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The man with the painted face and tattoo on his back had a big audience watching him on February 1. It wasn’t just the other University of Pittsburgh students who had rushed out to the streets of the Oakland neighborhood to cheer him on as he leaned over a couch with a can of lighter fluid. He was being seen live on WTAE-TV. That’s where these images came from.
Who was that masked man? Well, someone recognized him as Andrew Ablog and gave that information to police.
Ablog isn’t just a student out celebrating the victory by the Steelers. He’s a volunteer firefighter in the Beaver County borough of Monaca. But apparently not for long. Ablog’s chief has already told reporters he is expecting the 22-year-old firefighter to resign from the department.
According to the AP, police say Ablog was seen on an Internet video and a concerned student alerted university police. Ablog turned himself in on Monday.
Does the story of a Pennsylvania firefighter being busted while participating in a rowdy celebration of a sports championship sound familiar? It did to me.
If that is, as police charge, Andrew Ablog setting the fire (police claim he has already confessed), one would guess Ablog missed the story of Upper Darby volunteer firefighter Robert Smith who was arrested after the October World Series celebration that took over the streets of Philadelphia. Police accused Smith of being one of the people in the large crowd who jumped aboard Ladder Tower 5 as it tried to respond to an emergency.
Robert Smith was caught, not because he was clearly scene on TV. In fact, it would have been difficult to pick out Smith from the YouTube video’s showing the large crowd swarming the fire truck. Smith was arrested because he left his wallet on the rig.
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