Chief gets busted at Obama rally
Dean Parkerson, an off-duty district chief with the Hialeah Fire Department, posted a $6000 bond and told a reporter he was sorry for an incident Tuesday at a Barack Obama rally at Miami’s Bicentennial Park. This followed a grenade threat on the motorcade route that turned out to be a dud. Parkerson, who was off-duty, had jumped a security fence with shiny metal objects in his hand that turned out to be keys.
Here are excerpts from a Miami Herald article by David Ovalle:
Parkerson, 47, is president of the South Florida Council of Firefighters. Police said he ignored warnings to stay out of the restricted area.
”You’re making a big f——- mistake. I’m a fire chief,” yelled Parkerson, who was clad in a ”Firefighters for Obama” yellow T-shirt. According to the police report, he also claimed to work with the Secret Service and authorities said he had apparently been drinking.
He was charged with battery on a police officer and resisting arrest without violence.
Some 30,000 people attended the rally for Obama’s presidential bid Tuesday night. During the afternoon, Miami police officers providing security for the event had been briefed by the U.S. Secret Service about ”eight grenades” found earlier in the day along the Obama motorcade route, according to the arrest report.
The weapons were actually found by a city cleaning crew that morning in a old discarded bag floating in a Fort Lauderdale canal, nowhere near the motorcade and not related to the senator’s visit, police said.
Sgt. Javier Ortiz spotted Parkerson climbing over a security gate at the ”pep rally” for Obama. ”Stop, this is a restricted area!” the sergeant yelled.
Parkerson ran into the restricted area.
As Ortiz chased, the sergeant noticed the ”shiny metal objects” in his right hand, which turned out to be the keys.
Parkerson pushed Ortiz in the shoulder and “thrashed his body to evade being handcuffed.”
Hialeah Fire Chief Otto Drozd says no decision had been yet on whether Parkerson will stay on the job.
Parkerson is also the former Hialeah firefighters union chief.
