city equipment for personal gain and for what our cameras caught when sewer department supervisor Algot Abrahamson took a city truck to a social club. A place that's been raided several times for illegal gambling.

"I don't gamble, I buy those cups of coffee," said Algot Abrahamson, Providence Sewer Department supervisor.

Abrahamson has not been suspended, but Target 12 has learned our undercover video has sparked an internal investigation at the Department of Public Works. Abrahamson has been disciplined in the past for bringing a city truck to the social club.

"The most despicable thing about the kind of thing that is described in that video is that I don't want people to reflect on the balance of city employees who do their job and do it well," Cicilline said.

According to police, a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office has been assigned to the case.

You can count on the Target 12 Investigators to keep on top of developments.

If you see government waste you'd like to report, click here to contact the Target 12 Investigators.