Keyport, N.J.-- An on duty Keyport, N.J. firefighter was charged with DWI Aug. 5 while driving a fire truck, according to Keyport Police Capt. Thomas Mitchell.
Mitchell said Wayne Lawson, 37, drove the fire truck to the scene of a fire at approximately 6 p.m. at the historic Keyport Fishery restaurant. When other firefighters realized Lawson was intoxicated, they told him to leave the scene.
That is when Mitchell said Lawson decided to drive back to the station the way he came -- in the fire truck.
"The other firefighters told him to leave after they recognized his condition," Mitchell said. "They didn't intend for him to leave in the fire truck."
Keyport firefighters contacted the police, who met Lawson at the firehouse and took him back to their station to be processed for a DWI.
Mitchell said the firehouse sustained minor damage when Lawson scraped the door frame while driving to the fire. He said this is the first incident he can remember where a firefighter received a DWI while driving a fire truck.
Firehouse.com will have more information on this story as it becomes available.
