The L.A. County Fire Department is fighting a decision to reinstate a former Santa Clarita fire captain, who was fired for assaulting his neighbor nearly four years ago, and awarding him more than two years of backpay, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It’s unclear why exactly L.A. County Fire Captain Adam Clint, now 51, and his then neighbor Robert Pope were feuding about, but on July 3, 2021, the situation escalated to violence.
Pope reportedly stopped by Clint’s home after hearing from his wife that the fireman berated her for speeding on their cul-de-sac in a Santa Clarita neighborhood.
An argument then ensued in which Clint is said to have pointed a gun at Pope, who is Black, calling him the n-word and telling him to “get the F*** off my property,” The Times reported.
His two teenage daughters waiting, Pope said he turned and walked toward his vehicle when he took a blow to the back of the head that knocked him unconscious. Later, he said he also suffered a footprint-shaped bruise on his back.
The captain at first denied to deputies that he struck Pope, but eventually admitted to punching him in the head, an incident that landed him a felony assault conviction.
A judge later reduced the felony to a misdemeanor, which was then removed from his record, according to The Times.
In Jan. 2023, Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Ewald sent Clint a termination notice stating that his conduct “embarrassed and discredited the Department” and that his felony conviction meant he “engaged in conduct unbecoming a fire captain.”
However, in February of this year, the decision to terminate Clint was unanimously overturned by the L.A. County Civil Service Commission, who said there was not enough evidence that Clint had brandished a firearm and used a racial slur during the incident.
In the commission’s report, the 51-year-old’a behavior on that day was characterized as “isolated” and “uncharacteristic,” and suggested punishment be a simple 30-day suspension and an award of more than two years of back pay, according to The Times.
In April, the fire department filed a petition in L.A. County Superior Court appealing the decision, saying the department had every right to terminate the 51-year-old.
In 2022, Clint sued Pope, his wife and L.A. County, arguing officials at the fire department and deputies were preferential toward Pope because of his “African American Ancestry,” The Times reported, and that he didn’t receive due process because he is Caucasian.
Ultimately, the case was dismissed, though a year later, Pope sued Clint for battery and that case remains ongoing.
Reached for comment, Pope told The Times that “mind-blowing” that Clint would get his job back.
If Clint is reinstated in the fire department, it is unclear where he’d be assigned.
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