He literally dropped his keys on my desk, turned and walked out. I haven’t seen him since.”

Portsmouth Town Administrator Richard Rainer Jr., on Timothy Dunbar, former recreation director

PORTSMOUTH — Town Administrator Richard Rainer Jr. said he didn’t suspect anything untoward when he first heard of potential irregularities in the gate receipts for town-owned Sandy Point Beach.

But when Recreation Director Timothy Dunbar abruptly quit Sept. 6 after being questioned about the reported financial discrepancies, the administrator said he started having suspicions that something was wrong.

Mr. Dunbar, 42, of 969 West Main Road, Apt. 8502, Middletown, was arrested by Portsmouth Police Saturday and charged with two counts of embezzlement by a public official, six counts of obtaining money under false pretenses, and six counts of providing a false document to a public official/employer. The investigation revealed Mr. Dunbar had embezzled cash from the funds of the recreation department as well as submitted time sheets for six occasions at a time when he was not working, police said.

Mr. Dunbar, the town’s former part-time recreation director, turned himself into the police station and was later arraigned by a justice of the peace. He was released on $5,000 with surety bail and his formal arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 9, according to Deputy Police Chief Brian Peters.

“Right now we’re looking like a little over $2,000 for the embezzlement, but it’s an ongoing investigation,” Deputy Chief Peters said Monday.

Mr. Rainer said he first heard of a potential problem with the books when he arrived to work one morning early in September.

“I had just come into work right after Labor Day and (Administrative Assistant) Barbara (Ripa) said she had heard some rumblings that there was a problem with the beach receipts,” Mr. Rainer said Monday. “But I didn’t think there was any malfeasance and figured it was just a really busy weekend. I walked over to finance and they said yeah, we need to look at them because the numbers don’t really add up.”

The administrator said he met with Mr. Dunbar and they chit-chatted about various recreation programs in town. 

“We were talking about after-school and winter programs and whether he was going to keep the beach open that weekend. Then I asked him if he would come by (the following) morning and clear up the beach receipts,” Mr. Rainer said.

Dropped his keys

Mr. Dunbar left the administrator’s office and returned 45 minutes later, Mr. Rainer said. 

“He said, ‘I’m calling it quits,’” the administrator said.

Mr. Rainer said he initially thought Mr. Dunbar meant he wouldn’t be opening Sandy Point Beach that weekend. But the recreation director indicated he was quitting his job altogether, he said.

“He literally dropped his keys on my desk, turned and walked out. I haven’t seen him since,” said Mr. Rainer, adding that abrupt resignation “raised a level of suspicion” in his mind.

“I asked HR and the finance director to look at the accounts and let me know if it was something we needed to investigate further, and they did. Then I turned it over to police,” Mr. Rainer said.

Mr. Dunbar, who had been working at Sandy Point Beach during the summer in one capacity or another for more than 25 years, was a mathematics teacher at Durfee High School in Fall River until his retirement in June.

New director sought

Mr. Dunbar quit just before a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Brown House at Glen Farm. The historic town-owned farmhouse will be the future headquarters for the Recreation Department.

The town advertised for a new recreation director and received “many applications” by the cutoff date at the end of last month, Mr. Rainer said. 

“We had a lot, but I think we’ve narrowed it down to five people,” he said.

Those candidates will probably be interviewed this week, with a new director possibly chosen by Wednesday, Nov. 15, he said.