Indianapolis fireman hurt in fight with man chasing woman into fire station
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis fireman was slightly injured Saturday after getting into a fight with a man who chased a woman into the fire station.
Battalion Chief Rita Reith of Indianapolis Fire Department says the “altercation” happened shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday at Station No. 11 at 1715 E. Washington St. That’s on the near-east side at the South State Avenue intersection near Willard Park.
A firefighter was backing a vehicle into the station when a woman in “obvious distress” yelled a man was chasing her, Reith said in a news release. The firefighter got out of the vehicle, stepped in front of the man and told him to stop, but the man then “became aggressive” toward the firefighter and shoved him against the vehicle. The man then continued into the station’s vehicle bay and “made physical contact with the woman.”
Firefighters cleaning up after lunch in the fire station’s kitchen heard the commotion. They found the man with a knife in his hand “physically detaining” the woman in the bay, Reith says. But upon the firefighters’ arrival in the bay, the man “became both verbally and physically aggressive toward the crew.” The firefighters soon disarmed and restrained the man until Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department arrived and took the man into custody. IMPD has not indicated that the man has been preliminarily charged with a crime.
The knife displayed marijuana and skull symbols in a photo the Indianapolis Fire Department shared.
The only injured firefighter was taken to a hospital to be checked, and he was sent home for the rest of his 24-hour shift. The man also was checked out at a hospital. The woman was unharmed.
