VIDEO Cop handcuffs firefighter over parking dispute during crash rescue

Awkward!

On Tuesday night CBS 8 out of San Diego, California was on the scene of an accident in Chula Vista when their cameras caught a hard-to-conceive occurrence happening between an officer with the California Highway Patrol and a member of the local fire department.

Both men were on-duty and responding to an accident on I-805 when the officer, as yet unnamed, got into a dispute with the firefighter, Jacob Gregoire, over the location of where a fire engine was parked. The officer had asked three firefighters to move their vehicles and two complied. When Gregoire refused and continued providing aid to the crash victims, the officer handcuffed him and placed him in the back seat of his patrol car for nearly 30 minutes.

Here’s the local report which includes footage from CBS 8 in which you can see an obviously frustrated Gregoire, a veteran of over 12 years, being detained as others tended to the victims of the wreck:

As one might imagine, this hasn’t gone over well with the citizens of the community. Reps from both public services met Wednesday and released the following joint statement:

“Last night there was an unfortunate incident at the scene of a traffic collision on I-805, where both our agencies had responded. Both the CHP and the Chula Vista Fire Department share a common goal of protecting the public and providing the highest level of safety to responding emergency personnel, involved parties and other drivers at collision scenes.

Both of our agencies have the utmost respect for each other and our respective missions. This was an isolated incident and not representative of the manner in which our agencies normally work together toward our common goal.

This morning representatives from both agencies met to discuss the incident to improve communication and ensure the highest level of service is provided to the public. This incident will be a topic of future joint training sessions, in an ongoing effort to work more efficiently together.”

Fire Engineer Jacob Gregoire -City of Chula Vista / CBS 8

The local IAFF issued their own statement that read in part:

“On the evening of February 4, 2014 an officer of the California Highway Patrol arrested an on duty Chula Vista Fire Engineer in full turnouts and helmet while the Engineer was rendering medical aid to the victims of a roll-over accident on the south bound 805Freeway. The Fire Engineer had positioned a Fire Engine consistent with his training in a manner that was intended to protect the safety of the victims of the accident the accident as well as the emergency personnel on scene.

The unidentified officer arrived while fire crews were rendering aid. Witnesses state that just prior to the arrest, a different officer ordered a different Fire Engine carrying an on duty paramedic to leave the scene before the medical aid was finished. That Engine departed with the paramedic.

When the Fire Engineer refused to move his Fire Engine before it was safe to do so, the officer told the Engineer “you are under arrest.” He then arrested the engineer in front of local news cameras, which captured the arrest on film. The Engineer was lead to a CHP vehicle where the pockets of his uniform were searched and he was placed in the rear of the vehicle. He was kept handcuffed and locked inside the vehicle for a period of over ½ an hour and ultimately released with no apparent explanation.”

There is no word yet from the CHP on whether or not the officer has been reprimanded for his actions.

HT: Gawker