PHOENIX (CBS5) -
He was dining out and paying bills - all on the state's dime. We're talking about a former sergeant with the Arizona Department of Transportation. He racked up more than $2,000, but it cost him his job.
A payroll employee with ADOT started noticing the purchases. The sergeant admitted to using the state travel card to pay bills, but the price he ultimately paid was his job.
"Put plainly, this is unacceptable from an ethical standpoint," said Timothy Tait from ADOT.
He told us former sergeant Scott Grissom racked up a hefty bill on his state travel card between January and February of this year.
"It was about $2,000 in personal purchases and the employee had stopped paying the bill for a number of months," Tait said.
According to AZPOST, the state agency that grants and revokes officer's certifications, Grissom made 54 purchases for bills and meals. Tait said that's against their credit card use policy, but claims taxpayers were never on the hook.
"They're personally responsible for the charges they put on these cards," Tait said. "The cards are taken out in their names and the bills are sent to their home addresses."
"I was in the middle of a divorce and had no other way of purchasing things," Grissom told us over the phone.
He said he no longer lives in Arizona, but knows he made a mistake.
"I mean, I'm not going to lie, I made personal choices with the credit card but I've had full intent of taking care of it," Grissom said.
He resigned at the end of August this year and said he will not fight AZPOST if they decide to revoke his certification.
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