California Highway Patrol Officer Cuffs Montecito Fire Battalion Chief -Truth!

California Highway Patrol Officer Cuffs Montecito Fire Battalion Chief –Truth!

Summary of eRumor:
 

This is a forwarded story about a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer who arrested a Fire Department Battalion Chief  during a traffic accident response in the city of Montecito, California. The firefighter refused the CHP officer’s request to move his truck because he was blocking traffic in the fast lane.

The Truth:
.A spokesperson for the Montecito Fire Department told TruthOrFiction.com that this is a true story  Montecito Firefighters were responding to the scene of a minor injury traffic accident at the side of the left lane on northbound 101 Freeway.  It is a standard operating procedure to park the last arriving responder rig, usually a fire truck, at an angle to shield the assessment team from passing vehicles. Traffic was starting to back up and a California Highway Patrol officer, at the scene told firefighters to move the rig to improve the flow of traffic.  When the Battalion Chief refused to obey the order he was arrested and cuffed by the CHP officer.

According to a February 24, 2010 article in the Santa Barbara Independent   “The chief was not detained for long, however, because as soon as a CHP supervisor caught wind of the incident, he rushed to the scene and released the Montecito fire representative.”   No charges were filed against the Battalion Chief.   Click for article

updated 03/22/2010