Cops pump out charges in gas scam

A chair-van driver for a Dorchester ambulance service gave his boss agita by treating himself and friends to 400 super unleaded fill-ups at a total cost of $29,000 on the company’s dime, police and prosecutors said.

The high-test hijinks occurred over the summer, said Boston cops, who claim they have Reginald “Reggie” Charles recorded on surveillance videos at several gas stations.

The tapes show Charles greeting motorists, who appear to pass him cash before he fills their tanks using credit cards and PIN numbers issued by EasCare Ambulance to their employees, according to a police report. Some sales rang up while the van that Charles drives was sidelined for repairs, officers noted.

Investigators caught a break in the case on Labor Day, when a Quincy police detective, filling up at a station in Randolph, reported witnessing a uniformed Charles putting gas in his EasCare van before shifting the nozzle to top off the tank in the vehicle behind his. The bill to EasCare for more than 24 gallons of super unleaded: $97.65, police said.

Charles, 33, pleaded not guilty last week to identity fraud, larceny and misuse of a credit card. He is free on personal recognizance.

Neither Charles nor EasCare CEO George Gilpin could be reached for comment. Gilpin told investigators he’d had “no problems” with Charles in the past.