Street brawl: 2 members of DC Fire and EMS charged, fire department says

WASHINGTON — Two Washington D.C. fire department employees have been charged in connection to a street brawl that occurred in Northwest D.C. back in April, D.C. Fire and EMS confirmed late Monday night.

Editor's Note: The video above aired on April 27, 2023.

Several employees of D.C. Fire and EMS were put on administrative leave after a video showed responding crews engaged in a brawl with a man in Northwest D.C. The incident happened on April 25, near the intersection of Florida Avenue Northwest and North Capitol Street Northwest.

It wasn't clear Monday who were the two charged, but the fire department said they've been placed on administrative duties.

"The D.C. Fire and EMS Department has been informed about charges filed against two of our members in relation to an incident that occurred on April 25," a fire department spokesperson said late Monday night. "As part of the ongoing investigation into the incident, the members in question were placed on administrative duties, and they will continue in that status until the legal proceedings are concluded."

Police originally charged the man at the center of the brawl with assault on a firefighter. Witnesses say he had climbed under a Metrobus, grabbed the wheel and refused to let go – prompting the call for first responders. Charges against that man have since been dropped, so WUSA9 will no longer name him in our reporting.

WUSA9 broke this story back in April as one of our photographers was at the scene when the brawl happened and caught some of the incident on video.

Our photographer said the man was belligerent and combative with several firefighters and then punched one of the firefighters in the face. That's when the brawl broke out.

The video that was shot by the WUSA9 photographer appears to show responding fire department staff and Metropolitan Police Department officers attempting to bring the man into custody. 

At the time, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo told WUSA9 in a statement that they were aware of the video. Maggiolo said six members of the fire department had been placed on administrative leave pending the results of a joint investigation between D.C. Fire and EMS and the Metropolitan Police Department.

"The actions depicted in a video of the incident are completely unacceptable and do not reflect the behavior we require of our members," Maggiolo said in a statement back in April.

No other details on the charges have been released.

This is a developing story. Stick with WUSA9 for updates as they become available.