Palmerton Borough Council voted Thursday night to reinstate Larry Zawaly as chief of the Palmerton Borough Fire Department.

Zawaly, 61, was also brought back to his part-time job with the code enforcement office.He had been placed on unpaid administrative leave following theft charges at a crash scene.A district judge dismissed the charges on Wednesday.Borough officer Michael R. Fedor filed charges against Zawaly on July 23 for theft and receiving stolen property, both misdemeanors. The alleged incident occurred on June 12 when the fire department and police responded to a crash scene on Mauch Chunk Road in Palmerton. A triaxle truck rolled over injuring the driver and spewing some of his belonging onto the sidewalk.According to court records, Zawaly picked up a tool box belonging to the driver and placed it in the cab of the firetruck.Fedor saw the action and thought Zawaly's behavior was questionable. He approached Zawaly and asked him about the tools. Zawaly told him it was customary to place personal belongings in the truck. The items are returned when the owner gets out of the hospital.Zawaly said in an earlier interview, "The police department looked at it improperly. It's what we normally did. … We keep it in the truck if we can't return it immediately. The truck driver was in the hospital, so I couldn't give it to him. The police jumped the gun and filed charges before I could return it."Borough Manager Rodger Danielson said he placed Zawaly on unpaid leave when the charges were filed, pending an outcome. As soon as the charges were dismissed, Danielson moved to have Zawaly reinstated."The action tonight was unanimous to bring him back," Danielson said, when asked his thoughts about bringing Zawaly back.The vote came after a short executive session following the regularly scheduled council meeting.Although reinstated, the income Zawaly lost during the leave will not be reimbursed, Danielson said. The leave began on July 24 and Zawaly earns $13.94 an hour.Danielson didn't know when Zawaly would return to his position, but said he was going to call him following the meeting to let him know the result.