Firefighters Disavow Sale of Circus Tickets

A spokesman for the Westminster Fire Fighters Assn. said Thursday that no association members are selling circus tickets to raise money for charity and advised residents to call police if solicited by someone claiming to belong to the organization.

Paul Gilbrook, association secretary, said the tickets are being sold by the Orange County Firemen’s Assn., a group to which only one Westminster firefighter belongs and with which the Westminster Fire Fighters Assn. has no affiliation.

Members of the Westminster group are generally held in high regard by residents. Last week, after receiving a call from a citizen who had been solicited in the association’s name, Gilbrook and association President Mike Garrison watched the solicitor represent himself “at least three times” as a member of the Westminster group, Gilbrook said.

Jack Freschman, 35, was arrested by police on charges of falsely representing a charity, Detective David Stronach said. Freschman was also cited for soliciting without a city license, but was not booked.

A court appearance is scheduled for May 16 in Municipal Court. If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $500 fine.

“We just want them to stop using our name,” Gilbrook said.

Bud Dillon, president of the Orange County Firemen’s Assn., said his information on the incident is sketchy. But, he added, if Freschman represented himself as the Westminster group contends, “then he was definitely in the wrong.”

Freschman, who was unavailable for comment, is an employee of a promotion company that puts on benefit charity shows for the Orange County Firemen’s Assn., Dillon said.