"Brookline firefighter allegedly beat man over slow order at taqueria" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff October 13, 2015
BROOKLINE — It started with words in line at Anna’s Taqueria on Harvard Street Sunday night and ended in a flurry of punches, authorities said.
Around 10:40 p.m., Joseph G. Ward III told the man in front of him that he was taking too long and asked him to hurry up, according to a police report.
Words were exchanged. The other man, identified in court papers as Jeffrey Gagnon, 53, told police that he suggested “they could take it outside.”
There, a prosecutor alleged, Ward, a 37-year-old firefighter, pushed Gagnon, threw a glass bottle and burrito at him, and called him a “homeless [expletive]” in an attack captured on surveillance video.
He's a Leader?
(Btw, that may not be such an outside scenario anymore: The Donald has started saying he should be getting secret service protection -- maybe you should stick with trusted friends instead, Don -- after calling out Bush over 9/11)
The video shows “the victim on the ground with the defendant over his body repeatedly [punching] his head as his head is lying on the sidewalk,” Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Jessica Brokaw said Tuesday as Ward appeared in Brookline District Court.
“The surveillance video of this incident is quite violent,” said Brokaw, who requested that Ward be held on $10,000 bail.
Allston resident David Dunsire, 25, who witnessed the confrontation, called the assault brutal.
“It was just this big, tall dude beating the living hell out of this guy,” Dunsire said. “It was violent.”
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UPDATE:
"Brookline firefighters fired amid separate criminal cases" by Sarah Roberts Globe Correspondent October 22, 2015
The Brookline Board of Selectmen has fired two firefighters for separate, off-duty episodes that resulted in criminal charges this month. The local union said it will appeal the firings.
The board’s decision on Tuesday came after one firefighter allegedly assaulted a man at a taqueria in Brookline and another firefighter allegedly hit two cars in Newton while driving under the influence of alcohol.
“Terminating career employees is one of the most difficult actions a Selectman can take,” the board said in a statement provided by Selectman Neil Wishinsky, “but in these cases the actions of the employees were egregious.”
Firefighter Joseph G. Ward III is accused of beating a man and throwing a bottle and burrito at him on Oct. 11 for taking too long to place his order at a Anna’s Taqueria on Harvard Street.
Firefighter Jeremy Joseph faces charges of driving drunk and leaving the scene of personal injury after the Newton crash on Oct. 10. Authorities said he tried to flee after hitting the second vehicle. Joseph has also pleaded not guilty.
The board’s statement said selectmen believe Ward and Joseph’s actions violated department rules and damaged “the reputation and credibility of the fire department and the town.”
A statement from the Brookline firefighters union president, posted on the group’s Facebook page, said that the union would be appealing the decision to fire the men.
“These firefighters were fired without even an attempt at investigating the true circumstances of the incidents,” stated union president Paul Trahon. “Their terminations were without just cause or due process, and will be appealed.”
Both men are to return to court next month....
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