On Monday the Texas Rangers arrested three Liberty County Fire Marshal’s and Assistant Fire Marshals. All three have miscellaneous charges of theft, official oppression, and tampering with evidence.
William “Bill” E. Hergemueller, had been the Assistant Fire Chief at 321 Fire Department until he was appointed Liberty County Fire Marshal. Along with that, he was given a position over the Liberty County Emergency Management. He remained at offices at the 321 Fire Station. Ranger Sullivan investigated and charged Hergemueller with theft by a public servant of $750 but less than $2500, and tampering with a government record which are both State Jail felonies. A charge of tampering with physical evidence, a third-degree felony, and with a Class A Misdemeanor for official oppression. In court documents, it show that Hergemueller holds the position of Liberty County Fire Marshal, also Chief within the South Liberty County Hazardous Materials Team and a firefighter at 321 Fire Department. Of those, he handles budgets for all three. The South Liberty County Hazardous Materials Team holds the county contract for hazmat and currently receives funding from Liberty County as does the Fire Marshals Office and 321 Fire Department. According to witnesses, Hergemueller uses his official capacity of Fire Marshal while wearing Fire Marshals Office attire, to gain early access to hazmat scenes. He does not make it known he is on the scene for hazmat containment and instead, uses his position to bully owners of towing companies on the scene. He tells the owners of the tow companies he will send an invoice for his hazmat services and makes them aware he runs Liberty County and thanks them for their business. This leaves the owners of the tow companies to believe they must comply by paying the invoice in order to continue to work within Liberty County and protect the livelihood of the towing company employees. Over time thousands have been paid by the tow companies to Hergemueller and his company. At one point one of the owners refused to pay the bill resulting in Hergemueller to go to to his business in uniform and doing a fire inspection putting fear in the owner of the tow company.
In addition to this on December 19, 2022, an 18-wheeler crashed into the ditch on I-69 in Liberty County and overturned. Hergemueller and his assistants arrived on the scene, punched a hole in a truck saddle tank, and pumped the fuel into 55-gallon drums in the back of the Fire Marshal vehicle. They then proceeded to unload the trailer load of duck meat, high-end cheese, butter, venison, croissants, and other frozen items into their vehicles for personal use and leave the scene. Then on October 24, 2023, a head-on crash between a box truck and an F250 on FM 787 resulted in cargo being scattered across the area. They, again in uniform loaded an aluminum ramp. They also took two aluminum rims out of its packaging and a bumper cover and left the scene.
Hergemueller does not have any state of Texas Licenses to do fire inspections, investigations, approve plans, or issue permits. He also does not process a Texas Licensed Peace Officers license to perform arson investigations. Further investigation determined he performed an unknown number of fire investigations and signed certificates of occupancy. Some of these investigations schools, the Liberty County Jail, and gas stations which resulted in the tampering with a government record charge. It was also found that during this time Hergemueller entered crime scenes during criminal investigations, handled evidence and performed criminal fire investigations, committing tampering with evidence. During the interview of Hergemueller, the admitted the allegations.
During the interview with the Assistant Fire Marshal Jesse McGraw, age 49, he admitted to two charges of tampering with a government record. This was after it was learned that he was not licensed to investigate fire scenes or do fire inspections. McGraw is also a Captain of the South Liberty Coutny Hazmat Team and Assistant Chief of the 321 Fire Department. One of the tampering charges was after investigators learned that McGraw did a fire inspection on a daycare and issued a certificate of occupancy. He like Hergemueller, entered crime scenes, seized evidence and performed complete criminal fire investigations. He is charged with tampering with a governmental record and tampering with physical evidence.
Investigators charged Holciomb with theft by a public servant after the theft from the crashed truck and tampering with a governmental record. Like the other two, Holcomb was not licensed in the State of Texas.
