By Katharine Wilson
The Capital
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The International Association of Fire Fighters voted to censure the Anne Arundel County state’s attorney, over the charging of a paramedic for misconduct related to a 2021 death, and an Annapolis alderman, over pushback to funding more paramedics.
The union represents firefighters and emergency medical workers in the United States and Canada. It voted Wednesday unanimously to censure State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess and Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge, both Democrats, during its biennial conference in Arlington, Texas. The censure publicly disapproves of actions taken by the two elected officials, but it doesn’t carry any formal consequences.
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The Annapolis Professional Firefighters Local 1926, which represents the city’s firefighters and paramedics, submitted the censure resolutions for review at the conference.
“If you’re a threat to our organization or our members, we’re going to address it,” Joe Pilat, president of Local 1926, said in a Friday interview with the Capital Gazette.
The censure of Leitess focused on the charging of Annapolis paramedic Bridgett Weiss with misconduct after the 2021 death of Renardo Green. A judge dismissed the case against Weiss because she was charged after the statute of limitations expired.
Green, a city resident, died of cardiac arrest while being loaded into an ambulance.
After his wife called 911, he had been restrained with shackles and two sets of handcuffs before he was strapped face-down on a stretcher. The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide and determined that the cause of death was “prone restraint cardiac arrest,” with drug use as a contributing factor.
Paramedics were called because of Green’s behavior while under the influence of mind-altering anesthetics along with methadone, fentanyl and cocaine.
The paramedic who was charged was one of five fire department personnel who responded alongside four police officers. Pilat claims that the paramedic was made a “scapegoat,” for the incident. Attempts to reach Weiss were unsuccessful, and her attorney was not immediately available for comment.
Leitess, in a statement to the Capital Gazette, said that despite the dismissal, there was “clear evidence of misconduct.” After Green’s death, Leitess said, Weiss wrote a narrative that was contradicted by police body-worn camera footage.
“I deeply respect first responders and the job they do,” Leitess said. “It undermines public trust if a first responder intentionally makes misrepresentations, and it is a disservice to the community that this trade organization ignored the actual facts in this case for a political purpose.”
Leitess attempted to reverse the dismissal of the case, arguing that a paramedic counted as an “officer” and thus qualified for a longer statute of limitations. The Appellate Court of Maryland upheld the dismissal last year.
The censure resolution against Savidge followed the City Council member’s opposition to the peak-time medical unit, a new paramedic-only staff for the city fire department.
Anne Arundel County and Annapolis jointly funded the pilot six-person-crew in budgets passed earlier this year. The additional paramedics had been a long-term ask from the union and fire department leaders.
Savidge said he needed more information from the fire department demonstrating the need for additional staff members. During budget discussions, he referenced other city departments that needed additional staff to meet performance goals.
“My job is to represent the taxpayers, and that means asking for this kind of justification when any department requests new spending, not just this one,” Savidge said in an interview. “So, if this is about punishing me for asking questions, I’m not going to stop asking them. I feel like the taxpayers are at that level of service and expect that from me.”
Pilat said that the alderman was provided enough information to support the additional paramedics and that the alderman has “long-standing angst against the fire department.”
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