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A longtime city employee with 28 years of service has been charged with stealing more than $177,000 in cash fees from the Stamford Transfer Station Scale House over a 14-month period, according to court documents filed in Stamford Superior Court.

David Bruce Johnson, 61, of Stamford, faces one count of Larceny in the First Degree (CGS § 53a-122) and one count of Forgery in the Second Degree (CGS § 53a-139). The charges stem from an internal city investigation that began in March 2026 after discrepancies were discovered in scale house records.

Johnson worked as the Permit Clerk and supervisor at the Scale House, located at the city’s Recycling and Sanitation center on Harbor View Drive. In that role, he and two cashiers (Robert Faugno and Jashayla “Shayla” Daye) weighed commercial and private vehicles, collected cash disposal fees, recorded transactions in the PC Scale software system, maintained a daily ledger, prepared deposit slips, and were responsible for making bank deposits at Bank of America. The totals were later reconciled with the city’s Oracle accounting system.

According to the 8-page affidavit supporting the arrest warrant:

• Discrepancies first surfaced when city officials noticed no cash deposits or Oracle journal entries from the scale house had been recorded since mid-January 2026.
• Faugno reported forged initials on deposit slips — including one dated Nov. 17, 2025, that appeared to bear his signature even though he was assigned elsewhere (leaf pickup operations in north Stamford) at the time.
• A detailed review of scale house ledgers, deposit slips, and actual bank records revealed systematic shortfalls. Johnson allegedly skimmed off daily cash deposits on 230 out of 349 days the facility was open between Jan. 15, 2025, and March 12–13, 2026.
• Investigators determined the total amount stolen was $177,256.59.

During a March 23, 2026 interview at Stamford Police headquarters, Johnson admitted to the theft, telling detectives he began taking money because of mounting gambling losses on FanDuel. He reportedly started small, taking money "out of the deposit" around August–October 2025 and it escalated. Johnson hoped to process his retirement paperwork and cash in his unused days to quickly repay the city, but he didn't get his paperwork submitted on time. He panicked, began gambling more and it snowballed from there. He initially estimated he took about $35k-40k but thought it could be $50k or $60k, and then admitted he really didn't know how much he took.

To conceal the theft, Johnson allegedly modified entries in the scale house software and recreated deposit slips. He also acknowledged forging Faugno’s initials on at least one slip, making up excuses about the bank account and modifying journal entries to balance the bank deposit. His personal Bank of America records showed frequent large cash deposits that aligned with the embezzlement timeline, along with numerous transactions involving the FanDuel gambling app which is associated with Mohegan Sun.

The affidavit states Johnson expressed a desire to repay the money when shown an accounting of the losses.

Court Proceedings

An arrest warrant was issued in mid-April 2026 by Judge John F. Blawie. Johnson was arrested on April 21, 2026. He was initially ordered to post a $25,000 bond. Later that day, Judge Hernandez reduced the bond to $0, released Johnson on a Promise to Appear, and ordered him to contact the bail commissioner once per week while making all future court appearances. No new arrests were noted.

The case remains pending in Geographical Area 1 Superior Court in Stamford.

All information is based on the official arrest warrant application, supporting affidavit, and court information sheet filed in State of Connecticut Superior Court (Docket No. S01SCR2602621615, Police Case No. 2603130009).

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