Video Shows Tinsley Taking Cash; First Selectman Calls Clip Misleading

After news surfaced that newly elected First Selectman Bill Tinsley was facing criminal charges in Vermont — accused of stealing approximately $500 while working part-time at a Ludlow liquor store — the store owner stated he had video evidence of the act.

The video [posted above] shows Tinsley making a deposit into the store safe at the end of the night on Feb. 17, 2012. Before depositing the envelopes, Tinsley is seen taking four bills out of the purse and putting them into his pocket.

Brewfest Beverage Co. manager Michael Bailey said the clip is the clearest piece of evidence against Tinsley — as he did not know about the infrared camera above the safe — and computer system records show an attempt to hide discrepancies.

“There’s an assumption being made that what I was taking out was not mine,” Tinsley said Wednesday, stating that he would make change for the register when necessary throughout the day, sometimes from his own wallet.
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Tinsley pleads 'no contest' in Vermont, maintains innocence.
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“Sometimes people came in with cash and I ran out of singles,” he said. The video footage shown is “me reimbursing myself — I believe it’s about $7 or $8.”

“Ask anyone with a retail business — that happens all the time,” he said.

Tinsley asserted that the short video clip does not tell the whole story, as it doesn’t show him taking money from his pocket to make change for customers.

“That little snippet by itself is nothing,” he said. “And it doesn’t portray what he [Bailey] says it does.”

With the case closed and the record set to be expunged after 11 months, Tinsley is looking to put this behind him and begin the work of the town as First Selectman.

“When I went up [to the Vermont courthouse] on that Tuesday [Nov. 26] it was to end it,” Tinsley said of the 22-month trial. “The court is satisfied with the deal, the record will be expunged and it’s time to move forward.”

“He [Bailey] is an angry man. I’m angry too,” Tinsley said of being accused. “He’s angry at me but I am not the source of his anger.”

“I am sorry that Brookfield has had to go through this experience,” Bailey said after the case was closed. “Bill Tinsley has stated in the press that I am an angry man. He is mistaken.”

Bailey said he came forward with information about the charges “because I felt it my duty to do so, not as an effort to harm him personally. I feel sorry for him and especially for his family but that does not supersede the needs of your community to have the information.”

“Had he [Tinsley] not sought public office I would not have come forward with the information,” Bailey said. “Had he stepped down I would not have released the video.”