Hartford Firefighter Off the Job

Destroying property, and making threats against a business owner, those are the allegations facing a Hartford firefighter.  A Hartford business owner says it happened at his convenience store and now the firefighter is on paid administrative leave.

NBC Connecticut has learned the firefighter in question is Doug Caldwell.  The Hartford Fire Chief says he’s very concerned about the allegations and launched an internal investigation into Caldwell right after the store owner called police.

Hartford Police were called to JR’s Convenience Store at Garden and Westland on March 31st after getting reports of a disturbance. According to the owner, firefighter Doug Caldwell was drunk when he walked in that afternoon, and caused some serious problems that were caught on surveillance cameras.

That owner told NBC Connecticut, Caldwell was out of control, slammed his hands down on the counter and broke it underneath the register.  When the owner confronted the firefighter, he says Caldwell screamed profanities at him, then started making threats.

NBC Connecticut went to Caldwell’s apartment but he did not want to comment about the allegations or his status with the Hartford Fire Department.  

As soon as the Hartford Fire Chief found out police were involved, he put Caldwell on paid leave and launched an internal investigation that’s still not completed.  The Chief says he’s more than concerned about the allegations against Caldwell and that his employees should be held to a higher standard.

At this point criminal charges have not been filed against Caldwell. Police were still working on the report.

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