By KRISTEN KRIDEL
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida)
Copyright 2006 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Co.
All Rights Reserved
CHARLOTTE COUNTY — Following accusations that county firefighters were harassing homeless men in September, two firefighters came forward and said their “horsing around” was simply misinterpreted, Fire Chief Dennis DiDio said.
There was no need for a formal investigation, he said Saturday. They already have been reprimanded.
“They were playing around, throwing rocks,” DiDio said. “They were goofing around when I had them training. They didn’t know the homeless were there.”
Homeless men who used to live in a vacant YMCA building behind the Charlotte County Fire & EMS headquarters on Edgewater Drive had filed a complaint with a battalion chief in early September.
John Loump, 46, a homeless man, said he saw a group in EMS uniforms throw a rock the size of a brick at the vacant building that shelters homeless men.
“They were the only ones that were out there,” Loump said.
Gerald Gamer said he was inside the shack when the rock hit the door, echoing like a “bomb” throughout the small structure. The men saw firefighters laughing through the window.
Around the same time, several media outlets received an anonymous e-mail from a “disgusted firefighter,” who said he or she heard firefighters were directing verbal insults and cursing at homeless veterans.
“That letter was bogus, by the way,” DiDio said. “No one verbally abused anyone.”
DiDio did not reveal the names of the firefighters who came forward and admitted to throwing rocks at the shanty. But he said they did not know the homeless men had moved from the main YMCA building to the garage structure.
“They had no intention of hurting anyone,” DiDio said.
Because they were goofing off at work, the firefighters were reprimanded and the incident was documented in their files. Both firefighters have been with the department for more than 15 years and have never been in trouble, DiDio said.
The reprimand “is in their jackets for good,” DiDio said. “If something ever happens again, it can be used against them.”
The chief said he never had a chance to tell the homeless men his employees were playing around because the county evicted them shortly after their complaint.
“I don’t know where those people are now,” DiDio said.