TWO firefighters in Maryland have been charged for destruction of property.
Firefighters flooded a baseball field in Montgomery county, and video of the incident went viral in July.
Two firefighters were charged with destruction of property[/caption]
The firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water into a baseball field[/caption]
The two firefighters hosed thousands of gallons of water from a fire engine at their station onto the baseball field.
One of the firefighters said they were frustrated with balls leaving the field and damaging property at the station.
The firefighters were charged with malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct.
This came after one of them admitted to flooding the field on purpose.
According to a charging document, Montgomery County Fire Capt. Christopher Reilly told players who complained, “I wanted to get your attention.”
The document also states that Reilly told Maryland National Capital Park police that he did it out of “frustration due to repeated incidents involving baseballs striking personal vehicles…”
The second firefighter charged in the incident, Alan Barnes, backed the fire engine out of the station before removing the hoses from the truck, according to NBC Washington.
Video shows Reilly standing on the engine and spraying water on the field for three minutes.
“I come from Virginia, the team we were playing is from Virginia, so a lot of families drove an hour and a half in traffic to hopefully play after all this rain and didn’t get a chance to play,” Thunderbolts head coach, Brock Hunter, told NBC Washington in July.
“It makes things difficult for us… a crazy experience.”
The charging document revealed that fans already arrived for the game and had to be reimbursed when it was cancelled.
Barnes and Reilly are due in court this month for their charges.
They could face up to three years in prison for malicious destruction of property.
The Montgomery County Fire department removed both firefighters from operation after the incident.
They have both been placed on non-public contact status.
