Liberty County fire marshal arrested, accused of stealing cheese and croissants from crashed truck

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Three members of the Liberty County Fire Marshal's Office are out on bond following an investigation by the Texas Rangers where they have been accused of committing crimes on the job.

William "Bill" Hergemueller, 63, is charged with official oppression, tampering/fabricating physical evidence, tampering with a government record, and theft of property. He is listed as the fire marshal for the county and the coordinator for Liberty County's Office of Emergency Management. Hergemueller also serves as a firefighter with the Highway 321 Volunteer Fire Department.

Erskine "Nat" Holcomb, 64, is charged with tampering with a government record and theft of property. He is a deputy fire marshal and the chief of the Cypress Lakes Volunteer Fire Department.

Jesse McGraw, 49, is charged with tampering with a government record and tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair. He is also a deputy fire marshal and assistant chief of the Highway 321 Volunteer Fire Department.

According to their arrest affidavits, none of the men held the proper licenses to conduct the duties of their jobs with the fire marshal's office.

"Employees within the Fire Marshal's Office did not have any TCFP state licenses to perform fire inspections, approve plans and permits or to perform fire investigations," according to the court document.

Still, the men conducted fire inspections on the county jail, schools, businesses, gas stations, and daycares, according to the document and signed certificates of occupancy.

They also conducted criminal fire investigations where they seized evidence, officials say.

Court records also accuse Hergemueller and Holcomb of stealing from crash scenes, including one fatal crash.

On Dec. 19, 2022, an 18-wheeler overturned in a ditch off of US-59 in Liberty County. Hergemueller and Holcomb, along with other members of their hazmat company, made the scene. They are accused of punching a hole in the diesel tank of the 18-wheeler and siphoning the fuel into a 55-gallon drum in the bed of their hazmat vehicle.

Additionally, the 18-wheeler carried frozen items, such as duck meat, high-end cheese, croissants, butter, and venison.

"After draining the saddle tank of the 18-wheeler, (Hergemueller) and approximately three other members of his hazmat company proceeded to unload product from the trailer of the 18-wheeler and put it into their own vehicles to keep for personal use," the affidavit states.

Less than a year later, Hergemueller, Holcomb, and other members of the hazmat company responded to a fatal crash where the driver of a box truck was killed on FM 787. The arrest affidavit said the men were let onto the scene with first responders because of their positions with the fire marshal's office.

"While on the scene, at the request of (Hergemueller), Asst. Chief Holcomb took a 6-foot large aluminum ramp belonging to the owner of the box truck and placed it into the bed of (Hergemueller's) vehicle," the arrest affidavit states.

They are also accused of taking a bumper cover and rims that were part of the box truck's load.

All three men are listed on the nonprofit South Liberty County Hazardous Materials Team, which is contracted to Liberty County, according to the arrest affidavit.

Hergemueller, who is identified as the chief of the Hazmat team, is accused of wearing his county fire marshal's attire to scenes to gain early access for their Hazmat operations, which were separate from his role as fire marshal. In court records, he is also accused of using his position to convince towing services that they must pay his hazmat company a fee to operate in Liberty County.

"The owners of the towing services have paid the (Hergemueller) and his hazmat company several thousand dollars over time," the arrest affidavit reads.

All three men were booked into jail on Monday and released the same day. ABC13 reached out to all three men for comment but did not hear back.

ABC13 asked Liberty County Judge Jay Knight's office for comment and the employment status of the men, but they declined to comment and have not gotten back about their employment status.

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