By Brittany Wallman
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two off-duty Fort Lauderdale firefighters who were in a hit-and-run accident in Pompano Beach after drinking beer at local bars got a ride home in the most expensive taxi in town: their city’s fire Engine 46.
In records obtained last week by the Sun Sentinel, the events of Feb. 21, 2008, are detailed: Three on-duty Fort Lauderdale firefighters took the city’s busiest fire engine, worth $400,000, out of service, drove it out of the city, picked up the two firefighters and gave them a ride to a colleague’s house in Coral Springs. Fire officials said the move “compromised the safety of the public” by taking a crucial fire engine out of service, and “violated the public trust” by misusing public funds.
“Those resources are there for one reason, and that’s to protect the citizens that we serve,” Fire Chief James Eddy said during the investigative interviews, adding that the fire engine was used as a personal “taxi” for the pair, traveling through six cities.
Eddy fired one of the firefighters and suspended two supervisors. Daniel Rodriguez, who was terminated, was driving in the hit-and-run. He told city investigators he didn’t ask for special treatment and was surprised by it. He also said he was surprised that even though he admitted he’d “had a few beers,” Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Felix Vasconez Jr. indicated in the crash report that alcohol was not involved.
Rodriguez was cited for leaving the scene of an accident, a second-degree misdemeanor. He pleaded no contest and got no points against his driver’s license, state and county records show.
Rodriguez declined comment for this article, hanging up the phone when reached last week.
Fire Lt. Garret Pingol, the senior officer on the scene, was suspended without pay for two days in July. He declined to comment for this article. And the official who told Pingol he could send Engine 46, Battalion Chief Daniel Hanes, was suspended without pay for two days in June. Rodriguez’s passenger, firefighter-paramedic James Chioffe, did not violate any policies and wasn’t disciplined.
Officials found no cover-up; Pingol and Hanes reported the incident the following morning.
Hanes, now fire chief in Fernandina Beach, said he didn’t know at the time about the hit-and-run; he merely knew a sheriff’s deputy had called, urging someone to come.
“I made a decision in a blink,” he said last week. “That’s what I get paid to do, though. It wasn’t a good outcome, and the situation was very, very wrong and certainly not what I intended to have anybody in our department involved with.”
Hanes told investigators that when city employees needed help in the past, those who responded were thanked afterward. “I’ve been told that we have a city family, and that we take care of our family,” Hanes said.
Pat Hanrahan, senior vice president of the Police Benevolent Association, acknowledged that a brotherhood exists in law enforcement, but said deputies don’t give professional courtesy in serious accidents or cases in which someone is hurt. The driver Rodriguez hit was not injured.
“Any law enforcement officer has discretion whether to issue a citation or not,” he said. The Sheriff’s Office did not investigate the deputy’s actions and doesn’t plan to, unless someone files a complaint, spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said. She did not review the investigative file or get a briefing on it, and declined to comment on whether the deputies followed Sheriff’s Office policy. “All I have to go by is the traffic crash report,” she said.
According to the city files, here’s what happened:
Rodriguez and Chioffe, both Boca Raton residents and 23 years old at the time, drank a few beers at a bar in Boca and then headed to a bar in Pompano. Rodriguez said he had “a few” beers. Chioffe said he had four to six, and estimated that Rodriguez had one fewer.
On the way home, on Copans Road at Northeast Third Avenue, Rodriguez blew through a red light.
“I ran a red light and I - I crashed into another vehicle,” he told investigators. “I panicked, got really nervous and continued to drive.” He headed to Interstate 95.
Deputy Vasconez pulled Rodriguez over on I-95, near Sample Road. He handcuffed both men. Backup deputies arrived. When they came across firefighter gear, Chioffe said a deputy asked them to call the station for a ride, to avoid arrest.
Firefighter Rick Wheeler said the phone rang at the station at about 4 a.m. It was a sheriff’s deputy - it’s unclear which one - asking for a supervisor.
“He said that it’s a private matter,” Wheeler recounted.
He awoke Lt. Pingol, who called his superior, Battalion Chief Hanes.
None of the officials knew the details at the time; just that a sheriff’s deputy was urging them to come.
Hanes was awakened, and says he regrets what he said next: “I told Pingol, ‘All right, go up there and find out what needs to be done.’ ”
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