Its been a busy day for news stories about firefighter misconduct. We have one where two New Mexico chiefs handcuffed and assaulted a firefighter with a crowbar; another where an Indiana chief is accused of propositioning a female subordinate; another Indiana case where a fire chief was accused of misconduct in his role as a fire inspector in another community, and now this one: A Florida firefighter has been arrested, charged with making threats against his fire department via telephone and his Facebook page.
Christopher Baird, 34, was terminated last Wednesday by Polk County Fire Rescue and charged by police on Thursday with three counts of making threats against a public servant and two counts of aggravated cyber stalking. The threats allegedly began about a month ago while Baird, a part-time firefighter, was on medical leave.
From what I saw in the news story I am not sure that there is a really strong criminal case against this guy. But he sure made a good case for his dismissal from the Department.
Thanks Anthony. I have to believe there’s alot more to this than what is in the media – but I agree with you, based on what we know.
There is a lot more. He was railroaded due to a HIPAA violation as they demanded to know why he went to the hospital. His so called threats were not threats of any harm. He was cleared of 3 charges on his first day in court and is now free.
Sounds like there is enough to dismiss him,
Falls short on charging criminal charges. Same as in jury trial
For crime. vs. civil proff . Civil requires less proff
Whereas criminal court requires all guilt or not, or
Judge rule beyond doubt.