Posted on 09/08/2009 3:30:27 PM PDT by ETL
Ladder 15's Matt Dugan Undergoes 2 Surgeries To Alleviate Brain Swelling
Police Believe 3-Year NYC Firefighter Was Defending His Girlfriend During Confrontation
NEW YORK (CBS) - Police were looking for two men Tuesday who attacked and severely beat an off-duty firefighter in lower Manhattan on Labor Day.
At New York Downtown Hospital, fire trucks stopped and crews have gone in offering their best wishes to the family of 34-year-old Matthew Dugan, who had surgery to relieve blood clots and pressure on the brain.
When asked for his thoughts on Matthew, one firefighter remained silent.
Dugan was attacked around 1:30 a.m. inside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Dugan and his girlfriend were on their way to board a ferry when the girlfriend tripped and fell, causing some onlookers to laugh.
Dugan reportedly told two young men to grow up. Words were exchanged and Dugan was then savagely beaten. He's a three-year fire department veteran and works out of Ladder 15 on South Street, where fellow firefighters kept tight-lipped.
Dugan grew up in Prince's Bay, Staten Island, where his parents were not home. "His father, very proud of him being in the fire department, because the father was a fireman," said Charlie Zakian, a family friend.
Zakian runs the service station across the street, and said he's known Dugan since he was a baby, and can't fathom the attack.
"I can't understand why. The kid doesn't look for trouble, not a troublemaker," he said.
At the ferry terminal, there were at least two security cameras in the vicinity of the attack but no word on what they might have captured.
All police would say Tuesday afternoon was that so far, they had no suspects.
At the SI ferry terminal, odds are that the perps were white.
No idea, but typically dog biting man has little coverage.
No way. There are a lot of black thug types that travel the ferry, especially at that hour.
In the past - when people knew that the “typical” was dog bites man - it made sense to cover “man bites dog”. But in our world presenting “freak show” news doesn’t work. We need to understand the underlying truth...
The suspects must be black. If the victim was black we would already be hearing it as a racial incident.
I did a lot of drinking at South Street Seaport years ago, and I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to my surroundings.
Pretty safe bet.
BY Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, September 8th 2009
An off-duty firefighter was in critical condition Monday night after he was savagely beaten while defending his girlfriend in the Staten Island ferry terminal, police said.
Matthew Dugan, 34, underwent emergency surgery at the New York Downtown Hospital to relieve swelling on the brain he suffered after he was pummeled by three assailants, officials said.
"We're hoping he's going to be okay," said a firefighter at the hospital late yesterday who asked that his name not be used. "He's out of surgery."
Investigators were reviewing surveillance video that showed two men and a woman running from the terminal in the moments after the brawl, police said.
Dugan, who is assigned to Ladder 15 near the South Street Seaport, had been drinking with his girlfriend at a lower Manhattan bar before they walked to the terminal to catch the 1:30 a.m. ferry to Staten Island, the sources said.
Though the moments immediately preceding the fight remain under investigation, witnesses told cops that Dugan's girlfriend tripped and fell, and things heated up when the three passersby started laughing, sources said.
Dugan, who has been with the FDNY for three years, and the trio then exchanged words, and the fight quickly escalated, sources said.
The firefighter was knocked to the ground and his attackers continued to punch and kick him, witnesses told police.
Though Dugan did not lose consciousness, he was bleeding heavily from his face and mouth, witnesses said.
It was not immediately clear who threw the first punch, sources said. It was also not known if anything was taken from Dugan or his girlfriend.
A steady stream of firefighters visited Dugan at the hospital, where he was resting in the intensive care unit late yesterday.
Dugan's girlfriend was not injured during the fight.
When you free terrorists and prosecute the protectors, are these rational times? Just saying.
Many in my family are lifelong residents of the Triboro area and they are seeing a return to the 70’s type of crime and rampant thuggery.
It had cleared up with Guiliani and for some years afterward, but it’s going downhill fast.
Not that fast, imo, but it does seem to be be getting somewhat worse these days (post Giuliani).
No, these are not rational times... we agree.
What’s that got to do with anything? 2 turds attacked a man. The turds need to be flushed.
Because the media likes to ignore potential “hate crimes” when the victims are white and the perps are black. They only report it as such in the comparatively few cases when the victims are black and the perp white.
Dugan grew up in Prince’s Bay, Staten Island, where his parents were not home.
&&&
What? Nine-year-olds are writing the copy again.
Prayers for this man’s complete recovery and for the arrest of the savages who did this to him.
Re: “...in Prince’s Bay, Staten Island, where his parents were not home.”
Yeah, I noticed that, too. Who knows what they were *trying* to say.
It is a sin that he couldn’t be carrying concealed in New York. It is a sin. You may never need a gun in your lifetime, but preventing yourself from being beaten nearly to death is one of those times.
And honestly, with a gun on him he may just have bit his tongue. Now, I’m not blaming him in the least for he is blameless. The scum who thrashed him are 150% to blame. But if he was carrying, he just may have though, “let it go. Don’t say it. Don’t create a remote possiblity to escalate where I may need to pull the gun.”
Still and all, it is a sin he was not armed and able to shoot his attackers in defense of his life.
Safe to assume, because the 10 or 12 articles I found on the story all refused to describe the suspects. On story even stated that Matt’s girfriend was able to give a description of the suspects.
Van Jones can kiss my racist butt, but the FACT IS, the MSM ONLY gives suspect descriptions when the perps are lily white. Otherwise, they bury it. You can count on the perps being black or hispanic.
I am ashamed of myself that the Evil MSM has turned me into such a jaded person. I hate criminals and a white criminal is no less evil than a black, hispanic or asian criminal. But the MSM has programmed me through years of insidious, devious, calculating lies to where I have learned to decode their lies and ommissions.
SO yes. I personally guarantee that the perps are black or hispanic, and I base this on the MO of the evil MSM. Thank goodness they are dying a rapid death.
Never a harsh word to a FRiend...
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