The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — A city firefighter has been charged with second-degree breach of peace in connection with an incident at a fire earlier this month.
According to Hartford police, Lt. Michael Patterson turned himself in Wednesday afternoon and was released on a promise to appear. He is scheduled to appear in Hartford Superior Court Sept. 9.
Police said that Patterson, 45, engaged a Hartford fire captain in a “physical and verbal altercation” during a fire at 122 West Morningside St. on Aug. 14.
The captain, Thomas Dalton, filed a fire department incident report after the altercation. In his report, Dalton said that Patterson, the officer of Ladder Company 4, told his driver to leave the scene of the fire before being released by Dalton. The captain said he didn’t release Patterson because Dalton wasn’t sure if the fire inspector would need help when he arrived at the scene.
According to Dalton’s incident report, Patterson disregarded the order to stay and again began to leave, at which point Dalton repeated that he was not yet released from the scene.
“I stated again, ‘ladder 4 you are not released, I’m going to put this in my report,” Dalton said in the incident report.
Dalton said the fire vehicle came to an abrupt halt, and Patterson charged at him in “an extremely aggressive manner” and threatened him.
Dalton said that he did not move or escalate the situation, and that Patterson had to be restrained by other firefighters at the scene.
“Lt. Patterson repeated (sic) tried throwing punches at me while restrained at a very close proximity, landing one blow in the center of my chest with his right hand,” Dalton said.
Dalton said in the report that he was concerned because of Patterson’s history, which includes an arrest on firearms charges in 2013. He said that the event had left him “deeply disturbed and fearful for my personal safety.”
The firearms charges against Patterson were dismissed.
Patterson’s attorney, Rachel Baird, said that Patterson willingly met with police for an interview on Tuesday and that a recording of the interview “would speak for itself.”
Baird also said that the department had violated state statutes by refusing to give her a copy of the arrest warrant.
In a letter to Hartford Police Chief James Rovella, Baird questioned the department’s refusal to provide her with a copy of the arrest warrant and whether the use of the fire incident report – which she said the arresting officer found on the Internet -- would qualify as a statement made under oath.
“Your department, in not requiring a sworn statement from Victim Thomas Dalton, has committed itself to protecting Victim Thomas Dalton from prosecution even should evidence surface that Victim Thomas Dalton’s statement is false,” Baird said.
Hartford Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said Wednesday that it was inappropriate to get into a public “back and forth” on a specific case.
“Attorneys are entitled to, and respected for their opinions. They are encouraged to seek the proper venue for their recourse,” Foley said.
Hartford Fire Chief Carlos Huertas said in a statement Wednesday that Patterson and Dalton were placed on paid administrative leave pending a departmental investigation.
Huertas added that the incident did not affect the department’s delivery of services at the scene.
The department has been plagued by on and off-duty incidents involving firefighters over the past two years, including drunken driving charges, two shootings and another fight at an active fire.
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