Detroit Firefighter Investigated for On-Duty Drunken Driving
By Miriam Marini
Source Detroit Free Press
A battalion chief with the Detroit Fire Department is under investigation for driving a department vehicle while intoxicated early Monday.
At about 1:15 a.m. Monday, the chief lost control and crashed while en route to an emergency, Deputy Fire Commissioner Dave Fornell said. The incident is under investigation.
Images from Fox 2 Detroit show a Detroit Fire Department SUV had crashed through a wire fence with its front tires hanging over the barrier separating a grassy hill from the John Lodge Freeway.
This is the second incident of drunk driving with the department within a week. On Feb. 21, a Detroit firefighter crashed into a woman's parked car while responding to an emergency after he left a dinner party at the Engine 50 building on Houston Whittier Street. His blood-alcohol level was said to be more than the legal limit.
On Tuesday, the fire department will be laying out a plan to take a "deep dive to look at why some individuals think it’s OK to drink alcohol on duty," Fox 2 reports.
The department's punishment for alcohol consumption while on duty is termination.
___
(c)2021 the Detroit Free Press
Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
