Police charge two DC firefighters with assault after fight at scene of EMS call
Firefighters gather at DC Police station to show support as lieutenant and rookie turn themselves in on simple assault charge
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Troy Pope, Matt Pusatory & Bruce Leshan, WUSA9:
Two Washington D.C. fire department employees have been charged in connection to a street brawl that occurred in Northwest D.C. back in April, D.C. Fire and EMS confirmed late Monday night.
The two members of the fire department turned themselves in Tuesday morning to the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District Substation, according to a spokesperson for DC Firefighters Association IAFF Local 36.
Several employees of D.C. Fire and EMS were put on administrative leave after a video showed responding crews engaged in a brawl with a man in Northwest D.C. The incident happened on April 25, near the intersection of Florida Avenue Northwest and North Capitol Street Northwest.
Off duty DC Firefighters line walkway into the DC Police Departments 1D station to show support for two firefighters being charged with simple assault while on the job. The union says the two were defending themselves after a man they were trying to help threw a punch. pic.twitter.com/RKTqKNILZJ
— Paul Wagner (@paulcwagner) June 13, 2023
Lieutenant Sean Sinon and rookie firefighter Reden Ecleo are first responders from Engine 6. They are both expected to turn themselves in to D.C. police around 7 a.m. “in a show of integrity and respect for the system we all serve,” according to a statement from the D.C. Firefighters Association, Local 36.
The firefighters are being charged with “simple assault,” according to Local 36. The exact charges have yet to be released.
When the video of the brawl surfaced in April, six D.C. Fire and EMS workers were placed on leave.
“I think they were trying to help their lieutenant who had been assaulted,” Firefighters Local 36 President David Hoagland said. “Our members are routinely placed in some of these unsafe situations from day to day, and unfortunately, on the scenes of these emergencies, they can escalate quickly before the police have a chance to arrive to assist us.”
