Four Jacksonville firefighters have been reassigned following their arrest on misdemeanor charges after a police car and an unrelated civilian vehicle were struck by paintballs near a downtown fire station.<\/p>\n
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office charged each of them with criminal mischief, saying its investigation showed the two cars were pelted with paintballs Dec. 29 during an alleged “prank war” involving the firefighters.<\/p>\n
The investigation also showed paintballs struck an abandoned building as well as traffic signs, the roadway and a dumpster near Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Station 4, at 639 W. Duval St. at West Jefferson Street in LaVilla, the Sheriff’s Office said.<\/p>\n
JSO announced the arrest and summarized the investigation in a mid-afternoon Jan. 23 news release and post on the agency’s Facebook page.<\/p>\n
The Times-Union is not naming the four JFRD employees due to the charges being misdemeanors, and the fact that no one was hurt.<\/p>\n
All four have been “assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of a JFRD internal investigation,” the fire and rescue department said in a Jan. 23 statement posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n
JFRD described the incident as “personnel misconduct while on duty.” The department also said the arrests won’t interfere with the station operations.<\/p>\n
“This incident will have no impact on public safety or JFRD operations. The station where this occurred remains fully staffed with qualified personnel,” JFRD posted.<\/p>\n
What JSO says happened<\/p>\n
The Sheriff’s Office’s news release summarized the circumstances leading to the arrests as follows:<\/p>\n
On Dec. 29, an officer was driving a marked patrol car near North Jefferson and West Duval streets when he “noticed multiple impacts” on the vehicle. He discovered several green paint splatters on the patrol car. A civilian driver also said his car had been struck similarly, according to the JSO news release.<\/p>\n
High-rise training: Hanging off skyscraper top is what they trained for<\/a><\/p>\n