D.C. Probe Seeks Account of Ambulance Whereabouts
After a D.C. police officer was transported by a Maryland ambulance, it was learned that a quarter of the district's 39 ambulance were unaccounted for that night.
As officials continue to investigate the fire department's response, more details emerged Thursday about the three men arrested in connection with the crash that injured Officer Hickman. Court documents state that Kevin Maurice Burno, the 24-year-old driver, had been drinking alcohol "all day" before the crash and that Officer Hickman had signaled to Mr. Burno to turn on the headlights of his Lexus just before the officer was struck.
After police got Mr. Burno into custody, he acted erratic and incoherent, attempting to urinate on and then strike a heater at the 6th District police station, according to a police affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court. When Mr. Burno was taken to the D.C. Jail, six bags of a "green weedlike substance" and one bag with "six white rocklike substances" were confiscated from his possession, as were the keys to the Lexus, which were found "secreted in his buttocks."
Mr. Burno was charged with aggravated assault while armed while the two passengers in the Lexus - James "Antonio" Parks, 22, and Darrin Twisdale, 25 - were charged with being accessories to the assault.
Officer Hickman has undergone two surgeries thus far for his injuries and officials said he could have a long road to recovery.
Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Kristopher Baumann has called Tuesday's incident and the lack of an ambulance to transport an eight-year-department veteran "inexcusable" and criticized the leadership of Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe.
"When you look at his tenure, it is full of examples of mismanagement from mechanical problems to attrition issues to staffing and overtime," Mr. Baumann said. "The D.C. Council cannot continue to overlook mismanagement when we are dealing with life and death situations."
