Two Aurora, CO, Firefighters Demoted after Close Call with Police Officer
Aurora's fire chief said he was "alarmed" by the actions that led to the demotion of two firefighters for an incident between them and a police officer earlier this year.
The Station 7 firefighters were aboard a fire vehicle driving east bound when they aimed spotlights toward a police car that was being driven westbound on Feb. 25.
According to a report from the incident given to CBS Denver, the firefighters "spotlighted an APD patrol vehicle without justification and entered the patrol vehicle's lane of travel, causing the APD officer to drive onto the shoulder to avoid a collision."
Neither vehicle was damaged and the officer was not injured, according to the investigation report.
Lt. John Casessa and Engineer Ryan Endly were disciplined in May, following an investigation.
The discipline report said Endly's actions "were reckless and posed unnecessary risk to both our members and our partners at APD" and he was demoted to Firefighter Medic.
For Casessa, the report indicated "you were aware of Engineer Endly's actions in this incident, yet you failed to stop his misconduct." Citing him as in charge of the situation, it said Casessa "did not provide a reasonable explanation for your conduct or your failure to supervise appropriately." He was demoted to engineer.
"(T)he Aurora Fire Rescue leadership team was alarmed by what occurred in February and we take matters like these seriously," Aurora Fire Chief Alec Oughton wrote in a statement to the television station.
