UPDATE: School District Employee Arrested for Stealing Gas

Richard "Scott" Salet, a Tracy resident employed by the school district since 2002, was scheduled to appear in criminal court Tuesday for the first time since his arrest. He did not enter a plea but is expected to do so on the next scheduled court date, April 21.

Police with seven counts of embezzlement for allegedly taking gas from the corp yard on Roger Street. The police report, based on an internal investigation conducted by the school district, indicates Salet may have used his employee gas card to fill up his own car on several occasions dating back to 2009. 

Fuel reports recorded when Salet pumped the gas and the amount in gallons. The district estimated the loss to be about $2,872. A security camera was installed in January and recorded seven of the 52 occasions he is suspected of taking gas. The security tapes, recorded after Salet was out receiving workers compensation benefits, showed he had two cars and came on weekends, outside of work hours.

The police report alleges that Salet had a key, which he was not authorized to have, that removed the padlock from the card scanner. The same key was used to take off the fuel nozzle on the gas pump.

Fuel report audits were conducted for all employees issued gas cards (in the period of January 2009 to March 2011). There were no other suspicious gas transactions, according to the police report.

Milpitas Unified conducts background checks on employees it hires, according to Cheryl Jordan, assistant superintendent of human resources. There are certain crimes in which school districts cannot hire (the list of crimes are outlined in Ed. Code 44346.1 and 44424). At the same time, the district cannot discriminate against hiring, for example, for a misdemeanor for driving with a suspected or revoked license and a traffic infraction, which Salet was charged with in 2001.

Salet has no felonies, but he does have 13 court cases (not necessarily convictions) in the Santa Clara County Superior Court system dating back to 1987, all misdemeanors. Many of the case files have been destroyed, according to the court records clerks.