CHUCK BENNETT and JAMIE SCHRAM
The New York Post

The firefighter allegedly involved in a deadly hit-and-run Sunday was once convicted of a felony for attempted assault - which he then lied about while trying to get certified as an EMT, records show.

Fireman Patrick Quagliariello - who yesterday was suspended without pay amid a probe into his SUV's fatal mow-down of Guatemalan immigrant Manuel Tzajguachiac in Bensonhurst - pleaded guilty to assault on March 20, 1992, and received one day in jail and five years' probation.

He was allowed to join the FDNY - despite his felony conviction - only after the state Division of Parole granted him a Record of Good Conduct in 2004.

It is extremely rare for the city to hire a firefighter with a felony conviction.

But the conviction did come back to haunt Quagliariello in 2005, when he was fined $1,000 and placed on three years' administrative probation after the state Department of Health determined he lied about his criminal record when he sought Emergency Medical Technician certification, records show.

Quagliariello, 39, didn't return calls for comment.

The firefighter appeared at a police station house nearly four hours after Sunday's hit-and-run, then refused to answer questions. Cops did not give him a Breathalyzer test and say they still don't know whether he was driving.

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October 13, 2010