By DEANNA BOYD
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- A Fort Worth Fire Department engineer -- the younger brother of Fire Chief Charles Gaines -- was charged Monday with injury to the elderly on allegations that he struck a 71-year-old man during a traffic dispute.
Tony Lee Gaines, 40, is accused of hitting Clete Satterfield in the face, breaking his glasses and causing his nose to bleed, during a Nov. 25 confrontation in the Whataburger parking lot at 125 Sycamore School Road in south Fort Worth.
Satterfield told police that before the incident, he had tapped on his horn to alert Gaines that a traffic light had turned green. He said Gaines later approached him in the restaurant parking lot, flashing a badge and stating, “I’m a police officer. I’m going to take you to jail for being so obnoxious.” He said Gaines “blindsided” him after he told Gaines that he didn’t believe the badge was real and began to walk away.
Gaines, who joined the fire department in December 1994, has denied to police that he struck Satterfield or presented himself as a police officer. Gaines was not on duty at the time of the incident.
“It was just blown out of proportion,” Gaines told the *Star-Telegram *on Monday, declining to comment further.
Satterfield declined to comment Monday.
Eddie Burns, executive deputy chief of the Fire Department, said he will oversee an internal investigation into the matter following the resolution of the criminal charge. Charles Gaines, who joined the department in November 2002, has recused himself from any involvement.
“The Fort Worth Fire Department is going to handle this like they would handle any other incident, any other member of the fire department,” said Eddie Burns, executive deputy chief. “We’re going to give them due process. We’re going to be consistent and fair, regardless of who it is.”
Gaines remains on active duty. Burns said he will likely be placed on leave without pay if a Tarrant County grand jury indicts him on the felony charge. If found guilty, Gaines could lose his state certification as a firefighter and emergency medical technician.
“Right now someone being arrested doesn’t mean they’re guilty,” Burns said. “We’re going to follow the state law and the protocols of the fire department.”
Gaines had surrendered Dec. 12 at the Tarrant County Jail after police obtained a warrant against him for injury to the elderly. He was released after posting $7,500 bail.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Satterfield told police he was driving his 1997 Ford Thunderbird north on the South Freeway access road shortly before 8 p.m. on Nov. 25 when a man driving a black Honda passed him “pretty fast” in the right hand lane, then changed lanes in front of him.
Satterfield told police he stopped behind the Honda at a red light, but when the light turned green, the Honda did not move. After waiting 10 to 15 seconds, Satterfield told police, he tapped on his horn and pointed to the green light when the Honda’s driver looked back at him through his rearview mirror.
The Honda driver then left the intersection, slamming on his brake halfway through, before proceeding forward again, Satterfield told police. Soon after, Satterfield said, he passed the Honda and pulled into the Whataburger parking lot.
After parking and walking toward the restaurant, Satterfield told police, he was approached by the Honda driver. He said the man was holding a black wallet open and displaying a silver badge, the affidavit states.
When Gaines refused to show an identification card, Satterfield told police, he told the man that the badge wasn’t real, “that his grandchildren have similar badges that come in a kit, and [that Gaines should] get away from him,” the affidavit states.
Satterfield told investigators that when he turned to walk away, Gaines “blindsided” him, knocking Satterfield’s hat off while striking him in the face.
When Satterfield reached for his cellphone and announced he was calling the police, Gaines attempted to take it away from him, stating “I’m a police officer. I want to talk to them,” the affidavit states.
As Satterfield talked to dispatchers and provided police with Gaines’ license plate number, Gaines returned to his car and left, the affidavit states.
The next day, Gaines met with Detective G.C. Mahaffey to offer his version of events.
The affidavit states that Gaines altered his version after being told that witnesses to the altercation had come forward.
One of those witnesses, according to the affidavit, told police he saw Gaines attempt to take a cellphone away from Satterfield and raise his hands to Satterfield’s face. The witness told police he saw Satterfield’s hat and eyeglasses fall the ground. He said he honked his horn to get Gaines’ attention and let him know that he was there and watching.
Another witness told police that she had just driven into the parking lot when she saw Gaines hit Satterfield using the palm of his hand, the affidavit stated.
After meeting with the detective, Gaines filed his own police report that night.
In that report, Gaines told police that Satterfield had apparently become agitated after Gaines passed his car on the right, then subsequently make a left turn. Gaines told police that Satterfield began following closely on Gaines’ rear bumper and, at one point, made an obscene gesture.
Gaines told police both he and Satterfield then pulled into the Whataburger. There, Gaines said, he displayed his fire department badge and credentials, identified himself as a fireman and asked Satterfield, “What is your problem?”
Gaines told police that he grabbed Satterfield’s arm after Satterfield began to reach for what Gaines feared was a weapon. When he discovered that Satterfield was reaching for a cellphone, Gaines said, he let go of the man’s arm.
Gaines told police he believed he was about to be kicked by Satterfield so he assumed a defensive stance with his hands extended. He said when he brought his arm down, he unintentionally knocked Satterfield’s cowboy hat off his head, which, in turn, knocked off the man’s glasses, according to the report.
When Satterfield told Gaines that he had his license tag number and was going to call police, Gaines said that Satterfield should call them and that he was going home, he told police.
Fort Worth Star Telegram (http://www.star-telegram.com/)