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A Thurston County firefighter has been placed on paid leave after he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault Friday night.
He was booked into jail early Saturday and is set to appear in court Monday afternoon, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
The Olympian is not identifying the man until he appears in court.
SE Thurston Fire Chief Mark King said Monday that the man, who he described as a career firefighter with 10 years’ experience, was immediately place on paid administrative leave.
“We’re kind of in a holding pattern until he is officially charged,” King said.
According to Lt. Tim Rudloff of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office:
The firefighter, a friend and the friend’s wife met for drinks at Joe’s Tavern in Bucoda Friday night. After they left the tavern, there was allegedly more drinking as they looked at “hunting spaces” together and visited another friend’s house.
After they left the house and were driving again, the firefighter allegedly hit on the wife with a suggestive remark that the friend found offensive.
The firefighter later pulled the man out of a truck and allegedly began to beat him. The victim suffered a broken nose, four broken teeth, a fractured cheekbone, a swollen split lip and cuts to his face and head.
The firefighter eventually was taken into custody without incident, Rudloff said.
This is not the first time that the firefighter has run afoul of the law. In December 2014, the firefighter was accused of assaulting a man with a tire iron.
Those charges were later dropped, according to Fire Chief King.
