Two Montgomery County firefighters avoided conviction of criminal charges on Friday, several months after they were caught on camera flooding a baseball field next to their fire station.
Montgomery County Fire Capt. Christopher Reilly was found not guilty of malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct by a judge in Montgomery County District Court. The same charges against Firefighter Alan Barnes were dismissed.
The Montgomery County Fire Department said in a statement to social media that it will now move forward with an internal investigation.
“W/ the criminal case resolved, our internal administrative process will move forward,” the statement from Montgomery County Fire spokesperson Pete Piringer said. “Duty status remains unchanged, non public contact, pending that review.”
The two men are both career, not volunteer, firefighters, and they were charged in September after officials say one admitted to deliberately flooding a baseball field on July 17.
Thousands of gallons of water from an engine at the station was deliberately sprayed onto the field, and a video showing a towering stream of water saturating the field went viral.
One of the firefighters told police he was frustrated with baseballs leaving the field and damaging property at the adjacent fire station.
According to a charging document filed in the case, Reilly told told two players who went to the station to complain, “I wanted to get your attention.”
The document also states Reilly told officers with the Maryland National Capital Park Police he did it out of “frustration due to repeated incidents involving baseballs striking personal vehicles […]” and equipment.
According to the charging document, Barnes backed the engine out of the station on University Boulevard before removing the hose from the truck, while a video shows Reilly standing on top of the engine and spraying the field for approximately three minutes.
Had they been convicted, the men were each facing up to three years in prison due to the charge of malicious destruction of property.
“The judge in this case acquitted the defendant of criminal charges,” said Lauren DeMarco, spokesperson for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, said. “The State respects the judge’s decision. The Captain Christopher Reilly was acquitted even though he admitted doing it. Prosecutors dropped the charges against the second firefighter Alan Barnes.”
News4 has reached out to the Thunderbolts baseball team for comment on the case.
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