Former San Bruno Firefighter Stole $25,000 From Toy Drive Fund, Police Allege

SAN BRUNO, CA — A 53-year-old woman who formerly worked as a San Bruno firefighter has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $25,000 from a toy drive program run by the department's firefighters' union when she was employed with the agency, police say.

Holly Kaye Nelson, a Cloverdale resident, was arrested Monday on suspicion of two felony counts of grand theft following an investigation into the theft of money from the San Bruno Professional Firefighters Association.

Police say it they started looking into the stealing of funds from the union's toy drive program last year. The funds initially in question were missing from January to October of 2016.

"A subsequent investigation by San Bruno Police Detectives revealed that more than $25,000 had been taken from a San Bruno Professional Firefighters Association bank account over a two year period.

Detectives identified the suspect as Nelson, who had ended her employment with the fire department in October, and she was taken into custody Monday, police said.

Police called the annual toy drive "an extremely worthwhile program that serves disadvantaged youth in the community" and thanked the firefighters' union for their cooperation and transparency in the investigation.

Nelson's LinkedIn profile says she worked for the San Bruno Fire Department from 2001 until this past October and is currently working as a firefighting and EMS skills instructor at the Santa Rosa Junior College
Public Safety Training Center.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report / Image via Shutterstock