It took a six-person jury just 19 minutes Wednesday to clear a Brockton, MA firefighter of being hydrated while carrying a gun last year. The firefighter, Jaime Barbosa, drew his .40 cal Glock twice while breaking up a brawl outside a watering hole involving two fellow firefighter buddies who had been attacked by an unknown pair of miscreants. You’d think he’d be in line for a commendation. Nope…
Responding police officer Christopher Perez wasn’t able to track down the two hoods who beat up the firemen. He did, however charge Barbosa who, he described as “slightly intoxicated,” without bothering to give him a breathalizer test. Other witnesses disagreed with the officer’s assessment.
Martin Tyrrell, an emergency medical technician with AMR ambulance service, testified Wednesday that as he and his partner treated the injured firefighters, who were lying in the street and on the sidewalk, Barbosa went back and forth between them, “basically triaging the two patients … basically making sure they were both OK.”
“He seemed completely sober,” Tyrrell said.
Tina Spardella, a registered nurse at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, said Barbosa was helpful that night when Albanese was brought to the emergency room suffering from a head injury.
“He was beat up pretty bad, bleeding, and also belligerent, yelling at the staff and screaming,” Spardella said.
Spardella said Barbosa was “very calm talking to the patient … His speech was clear, he had a steady gait, he was trying to get the patient to do what we wanted him to do.”
Police subsequently searched Barbosa’s home, finding 26 licensed heaters, most of which he was holding for a friend in the military who had been deployed. More evidence (did you really need any?) bolstering RF’s point that you’re not the good guy. No matter what you think.
Why should anyone be surprised, he tried to do the right thing and got screwed. We all need to remember that no good deed goes unpunished.
+1
“Responding police officer Christopher Perez wasn’t able to track down the two hoods who beat up the firemen. He did, however charge Barbosa.”
looks like he needed somebody to arrest. MA scares me greatly, do they simply need to arrest SOMEBODY when they respond to calls to CYA? The LEO incompetence is unreal in this case.
Heh. No good deed goes unpunished. Story of my life.
In the Volksrepublik of Massachusetts? No! It couldn’t happen!
It all depends on the city or town and its chief LEO, who sets the tone. Some chiefs are very pro-2A, some not and some just hate the concept of armed civilians. Brockton is a pain in the ass, except for one group that has no trouble getting a Class A license. What group? Firefighters! I kid you not.
Some top instructors promote never using your gun do to anything other than to protect you and yours. Might be worthy advice.
One would hope that his fire fighter buddies would be helping with his legal bills, mortgage, and grocery bills…
Just one more reason I count my blessings – among which is that I live in rural Alaska – Anchorage and the SE are too full of Leftie tree-hugger types for my comfort.
My question is how/why do you unholster your weapon (twice!) if you have no intention of using it? I was taught never to draw unless you intend to go bang…
I hate to get down on our firefighter buddy here, but while he was non-guilty of being intoxicated with a weapon, it does sound like he was brandishing the Glock. (At least according to what I’ve read here and via the link.)
If someone was beating the shit out of one of my friends, I’d pull my gun too. Pretty good chance they’ll run away.
So if a bad guy is pointing a gun at someone, you draw and tell them to drop it, they drop it, you shoot them anyway?
Even in Massachusetts, brandishing is not a crime when the permit holder is defending himself or others from death or serious bodily injury.
More evidence (did you really need any?) bolstering RF’s point that you’re not the good guy.
Actually, it bolsters my point that police should not be trusted.
Same difference.
WTF happened here, the news article you linked said the FF’s friends were beaten and robbed, yet the FF drew his weapon, holstered it, and then drew it again. It seems that there are a lot of facts were not being told. Like how did they get robbed if the assailants were being held at gun point? Also why is this guys profession mentioned in the article, the only reason I can think of is an attempt to curry favor? Its completely irrelevant to the story.
It doesnt help that the FF is an ex-gang member. He was accused of witness intimidation, trespassing and assault as a child, yet those charges were dropped because he joined the Marines. So I can go be a criminal, and if caught, all I have to do is join the military instead of spending a couple years behind bars? Huh?
Joining the military as an alternative punishment is a time-honored tradition that goes back long before this country. If you’re just a troubled youth who needs discipline, I’d rather send you to the marines to become a productive member of society than to prison to learn how to be a better criminal.
Also, his profession is relevant for a couple of reasons: He’s a civil servant, and I’d expect to know if it was a mayor’s aide or a postal worker too; he’s also a trained EMT, so all of the details about him triaging and talking with the patients are clarified in that context.
The more serious question is….Under what basis did they get a warrant to search his home?…Law abusement officers at their finest….
Been in the USMC for 20 years, am an NRA Benefactor member and have multiple firearms instructor certifications as well as being Distinguished with Rifle and Pistol. Even when we increased the force a couple years ago from 17x,xxx to 202,000 it was not allowed to enlist an applicant that had serious convictions or pending legal matters. It is an urban legend. That is not to say that people with a juvenile history were not enlisted, if they weren’t felonies there is a process to waiver certain juvenile misdemeanor offenses. I’m sure often times law enforcement that recognized that a kid was traveling in the wrong circles but was salvageable could refer him or her to a recruiter before they did something that would be a permanent black mark on their record. I was not a recruiter and do not know the rules exactly, but it is generally known that the old “Join the Marines to stay out of jail” is just not true. I personally had Marines work for me that had a juvenile record that were stellar performers and left the Corps better men for the experience.
Excellent website by the way, keep up the great work!
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