Posted on 07/24/2005 6:35:06 AM PDT by SmithL
It's a San Francisco Fire Department tale that might be comical if it wasn't so serious:
An off-duty captain whose car wound up in a Marin County ditch has been charged with driving under the influence -- then pulling a fake heart attack to avoid getting busted.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Mark Donnelly's troubles started when his rented Chevy Malibu shot off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in western Marin County and got stuck in a culvert at about 9:30 p.m. June 4.
CHP spokesman Juan Leon said sheriff's deputies, who were the first to arrive, described Donnelly as showing "symptoms of intoxication'' -- including alcohol on his breath and slurred speech.
Highway Patrol officers were called to administer a field sobriety test. But before they could arrive, Donnelly told deputies he thought he was having a heart attack.
An ambulance was summoned, and Donnelly was rushed to Kaiser Hospital in Terra Linda.
No sooner did the ambulance reach the hospital, however, than Donnelly allegedly told the medical staff that he didn't need any treatment after all and took off.
"Without us having a chance to talk to him or investigate possible DUI charges,'' Leon said.
After interviewing several witnesses, Marin prosecutors charged the 53- year-old Donnelly with driving under the influence and filing a false report of an emergency -- both misdemeanors.
Donnelly, who recently completed a stint as head of the Fire Department's internal services bureau -- the outfit that investigates firefighters for misconduct and the like -- called the charges false.
Reached Friday at Station 11 in the Mission District, where he was temporarily assigned, Donnelly said he was a bit "awed'' by our interest because he had been off duty at the time and "not representing the Fire Department.''
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
As much as we owe a debt of graditude to firefighters, I have noticed that the power of being an IP (important person) often goes to their head.
Some firefighters and fire police have been known to get their cookies off by ordering people around at a fire scene.
It's similar to police-wanna-be syndrome.
It's the big one 'Lizbeth!
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