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Colorado Firefighter’s Prank Will Be Costly

A Colorado firefighter is facing criminal charges and departmental discipline following a prank he played on a fellow firefighter. Firefighter Kevin Adler, 38, a 13 year veteran of the Greeley Fire Department, allegedly put sugar in the gas tank of fellow firefighter Greg Holmes, causing between $2,000 and $3,000 damage.

The incident occurred on August 14, 2011 while Holmes was working overtime. News reports indicate that a romantic jealousy may have been the motive behind the prank, and that it may be connected to a similar prank that damaged the vehicle of another firefighter, Jay Oster, last May.

Both Holmes and Oster allegedly dated firefighter Alicia Matt. Matt has given investigators text messages that Adler sent to her linking him to the vandalism. Alder, who is married with two children, is charged with criminal mischief.

More on the story.

Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 50 years of fire service experience and 40 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. Besides his law degree, he has a MS in Forensic Psychology. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.

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11 Comments

  1. Justin …. it could be both!!! I gave him the benefit of the doubt by calling it a prank. It could be classified as vandalism, wilful and malicious destruction of property, trespass to chattles…. how far shall we go…

  2. pranks are supposed to be jokes. causing someone $2,000 to $3,000 in damage to their car isn’t a prank and he knew what he was doing. sugar in the gas tank is akin to slashing tires and keying the paint. thats not a prank.

  3. A prank has a punch line. There is nothing funny about this. You are being very charitable by giving this guy the benefit of the doubt and calling this a prank.

  4. Welllllll… the devil is in the details…. according to the news article he thought the sugar merely clogged the fuel filter causing a much smaller financial impact (again – giving him the benefit of the doubt)…

    And pranks are not always well intentioned jokes. Many times pranks are mean spirited – but I agree causing someone $2,000 to $3,000 in damage is vandalism. How about this: sometimes pranks go bad and turn into vandalism… while some things are vandalism from the beginning. I tend to agree with you it was probably the later but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

  5. Lets see , F/F Alder has done this so-called prank to two of his fellow firefighters , causing damage to their vehicles. This is criminal and he deserves harsh punishment , I would not want to work with this loose cannon.Pranks are done on our dept. ,but people’s cars are off limits along with their bunker gear.

  6. Mike; calling the female firefighter a ‘Badge Hound’ just because she (allegedly) dated a couple of guys on the job is just mean and nasty. It speaks loud and clear to your attitude about women firefighters, and perhaps women in general. I’d suggest you get with the times, but I think I’d be wasting my breath.

  7. 1st. FF Adler seems to fit the saying:

    “Stupid is as Stupid Does”..Forest Gump.

    2nd. The Woman Firefighter should be able to “Date” anyone On or Off the job so long as it doesn’t affect her duties.

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