NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As firefighters were responding to a multi-alarm fire Friday, a man stood in front of the firetruck so his wife could move her car, according to North Port police.
When a firefighter sounded the air horn to get the man to move, he made an obscene hand gesture and would not move, a police report shows. Officers responded and arrested Jonathan Wyatt Sharpe, 33, of the 2700 block of North Port for obstructing a firefighter while trying to extinguish a fire.
The report says the firefighter was responding around 7 p.m., to what was believed to be a second fire in the plaza at Aiden Lane, at Buffalo Wild Wings. The first alarm came from China Buffet, where there was a kitchen fire.
As the firetruck pulled into the parking lot, Sharpe blocked it. When the firefighter blew the horn, Sharpe continued to direct his wife, who was in the car, out of the parking space. The firefighter blew the horn a second time and Sharpe pointed toward his privates, delaying the firetruck a minute longer from responding to the fire alarm.
'One minute could be the difference between life and death for a subject trapped inside a building,' the report said.
Sharpe told the officer he had just helped put out the fire at China Buffet and was attempting to get his family out of the parking lot. He admitted he told the firetruck to stop while standing in its path.
On the way to jail, Sharpe told the officer he knew what he did wasn't the 'best way' to handle the situation.
Sharpe was released from Sarasota County Jail after posting $1,000 bond.
Copyright 2012 North Port SunDistributed by Newsbank, Inc. All Rights Reserved
