An internal investigation determined a pair of Glendale firefighters used excessive force and violated city and department policies when they repeatedly punched and cursed at a patient they were trying to restrain during a medical call in October, according to a report released last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3HLnmVtGZk
AZ chief apologizes for language during fight with patient – Firefighters on leave
The report compiled by city officials did not propose any penalties for Capt. Sean Alford , a firefighter since 1998, including being a decade-long captain with Glendale and before that a firefighter with Phoenix, and firefighter Danny Padilla, who was acting captain during the Oct. 26 incident, part of which was captured on cellphone video.
A widely seen video posted to YouTube showed two firefighters, later identified as Alford and Padilla, cursing at a man strapped to a gurney that had overturned and was on the ground. What hadn’t been captured was the preceding physical altercation with the patient, 30-year-old James Murillo, who was being wheeled from his home on a gurney when he “threw a back-handed punch and ‘cold-cocked’ ” Alford, according to the report.
Jared Dillingham, AZFamily.com:
The patient, 30-year-old James Murillo, suffers from schizophrenia, according to his family. He was having seizures after an overdose on medications.
Murillo punched one of the firefighters who arrived to take him to the hospital, and said he was trying to get off the gurney.
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The neighbor’s video picks up outside the family’s home, as firefighters swear at Murillo and his family.
In the report, firefighters say they punched Murillo to “subdue him,” to “retaliate,” and to “defend themselves.”
However, city officials found two firefighters used “excessive force.”
They ruled one of them, a captain with more than 15 years on the job, “committed acts of violence against the patient.”
Sterling Fluharty, Glendale Star:
Glendale officials are recommending disciplinary action against some of the firefighters involved in a physical altercation during an Oct. 26 medical aid call, after a YouTube video surfaced showing them swearing at the patient.
“Two of the firefighters – Sean Alford and Daniel Padilla – did engage in conduct that violated the human resources department and fire department policies and procedures and can be characterized as major deficiencies in job performance,” the report said.
The other firefighter and fire engineer at that scene were exonerated by the report, released Feb. 13, which HR and an assistant city attorney authored, after the Glendale Police Department and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office also conducted investigations.
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Murillo, diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic, had overdosed on medication . His parents said they told the 911 operator about their son’s condition.
The report says that a firefighter punched Murillo several times after the man swung at them.
A neighbor recorded the incident outside the family home. In thevideo , you can hear firefighters using some strong language.
“You’re a f***ing dead meat b****, I’m gonna have you for everything you have you piece of s***,” one of the firefighters said.
The City of Glendale would not specifically say what will happen next for the two firefighters listed in the investigative report only saying they would receive “due process.”
