BAY MINETTE, Ala. – What began as an act of concern may turn into criminal charges, after District 2 Bay Minette City Councilman Mike Phillips moved a fire truck without authority.

Phillips said he had been dining at Streets restaurant and was leaving when he noticed one of the Bay Minette fire trucks parked in the parking lot.

“I was just going to look and see what kind of condition it was in, but when I pulled the handle and the door opened, the buzzer went off because the keys were still in it,” Phillips said.

He said the truck was parked where it was hidden from the view of patrons sitting inside the restaurant, including the driver and occupants, and included paramedic gear and supplies.

“I was worried about all that stuff in there and no one able to see it,” Phillips said. “So I got in and moved the truck around to the side window where it could be seen. I didn’t think anything else about it.”

But the firefighters and their boss, Fire Chief Phil Bryars, did think about it, and not in a favorable way.

“Phil called me yesterday and said the guys were real upset about me moving it,” Phillips said. “He said state law requires emergency vehicles to be left unlocked with the keys in them.”

Phillips said he will look into the law, and should it be correct, he said some new policies may need to be implemented.

Phillips said he then got a call from a broadcast news crew asking about the incident and implying that the councilman had taken the truck for a joy ride for about 20 minutes, and informed him the district attorney was investigating.

“I wasn’t in that truck two minutes at most, and I only moved it five or six spaces. I didn’t even get it on the highway,” Phillips said.

As for the investigation, Phillips said he has only heard about it from the news crew and is waiting to see what happens.

“I guess I should have followed other avenues, but the fire chief was out sick. I did not mean to do anything wrong. I’ll just have to deal with whatever happens,” he said.

Bryars and Bay Minette Police Chief Michael Rowland could not be reached at press time.

For an updated story, check Wednesday’s The Baldwin Times.