DC firefighter allegedly assaulted on call accused of being drunk on the job

WASHINGTON - A DC firefighter who was allegedly assaulted while responding to a call has been accused of being intoxicated while on the job, according to officials.

DC Fire and EMS officials said the firefighter was responding to a call Sunday afternoon for a 3-year-old girl who suffered an injury after falling from her bed in the 200 block of 37th Street, SE.

The parents of the girl, who believed she may have hurt her neck and back, refused to let the firefighter help their daughter because they believed he was drunk.

"When the ambulance arrived, a drunk man came into my house. He came in there yelling," Lamont Jennings, the father of 3-year-old Aubrey recalled. "On the phone, they told me, 'Don't pick up your daughter because you may make her paralyzed.' I tell them (the firefighters) you need to get a stretcher so you can lay her on and scoot her over so she doesn't have to move."

"(He yelled) 'pick her up, pick her up,' yelling at me, so I picked her up, take her outside and this is when he starts falling up the steps so everyone is like 'he's drunk.' That's when it really kicked into my mind that he was drunk. I looked at his partner and his partner told me 'he was a little bit sick,'" Jennings continued.

Witnesses also told FOX 5 the firefighter smelled of alcohol. While walking back to the ambulance, officials said the firefighter was attacked by multiple men and suffered a broken jaw.

Investigators acknowledge that allegations were made that the firefighter showed up to the scene intoxicated or under the influence of drugs and said an internal review was being conducted.

The firefighter, who officials did not name in the press release but said he joined the department in 2007, remains hospitalized from his injuries.

Aubrey was treated at the hospital and later released, but her father said things could've been much worse.

"It's crazy because my daughter could've been dying, anybody could've been dying. It could've been a life or death situation and these two (firefighters) came not ready for their job," Jennings said.