Apparatus Road Rage Leads to Termination of Driver and Demotion of Officer
An Orange County, Florida firefighter has been terminated and his officer demoted back to firefighter following a road rage incident caught on the engine company’s dash cam.
The incident occurred on May 1, 2011 while Engine 58 was responding to a reported vehicle accident with entrapment. A Cadillac refused to yield causing the engine’s driver, David Jordan, to attempt to cut off the vehicle in retaliation, and the officer to flip off the Cadillac’s driver.
The aggressive move caused the engine to strike a median so hard that the fire truck nearly overturned. Fortunately no one was injured.
Lt. Thomas Veal, a 10 year veteran, was demoted and firefighter Jordan, a 22 year veteran, was terminated.
Firefighter demoted after road rage caught on tape: MyFoxORLANDO.com
Were there motor vehicle charges made?
So let me get this straight- some idiot breaks the law by not pulling over for a firetruck which then puts the citizens in danger that the firefighters are heading to assist by delaying their getting to the call, and the firefighters get excessively disciplined for it? While I don’t condone their behavior, I also think we’re sending the wrong message to our local firefighters- they are to be appreciated because they put their lives in danger for each and every one of us everyday. So they made a mistake. It was immaterial in nature! Forgive them and move on. Everyone makes mistakes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone….