According to a district attorney’s office spokesman, Alex Bastian, a San Francisco firefighter was taken into custody on suspicion of drunk driving last weekend after the fire truck he was driving collided with a motorcycle in the South of Market district. No charges will be filed yet against him. Bastian said that for the time being, prosecutors are not moving forward with a DUI case against the firefighter Michael Quinn, 43.
Police said that when the crash occurred, the firefighter had his fire truck’s lights and sirens activated as it responded to an emergency call around11: 30 p.m. on Saturday at Fifth and Howard streets in the city’s South of Market neighborhood.
The motorcyclist suffered serious injuries in the accident and he was hospitalized. Quinn was taken into custody and he was locked up in jail on suspicion of drunk driving and leaving the scene of the crash.
Bastian said, “At this point, the case is discharged pending further investigation. We are in communication with the San Francisco Police Department”.
President of San Francisco Firefighters Local 798, Tom O’Connor said that Quinn has two merit awards for his actions as a firefighter and he has no disciplinary record. Quinn had a spotless record before the arrest for DUI.
Quinn is a 23-year veteran of the department and he was placed on leave without pay, Fire officials said about Quinn. He worked at Station 1, located at 935 Folsom St.
The crash occurred weeks after Quinn suffered serious injury in a hang-gliding incident off of San Francisco’s Fort Funston. A witness named Jason Bowen said that Quinn’s hang-glider fell apart and he dropped hundreds of feet into the water below. 2 Samaritans and a fisherman present on the beach when Quinn Fell helped him as he was tangled in the mess of glider’s wires.
On Monday, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Susan Fahey said that Quinn had already been released from prison.
