OKLAHOMA CITY --
What one man calls destruction of property is what Oklahoma City firefighters call doing their jobs.
Oklahoma City police said they had to detain Richard Augustine Macomb, 49, on April 30 after he threatened a fire crew as they worked to extinguish a fire on his property in the 15000 block of South Air Depot Boulevard.
Police said Macomb yelled at the fire crews to get off his property or he was “going to get a gun and start shooting them.”
Macomb defended his actions by telling officers that he was trying to protect the putting green on his property from being destroyed by the heavy fire trucks.
The fire chief told police in the report released on Thursday that Macomb had locked the gate to his property with a padlock and chain as the fire burned.
After threatening the fire crews, police placed Macomb in handcuffs. Macomb told police that he never denied the firefighters entry; he just wanted to direct them to a different area to fight the fire.
Fire Marshal Capt. Scott Johnson said he didn’t want Macomb arrested at the time but was going to fill out an affidavit for denying entry to a fire official.
The firefighter that Macomb yelled at, police said, wanted to file charges for threatening him with a gun.
After the firefighters extinguished the blaze, police said they released Macomb.
The damage, if any, to Macomb’s putting green wasn’t in the police report.
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