City Employee Charged With Theft of Tools From Golf Course

A groundskeeper at the Flatirons Golf Course is facing criminal charges and been terminated from city employment as a result of a police investigation into stolen tools.

Steven Toney, who was hired in a standard role at the city-owned golf course in 2019 after several seasons of temporary work, was issued a court summons on Oct. 24 for allegedly stealing two sets of tools and then attempting to pawn them. The charges are theft and providing false information to a pawnbroker.

Toney was also placed on leave and given an opportunity to participate in a due process hearing to consider his status as a city employee on Nov. 2. He was terminated from employment that afternoon.

According to a police report, the tool sets were first noticed missing from the equipment shop on March 6. Boulder police were contacted and opened a case on Oct. 19, after the tool sets were spotted at EZ Pawn in Lafayette. Both sets contained a tool with distinguishing damage, causing them to be easily identifiable as those missing from the golf course.

Further investigation revealed that Toney had brought the sets to the pawnshop, along with some other tools that did not belong to the city. A receipt shows he received $200 for all the items.

Once notified that the tool sets were stolen, the pawnshop set them aside and will return them to police as evidence. Eventually, they will be returned to the golf course.

“This is a very unfortunate and rare incident,” City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said. “We entrust city employees to be responsible stewards of all equipment related to their jobs and more importantly, of our credibility and trust with our taxpaying community. While Mr. Toney is, of course, entitled to a fair trial, the reported behavior is not consistent with our city value of integrity. I appreciate Human Resources, Parks and Recreation and the Police Department for taking the necessary steps in this case.”