A supervisor for a forensic science unit within the state highway agency in Arizona is accused of stealing multiple firearm magazines and other accessories from the department.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced Tuesday afternoon that Todd Colston Whittard, 52, was arrested Monday on charges of fraudulent schemes and artifices, theft, attempted theft, and forgery.

Col. Frank Milstead said Mr. Whittard had been an employee for 25 years, supervising the Latent Prints and Firearms Units since 2017.

He is accused of removing items from a non-evidentiary storage room, to include rifle magazines, ammunition and other firearm accessories such as a microscope or red dot. However, no firearms appear to have been taken.

A motive remains unclear.

An audit started in September 2018 after another employee in the unit reported suspicious activity.

Mr. Whittard allegedly concealed the items within his pocket or within a bag and took the items to his office. On the day of his arrest, Mr. Whittard was seen in his office with a canvas bag containing rifle magazines and ammunition taken from the storage facility.

He was later seen taking the bag from his office to his truck and then leaving the facility with them.

“Every employee with the Department is held to the highest standards and levels of public trust,” Mr. Milstead said. “This department will not accept any employee’s breach of that trust and will take swift action to ensure those employees are dealt with appropriately.”

DPS said it recovered some of the stolen items and additional items when they searched the Chandler residence of Mr. Whittard.

It is unknown exactly how many items were stolen. Records indicate the value of the items Mr. Whittard removed from DPS was $575, and the value of the items staged/concealed within his office was $965, for a total of $1,590.

“Anytime one of our employees sinks to a level that would tarnish the reputation of this venerable organization, we all feel somewhat betrayed,” Mr. Milstead said.

Mr. Whittard was released on his own recognizance with court dates May 14 and 20.