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Boston firefighter charged with beating up guy who then has a heart attack

Paul Nemes, 58, will be arraigned in West Roxbury District Court this morning on a charge of assault and battery resulting in serious injury for an incident at the Polish American Club on River Street in Hyde Park, according to the Suffolk County DA's office.

Boston Police report Nemes got into a fight with a 62-year-old guy inside the club around 7:45 p.m. yesterday. When EMTs arrived, they found the man in the parking lot, apparently suffering from a serious heart attack, but also with "visible scrapes and abrasions to his face, and scrapes and abrasions to his hands and knees." He was taken to Brigham and Women's; listed in critical condition.

The Globe reports Nemes, a Norwood resident, is a Boston firefighter.

On Sunday, another Boston firefighter was allegedly drunk when he plowed into a car driven by another alleged drunk.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

As usual the majority of news outlets are conveniently omitting that, when the victim went into cardiac arrest, the HORRIBLE Boston Firefighter went out and administered CPR until EMS arrived. I'd like to know how many other people who got into a fist fight with someone would make that extra effort as well.

I assume it to be true that if the suspect was a tow truck driver, and punched this guy out and left the scene, that this story would not be front page news, with FIREFIGHTER emblazoned in gold with a neon arrow pointing to it.

The media has gone beyond their duty of "reporting the news to the public" and all signed on for a firefighter/police officer "everyone is a dirty crook" witch hunt.

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I'm sure the firefighter would have performed CPR in any event, but it crossed my mind that keeping him alive means the difference between being charged with Assault or Manslaughter.

I think firefighters and police officers are great in general and don't deserve to be tarred with the same brush as the others who serve less honorably. And specifically because of that, I think we should pursue and prosecute those who behave criminally, even if they are firefighters or police officers.

Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can borrow mine. - http://despair.com/sanity.html

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I'd like to know how many other people who got into a fist fight with someone would make that extra effort...

I'd like to know how many firemen get into fist fights. Assault is a crime. We got laws against that. Resussetating the victim doesn't make the pugilistic firefighter a hero, it just makes him a human being.

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Channel 5 reported that "it seems to have begun as an exchange of words at a bar." Which presumably means that we're dealing with yet another incident involving a Boston firefighter and substance abuse. It's surreal. Despite the protracted contract fight, despite months of sustained public scrutiny, the procession of firefighters misbehaving while intoxicated continues unabated.

You think the media is betraying bias? Well, of course it is. In fact, the press has gone remarkably easy on the fire department. Imagine, if you will, that a similar pattern of bad behavior had emerged in a less beloved division of our municipal government. That, say, dozens of members of the Public Works department had filed for fraudulent permanent disabilities; that hundreds more had taken questionable disability leaves; and that two members of the department died after showing up for work while under the influence. It'd be ugly. And if problematic behavior continued to come to light, week after week, it'd be uglier still. Yes, there's media bias - there's been undo restraint in covering this story, out of deference to the unquestionable heroism exhibited by firefighters in the performance of their duties. Regrettably, that deference seems only to have emboldened the union leadership, leading it to believe that staving off reform remains a viable option.

Yes, if this were a tow truck driver, it wouldn't have been a headline. If it were a firefighter two years ago, it wouldn't have been a headline, either. That's because only now do we have a clearly established pattern of behavior. The culture of the Boston Fire Department is broken; it is a deeply troubled institution, in rather desperate need of reform. No single incident can justify that conclusion, but taken together, the revelations of the past year render it inescapable. And for anyone inclined to think that the union, or the department, is capable of reforming itself; that it can change the culture with quiet words and without outside intervention, RightSedRed and his ilk should provide all the evidence that you need to the contrary. The union and its defenders remain in denial; they don't even think there's a problem. And that's sad for all involved.

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It's encouraging to hear that a couple of guys that age still have it in them to tangle.

Too bad about the heart attack, though.

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Cynic, your comments are inflammatory and downright ignorant. You offer no example of a rational thought in your babbling anti-firefighter rant.

First off, the fact that this firefighter was in a bar having a couple of drinks indicates he has a substance abuse problem? Really? Were you there or do you know him personally? The media never reported he was intoxicated, yet simply said he was in a bar, having a couple of drinks when the fight occurred. Does that mean everybody going to a bar having a couple of drinks has a substance abuse problem? I guess the hundreds of thousands of people in the Boston area who attend bars to drink alcohol all have substance abuse problems. Unless you know this man personally, then you have no basis to claim that his being in a bar having a couple of drinks indicated he has a problem.

The press has NOT gone "remarkably easy" on the fire department, as you claim. The press has used every opportunity possible to show firefighters in a bad light, and bent over backwards to wear out every single story that pops up about the fire department. People seem to be losing sight of the fact that none of these incidents have occurred on duty, and that these firefighters are, WHOA, human! The fire department, just like every other public and private entity, is a reflection of society itself; people of all colors, backgrounds, and cultures work for the fire department, as is the case in every other company. So, when you have every walk of society employed in a company, there are going to be people who make mistakes and have problems. There has been NO restraint in covering these stories. For the record, no one has asked the public to give these firefighters a break because they are heroes.

The fire department is a "deeply troubled institution?" Really? Approximately 15 firefighters (barely 1% of the firefighting force) have been caught doing things that Joe Public gets caught doing everyday. Does that mean society is also a deeply troubled institution? Oops, let me cue up before you do "The fire department must be held to a higher standard!" Your right. Lets recap. How many of these firefighters have been on duty when any of these incidents occurred? Save Warren Payne and Paul Cahill (and this too is debatable), NONE. All of these firefighters have made the same mistakes many other humans do, and have been OFF DUTY. Anthony Gaston, who was in a department vehicle at the time of his arrest, was also OFF DUTY. Are firefighters exempt from the right to make mistakes? I think the Roman Catholic church, who employed hundreds of priests who molested children for years, and then instead of firing them or having them prosecuted just moved them elsewhere to molest again, is a far more troubled institution than the Boston Fire Department.

For everyone to infer that the fight ABSOLUTELY caused this victim's heart attack proves that people believe ANYTHING the media says, whether it is true or not. The media is a business, and they report what sells, whether it is the truth or not. I feel terrible that this gentleman had a heart attack, and I am praying that he fully recovers; but there is NO evidence as of yet that a simple fist fight caused him to go into cardiac arrest. The victim went into cardiac arrest 40 minutes after the fight occurred. So, did the fight cause the heart attack? And if you answered yes, then honestly, how do you know?? How many fist fights occur in the United States every day that do not result in cardiac arrest? How many bozos fist fight in downtown Boston bars every weekend, and leave their pray on the ground, bleeding, and walk away without a second thought?

"And for anyone inclined to think that the union, or the department, is capable of reforming itself; that it can change the culture with quiet words and without outside intervention, RightSedRed and his ilk should provide all the evidence that you need to the contrary."

Really, Cynic? The fire department ABSOLUTELY cannot reform itself without outside intervention? Maybe you can come and reform the fire department! Has the culture not changed, at least somewhat? Look up "Anthony Gaston" and you'll see that, sure enough, he was fired after what he did. It wasn't swept under the rug; it wasn't kept "hush hush." He was fired. Quite publicly too. Other problems are also being dealt with. 99% or more of the firefighters who report each day for duty do so sober, not under the influence, and with pride.

That being said, I have not once denied that all these incidents pose a problem. Nor has the union. Can you provide examples as to when the union has vehemently denied that there is a problem? The fact that the union is not accepting random drug testing without compensation does not suggest "denial." It is about fairness. I want you to provide me with a valid, reasonable explanation as to why the Boston Fire Department does not deserve the same compensation for random drug testing that the Boston Police Department, Boston EMS, over 30 other Massachusetts fire departments, and many other large city fire departments in the United States (Chicago and New York, for example) have received.

The Boston Fire Department has a drug testing policy; however, it is not currently random, and Mayor Mumbles wants to ram it in without compensation due to one incident, and as well to make a name for himself. His disdain for the fire department and Local 718 is quite public, and everyone tends to forget that.

So long as the general public listens to whatever the Mayor, the media, and instigators like you, Cynic, have to spout out, nobody will ever have to listen to the truth.

Criminals are innocent until proven guilty...

Boston Firefighters are guilty until proven otherwise.

P.S. Even the title of this article is biased. This firefighter engaged in a fist fight with another patron, but yet the title suggests he "beat" him to the inch of his life. Did the media report that and I missed it??

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Wow. Talk about "babbling rants" - tough to know where to begin, or whether it's worth trying to reason with you at all.

Just for fun, let's review what happened here. Two friends were in a private club, at the bar. They had some drinks. Then, "Nemes overheard Crowley talking about an upcoming vacation and took offense." It escalated into "a pushing and chest-bumping fight," and "and some sort of fisticuffs." Perhaps thirty minutes later, he was found lying in the parking lot, not breathing, having suffered a heart attack, with "visible scrapes and abrasions to his face, and scrapes and abrasions to his hands and knees" (although it's unclear whether these were caused by the fight or the fall.) There was enough evidence to arrest, charge, and arraign Nemes for "aggravated assault and battery." The "aggravated" part of that is key, because it means that Nemes is being charged with more than just pushing or chest-bumping; prosecutors think he caused "serious bodily injury."

So, to recap, we have an off-duty jake in a barroom brawl at around seven in the evening. Either he was stone-cold sober and mentally unbalanced ("an upcoming vacation"?), or he'd already tied one on, despite the early hour. (Why do you assume he had just "a couple" of drinks?) You're right; I can't establish a pattern of substance abuse for Nemes, any more than I can for his colleague who got caught at twice the legal limit earlier in the week. But to answer your question, yes, I think that anyone who "goes to a bar to have some drinks" and then commits aggravated assault probably has a problem with alcohol. But that's just me.

But let's not lose sight of the forest for the trees. There are two controversies presently roiling the BFD. One involves substance abuse. It was sparked when two firefighters who died in the line of duty tested positive. The union then tried to obstruct the investigation into their deaths. It also insists, as you put it, on the primacy of "fairness"; that if other public employees have been awarded concessions in exchange for submitting to random testing, firefighters deserve such concessions, too. Really? Aren't the lives of our firefighters worth more than that? Random testing, coupled with a humane and proactive counseling and treatment program, will serve to identify firefighters with substance abuse problems before they harm themselves and others. If the union thinks that testing is inherently harmful, it should oppose it on those grounds. If it thinks it potentially helpful, it should use its leverage to ensure that the program is aimed at healing, and not punishing, its members. But instead, the union has made it clear that its motives are purely mercenary - it opposes testing because if it's something the city wants, then it can be used as a lever to extract more for the firefighters. That's not a question of fairness. It's a betrayal of the public safety, and of the best interests of its own membership.

You're right; the total number of incidents remains small, as a percentage of the force. But it's not just the number who are guilty of criminal misconduct -and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We now know that over a three-year period, fully 10% of the force received treatment for substance abuse - that's 159 firefighters, not 15. And why? Because their supervisors believed them to be under the influence while on duty. That's right - 10% of firefighters were so obviously impaired on duty that they were ordered into treatment. That's a pretty high standard - presumably, many more abused intoxicants without quite reaching it. And you don't think there's a problem here? Really?

This is symptomatic of a broken culture. As firefighters like to point out, their workplace is not like most others. It creates an unusual closeness, almost like a second family. The choices that firefighters make as individuals tend to ripple through the firehouse. When one in ten firefighters has the message that it's alright to show up obviously impaired on the job, the culture is broken. Badly broken. And given, as you point out, that the BFD has been working to fix its badly broken culture for years, and even enjoyed some modest successes along the way, I'd argue that its time has run out. It's not as if this is news to the BFD, the brass, the union, or the city - it's just news to the rest of us. The BFD has had the chance for internal reform; it's in rather desperate need of external intervention.

And we're not even going to touch the disability question, which, as I've demonstrated before, directly implicates hundreds of firefighters, and indirectly implicates the majority of the force.

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I'll say this, your first two paragraphs are not inflammatory or down right anything except reasoned and compelling. Its conjecture to be sure but it fair and its reasoned.

I hope they're both ok.

Hopefully the judge will suspend the sentence for aggravated in return for substance use counseling, if the Jake has no prior violence on his record.

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Man accused in fight may face new charges
By Jillian Jorgensen
Globe Correspondent / September 22, 2008

A veteran Boston firefighter charged with assault and battery after a bar fight last week could face new charges, after the man he allegedly fought with died Friday night, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office.

Paul J. Crowley, 62, a contractor from Whitman, had a heart attack and collapsed in the parking lot of the Polish American Club in Hyde Park on Tuesday after he allegedly fought Paul Nemes, 58, of Norwood, a Boston firefighter of 22 years. Crowley died Friday night at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, a spokeswoman said.

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