WRIGHT COUNTY, Mo. — A Wright County firefighter has been accused of a motor vehicle crash involving a fire engine on Saturday, Sept. 19.
According to online court dockets, Joseph Garrison, born in 1979, of Mountain Grove, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage exceeding $1,000.
A deputy with the Wright County Sheriff’s Office says in a probable cause statement that they spoke with Northern Wright County Fire Chief Bill Dodds, who explained that the alleged crash occurred during a brush fire on Saturday.
The statement says the crash occurred near Baty Road and Ellis Road, where the deputy and the fire chief later met up to discuss the incident.
Law enforcement said the scene included an archway gate knocked off its axis, with red paint transferring, along with a broken tree and a bent drainage pipe.
In the statement, Dodds reported that Garrison was his firefighter and that he did not have a driver’s license and should not have been driving the fire engine.
Officials spoke with the property owner, who said he did not know about the incident when it happened and that nobody told him until later. The owner is said to have been told by someone who did not cause the damage.
While speaking with authorities, the property owner said the damage would cost at least $2,500.
Dodds was later questioned about what Garrison said about the incident, and he stated he had backed into a ditch and had struck nothing. Garrison later allegedly told Dodds he backed his wife’s vehicle, which damaged the fire engine.
The fire chief later told the deputy that the damage to the fire engine would be estimated around $5,000, the statement said.
After observing the fire engine, the deputy and the fire chief went to Garrison’s home, where he was found intoxicated, with the smell of an alcoholic beverage.
The statement says Garrison told the deputy he backed into a ditch and hadn’t hit anything. When asked why he drove the fire engine with no license, Garrison said he was the only one who could drive it.
Officials transported Garrison to the jail, where they performed a preliminary breath test, with a result of .174 BAC.
Ozarks First reached out to the Northern Wright County Volunteer Fire Department for a statement, but the department declined to comment.
Wright County firefighter charged after alleged fire engine crash | KOLR – OzarksFirst.com
