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CHP Officer Who Arrested Firefighter Beat Unconscious by Bar Patrons
karma |ˈkärmə|
noun(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.• informal destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.
The chief (wearing blue t shirt) is seen leaning up against the guardrail, handcuffed.
CBz
March 7, 2010 9:53 AM
A California Highway Patrol officer who made local headlines when he arrested a Montecito fireman has been injured in a fight with three men in a bar and says he has no recollection of the incident.
Bakersfield police responded at 2:02 a.m. on Feb. 20 to reports of a man down at RJ's Bar & Grill in the northwest section of town. There, they found off-duty CHP Officer Joseph Rodriquez in need of medical assistance.
Police say differing witness accounts alternately have Officer Rodriguez attempting to break up a fight between two women and then getting jumped and beaten by three men or trying to intercede after a man began pushing a woman and getting beaten by six men, including one who smashed a beer bottle over the officer's head, according to Bakersfield Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mary DeGeare.
Bakersfield police said that one of the two witnesses was an acquaintance of Officer Rodriquez, who was transported to the hospital and has since been released and returned to active duty according to CHP Captain Jeff Sgobba.
Bakersfield police say they have not yet spoken with Officer Rodriguez and asked about this, Capt. Sgobba said, "When a person gets hit on the head, they don't remember. He remembers going out to dinner, that's it. He doesn't remember anything else.
"He told me ... (after he was hit in the head) he thought he was in Santa Barbara and looking for his motorcycle."
Even with the memory loss, Capt. Sgobba said the officer is "still healthy enough to be on active duty."
Captain Sgobba would provide no additional information and instead directed questions to the Bakersfield Police Department.
"He went to the hospital and was not questioned," said Sgt. Mary DeGeare. "The responding officer opted to have someone contact him at a later date."
RJ's manager, Guy Adamson, told the News-Press he had no knowledge of any assault or police action in his parking lot on the date in question.
"If something happened, he would know about it," he said.
Representatives from the restaurant also said the establishment closes at 1:45 a.m.
No arrests have been made in the case.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Kevin Findley of the Bakersfield Police Department at 661-326-3919.
Officer Rodriguez was also involved in an incident on Feb. 15, when he briefly arrested and handcuffed a Montecito Fire Protection District battalion chief who allegedly refused to move a fire truck that was blocking on-coming traffic in an attempt to screen firefighters working at the scene of a minor crash on Highway 101 near San Ysidro Road.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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Bad Boy, Bad Boy...What will you do when they come for you....? Bad Boy...Bad Boy....OOPS...wrong story line......or is it...???
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WestPhilly.....1st...the word you search for doesn't begin with "ph"it begins with "F" and it ends with "ing" not "in"...2nd...Take a pill.....this site is designed for opinions....that's what they are giving...opinions...Now, I don't value opinions much as many can attest to...my idea of opinions is that they are like assholes...we all have them and they all stink...If Joe "hardass" trooper would have called for back-up as they are taught then maybe he wouldn't have had his blue canary ass kicked.....But, then again...that's my "opinion".....
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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on
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I don't avocate any form of violence except self defense. From what I read that young officer does need some humbling and a can of wup a$$ might do the trick or just make him angrier. Maybe with age and experience he will become more reasonable and less cocky.
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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Paul.....1st...the word I was looking for was the word you saw...2nd...What phuckin pill? I was giving my opinion, you know, what "this site is designed for".
I don't know if the cop called for back-up or not, but he got his "blue canary ass kicked" because three or even six jerkoffs tag-teamed him. If you think that he even remotely deserved that, you're probably a jerkoff, too.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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WP, when posting this, the first thing that came to mind was karma... This officer was not very nice to a battalion chief who was just trying to protect his crew and the patients. Now the officer finds himself in a situation where he is overwhelmed by more than one person with a bad attitude. There's the comparison, hence using the word "karma".
I don't personally believe in karma but in this case, I found it interesting that one-week after he arrested the firefighter, he found himself involved in a bar fight with overwhelming odds. I feel incredibly bad for the officer. It's unreasonable and emotionless to wish harm on any person.
No one is defending his actions when he put the firefighter in handcuffs. Everyone involved at this point just wishes the whole thing would just go away. And it started to do so until the officer went to a bar in Bakersfield, and tried to do what he thought was the right thing. This shows that this guy has a heart and like everyone out there, should be given a second chance. We all make mistakes and for this guy, making the decision to go to this particular establishment in Bakersfield proved to be another bad mistake.
Forgive me for being naive but in my world, I try to be a happy person, thinking happy little thoughts most of the time. What I get back for the most part are happy thoughts and actions from others... I also don't go to bars... My inference to karma follows my mind set. It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice. Plus I really don't care for bars... I've had one too many medical responses for drunks during my career.
WP, your comments are spot on, no one deserves being beat up like this officer, regardless and to think otherwise defies why we do this job in the first place. You have every right to bring this to folks reading this posts attention. Thank you.
CBz
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CBz
Let's all belly-up to the bar. I got the first round.
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ok, for you brother, I'll make an exception... and I'll buy the second round! CBz
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Permalink Reply by Tom Johnson on
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WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys have it all wrong and its funny that you can be so manipulated by a text message from a firefighter and a liberal spun news article. The Battalion Chief in question was not arrested for not moving his fire truck he was arrested for 148(a) PC. Its called public record and for once maybe somebody should try finding out what really happened on that scene instead of giving their thoughts on an incident they know nothing about. The Battalion Chief was on scene for about 12 minutes before he was arrested not 63 seconds as was stated in the firemen’s text message. The crash was a minor T/C with one party refusing medical treatment after he received a bloody nose from the deployment of the airbag system in his vehicle. Call Montecito Fire and request this so called “hero” Battalion Chiefs file that is open to the public and read what type of person he really is. The motor officer on scene is not a rookie which can be confirmed by simply going onto the Sacramento Bee website and typing in his name, heck you can even see how much money he made last year. If you really wanted to know what happened just request the arrest report that was filed by the CHP to the Santa Barbara District Attorneys Office. Maybe the SB news press should actually do some real investigating before they publish a one sided story with little if no real facts.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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YEAH! Hey you guys out there.. SHAME ON YOU ALL for believing the news reports. That's the trouble with the fn world today. We believe everything we read. Let this be a lesson to us all. Next time we read anything in a new paper, or hear or see a news cast.. Call BS on it until you sit down and research every last fn detail about it. Its too bad we don't have more Toms out there that are willing to set us all straight and show us how ignorant we are for actually believing the stuff written in our news papers.Well, so much for my weekend. I now have to go back and re-read every single fn newpaper article, then research all the details just to find out if what was printed is exactly the facts. AND, while I can't speak for everyone else, I for one, will sleep better tonight knowing what a 148 a (PC) is!!! I am going to stand in the corner with my head down for the rest of the day for being soooo stupid!
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WRONG!!!!!!!!!! Oh really?
I find your post interesting because it's always a lot easier to come into a conversation, after-the-fact, loaded with knowledge that until now had never been brought up. The only information available about this incident, that to begin with was identified as something that was not meant to be made public, was made available through interviews with both the CHP and the involved fire department. There were two different newspaper sources that included the Santa Barbara Newspress and the Santa Barbara Independent. There was also video reports on the three local television news stations. All the stories reflected what was posted on this discussion.
Regardless of how long the BC was on scene, it should be pointed out that he was arrested for PC 148 which simply states that you cannot disrupt a Peace Officer in the course of his duties.
Its essentially what is called a Disruption Of Justice.
Since when is it cool to arrest a firefighter? You infer that the BC or as you stated, "so called hero", is not a good person and that we really don't know what kind of person he is. You kind of make it sound like you have personal experience with this individual and are personalizing your attack on him, but then again, why else would you join the FFN?
I understand that as a LEO, you are compelled to back up your brother officers, and in this situation, that is exactly what you are doing, being a good buddy. Being realistic, I would expect nothing less. I for one would be appropriate at this point your being specific as to why the officer in question allowed the situation to get out of control in the first place... Resulting in using force to solve a problem between agencies is still the big question here. What could the battalion chief possibly have done to cause the officer to physically restrain and handcuff the firefighter? You have to admit that this was rather... extreme?
You have knowledge above and beyond what we, firefighters even think about. Much of this information has been kept quiet, leaving room for speculation and assumptions. This post has successfully revealed more information about exactly what went on and what we can do to prevent this from occurring ever again... Hopefully, we can learn from this and all do better on the next call.
I hope the officer in question has recovered from the Bakersfield bar fight where he was jumped. Again, reading another news story, not trusting any of the information to be fact, just what happened there? Two incidents within a week's time, involving physical altercations and the use of force is something that is totally foreign to firefighters. We just aren't use to hassling people or being hassled.
Remember, cops have guns, handcuffs, and other force related things to deal with what you consider to be a problem. All we as firefighters have is our mouth, which apparently got this BC into hot water with the CHP in the first place.
And as far as someone trying to find out what really happened, please note that I personally made contact with the fire department, talked to the PIO and was informed that everything in the Santa Barbara Newspress was accurate. Aside from going legal begal on this, I kind of thought that this was pretty accurate intel.
So who do I believe? The fire department PIO or someone who joined the FFN just to bring up credibility issues about the battalion chief in question, and made the attack almost personal.
From a firefighters point of view, providing patient and crew protection is paramount. If the on scene chief officer feels that there is a safety issue, and deems it appropriate to keep a lane blocked, then I for one will always back up the fire officers decision. What may appear as a simple minor T/C with a nose bleed indicates that there could have been blunt trauma to the head which is not by itself considered in any way to be minor. Closed head injuries are very serious and require c-spine precautions to be taken. This means firefighters and EMS personnel need to be protected from traffic hazards. This is done by using a fire engine to block the lanes.
Please save us the time and hassle of researching things and be specific with your observations and recommendations. We all need to work together as a team. Finding out what really went wrong here will hopefully preventing this from ever happening again, but only if we work together...
TCSS,
CBz
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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I'll get the 3rd round! But are we drinking in Philly or Santa Barbara? I'm about halfway between both, so give me about 12 hours to get there! Stay safe!
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I'm with you on this one Mike. That Batt Chief could be a total prick for all I care, but he was still doing his job and protecting his crew while operating on the roadway. No one deserves to be arrested for that! Stay safe!
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