DeAndre Ware Jr., 38, a Toledo firefighter and professional boxer, was found guilty on Nov. 10, 2026 on one count of theft and one count of telecommunications fraud in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, in the case of missing money from the Station No. 4 house fund.

The fund ended up $1,342.19 short. Ware volunteered in mid-2025 to fill in as house fund manager while Lt. Tyler Trease was on military deployment. He was added as an account signatory on July 23, 2025 and withdrew $500 the same day; later Venmo transfers and debit-card crypto purchases followed.

Capt. Scott Thornburg discovered the shortfall when YouTube TV was shut off for non-payment while he was on vacation last winter. He testified Monday, Nov. 9. Read our earlier coverage of the trial.

In a police interview played in court, Ware admitted using house fund money for personal bills but denied criminal intent, saying: “I don’t look at myself as stealing anything because I didn’t. I borrowed.” He repaid $700 in cash after being confronted.

Ware is also known as a boxer (13-2-2, 8 KOs) who once performed CPR to save a Top Rank official in Las Vegas in 2020, as reported by FireRescue1.

Ware is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 29, 2026, by Judge Ken Walz, according to 13abc.

A Toledo Fire & Rescue station. (File photo — not Station No. 4. Photo: Wikimedia Commons)