Pasco Fire Captain ‘Relieved of Duty’ After 2nd Arrest
He was arrested over the weekend following an incident in Punta Gorda.
A Pasco County Fire Rescue captain has been placed on unpaid leave following a weekend arrest in Punta Gorda.
Capt. David Garofalo has “been relieved of duty until such time as he’s been cleared (of charges),” said Assistant Chief Cynthia Holland.
Garofalo, 36, was arrested Dec. 15 on a battery charge, according to Charlotte County jail records. He stands accused of beating his girlfriend in the parking lot of a bar in Punta Gorda, according to the Herald Tribune.
“Witnesses inside the bar Saturday night heard the woman scream, ‘Help me! Get him off me! Help,’” the Herald Tribune reported.
Garofalo was also arrested in Indianapolis, Ind., in May on a DUI charge. Pasco County Fire Rescue had placed him on restricted duty following that arrest, Holland said.
The Herald Tribune reports Garofalo earns $58,672 a year as a Pasco County captain and also served as a city commissioner in his home town of North Port prior to losing reelection in November.
“We’re doing all we can to ensure that our personnel are fit for duty and (are) providing the best” service,” Holland added.
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Duncan Hitchcock
8:37 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
After almost 34 years as an employee of Pasco County Fire Rescue it is articles like this that do nothing but embarrass me and the countless good folks that are still working hard every day to serve the citizens of and visitors to Pasco County. Being an EMT, Paramedic and Firefighter in service to one's community charges each individual to a higher standard of behavior. When one person violates that standard it is time for them to either voluntarily move on or involuntarily shown the door.
It is time for PCFR to show this person the door.
Robert Martin
6:23 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
I agree and then some. Sadly, this kind of person slips throught the cracks and becomes a danger to others. It is embarrassing and it chips away at the fabric of "implied responsibility" of our gov. officials. The Fire and Police department are supposed to be civic leaders, not just employees.
True examples about what's right about us all.
Mr. Hitchcock is spot on & Mr Garafalo's actions (if substantiated) makes him a coward and a candidate not only for dismisal, but actionable punishment and subject to immediate termination from a job that is designed wholey to assist people,
not to cause possible injury due to mental instability, drunkin displays or,
personal domestic disputes, openly displaying the inability to cope with stress and pressure.
I want my public officials to be better. I expect them to be more then this.
To quote: "It is time for PCFR to show this person the door."