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Transparency from Virginia’s Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department in releasing the details and police body-cam video from an incident where a firefighter has been charged with assaulting a handcuffed patient who spit on him. In a statement, Chief John Butler said, “This action goes against the values we hold at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. We respect our role in the community and strive to build and maintain public trust. We remain dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of our community and will continue to ensure that our members are held to the highest standards of the profession.”
As you will read below, IAFF Local 2068 President Ron Kuley doesn’t believe the department’s release and the video “portray a true picture of what actually happened.”
The altercation occurs shortly after 11:45 in the video.
A firefighter in Fairfax County, Virginia, was charged with assaulting a patient who was in his care on the way to a hospital, the fire department says.
Firefighter Andrew Cruikshank and the patient got into an altercation in an ambulance on Sept. 14, the Fairfax County Fire Department said in a news release on Monday.
Cruikshank was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault on Monday and was placed on administrative leave.
Justin Jouvenal, The Washington Post:
Neither the statement from authorities nor the video footage that was released “portray a true picture of what actually happened,” the president of the local firefighters union said Monday night in a statement.
The firefighter “was assaulted as witnessed by the police officer,” said Ron Kuley, the union official.
The end of the video captures the police officer telling the man that he “assaulted us numerous times. . . . You spit on the medic and you also assaulted him!” Kuley said.
