Photo courtesy of NY State Police Mark Haskin, the whistleblower in the Andrew Thompson case, has been charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, after being found to be the one responsible for missing Department of Public Works equipment.

WESTFIELD — Mark Haskin, the whistleblower in the case of raw sewage being dumped into Chautauqua Creek in 2014, has been charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.

Over the course of two years, a number of items have gone missing from the Department of Public Works inventory, such as chainsaws, an air compressor, power tools and other equipment.

On Thursday, State Police at Fredonia recovered the items after receiving a call stating that the caller knew who the thief was, and where the items were hidden. The thief was revealed to be Haskin.

“Ed LeBarron (Department of Public Works supervisor), said the past two years, numerous pieces of public works equipment and tools have gone missing,” said Eric Balon, Zone III commander of the State Police.

Westfield village Mayor Michael VandeVelde declined to comment, stating in an email, “It is a personnel matter and I’m not able to discuss it at this time.”

It was at the time unknown to Balon whether Haskin was out on bail. A court date has been set for Jan. 30.