Apparatus Road Rage Leads to Termination of Driver and Demotion of Officer

Posted by: Curt Varone June 11, 2011 2 Comments

An Orange County, Florida firefighter has been terminated and his officer demoted back to firefighter following a road rage incident caught on the engine company’s dash cam.

The incident occurred on May 1, 2011 while Engine 58 was responding to a reported vehicle accident with entrapment. A Cadillac refused to yield causing the engine’s driver, David Jordan, to attempt to cut off the vehicle in retaliation, and the officer to flip off the Cadillac’s driver.

The aggressive move caused the engine to strike a median so hard that the fire truck nearly overturned. Fortunately no one was injured.

Lt. Thomas Veal, a 10 year veteran, was demoted and firefighter Jordan, a 22 year veteran, was terminated.

Firefighter demoted after road rage caught on tape: MyFoxORLANDO.com

About Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.
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