A Pennsylvania fire chief was arrested on New Year’s Day for allegedly defrauding volunteer fire departments in Baltimore County out of tens of thousands of dollars, police said.

The fire chief, Darrell Eugene Cornett Jr., was taken into custody by the Liberty Township Police at his fire station, the Greenmount Community Fire Department, according to a release from police.

Cornett is being held at the Adams County Prison in Pennsylvania and is awaiting extradition to Baltimore County, the release said.

Baltimore County has had a warrant out for Cornett’s arrest since Sept. 16, 2025, for two pending charges of theft, according to the warrant.

A Baltimore County detective found that the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company paid Cornett $10,189.98 to buy and install radio headsets in September 2024, and the Glyndon Volunteer Fire Company had paid him $4,272.12 in May 2024 to do the same. But after the two fire stations paid Cornett, he stopped responding to them, according to a statement of charges.

The company that Cornett did business through was called First Response Emergency Lighting LLC, the documents said. He worked with various first responders for equipment needs.

A subpoena of the bank account where the fire stations’ checks were deposited showed debit card transactions in 2024 for Amazon, OnlyFans, Sam’s Club and other food vendors. The detective also found that there were ATM cash withdrawals as well.

Investigators in Pennsylvania had also looked into Cornett’s business dealings and allegedly found nearly a dozen other victims who had a totaled loss of over $100,000 in payments to Cornett, the court documents said.

Other potential victims named in court documents include the Hampstead Volunteer Fire Company, the Taneytown Police Department and the Manchester Volunteer Fire Company, which are based in Carroll County.

Other companies in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island were also named in court documents, though Cornett’s pending charges only include money defrauded from Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company and Glyndon Volunteer Fire Company.

Trae Corbin, a spokesperson with the Baltimore County Police Department, said Cornett has not been formally charged as he awaits extradition to the county.