Staten Island firefighter Michael Silvestri will probably lose his job, whether or not he's convicted of the savage attack on fellow firefighter Robert Walsh, sources said yesterday.
Silvestri, 41, faces a departmental trial after the criminal proceeding and it's unlikely he'll be able to defend himself against charges of smashing a metal chair into Walsh's face, the sources said.
Walsh, 40, is in a medically induced coma after his nose was almost ripped off and his eye sockets and jaw were smashed in the New Year's Eve attack in the kitchen of the Tottenville firehouse.
Silvestri, who was charged with assault nine hours after the attack, has been on the job for 15 years and if he put in his retirement papers now, he could receive three-eighths of his pay in five years.
But so far, he hasn't done that. If he waited until he served 20 years, he would receive half his pay.
Silvestri did not answer the door of his Staten Island home yesterday, nor did he respond to a note asking for his side of the story.
On Monday, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta placed four FDNY officers and two firefighters on desk duty for their alleged involvement in an attempt to cover up the attack.
The six included Capt. Terrence Sweeney, who allegedly lied about how Walsh suffered his injuries, saying he fell down some stairs.
Mayor Bloomberg supported Scoppetta's decision to reassign the men, saying, "The commissioner runs the department and he moves people around as he thinks appropriate.
"I certainly back him and there's no reason why he shouldn't do what he did."
On Monday, Bloomberg ordered the Department of Investigation to take over the probe into the alleged cover-up from the Fire Department. DOI and FDNY officials met yesterday to exchange information.
Under FDNY rules, anything a firefighter tells departmental investigators can't be used against him in a criminal investigation, but that is not true in a DOI probe.
Silvestri allegedly attacked Walsh because the firefighter needled him about deciding to work Thanksgiving Day on overtime after first switching with someone so he wouldn't have to work the holiday.
"My brother is not a thug. Silvestri is a thug," said Walsh's older brother, Jim.
Related:
- 6 NYC Firefighters on Desk Duty Post-Brawl
- New York Times: A Firehouse Culture Where Taunts and Teasing Flourish
- FDNY Brawlers Face Hot Seat
- FDNY Fight Cover-Up
- Commissioner: FDNY Investigating Firehouse Fight Cover-Up
- FDNY Brawl Leaves One Man Critically Injured
- Staten Island, New York D.A. Pledges Probe of Firefighter Brawl
