Feb 5, 2005
Firefighters Say Lying Urged
By
VALERIE KALFRIN
vkalfrin@tampatrib.com
It was Tampa Fire Rescue
Capt. Al Suarez, who Johnson said had arranged the Oct. 17 photo shoot. The
photos were later posted on a Web site by a stripper named Jamie.
``We got problems,''
Suarez told him, according to Johnson on a newly released tape. ``They got the
pictures from the Internet. ... What are we going to do, man?''
Johnson said on the tape
that he wanted to tell the truth. How Suarez responded would become a recurring
refrain in the weeks to come, Johnson said.
``He said, `If you go
tell the whole story, I'll get those guys against you and we'll get you fired.
He called me this morning and told me if I'll take the hit, he'll pay all my
bills, he'll pay all my bills until I get my job back.''
Fire Chief Dennis Jones
fired Suarez, 44, on Wednesday and suspended Johnson, a driver engineer who was
the supervisor at Station 21 that night. Also suspended were three firefighters
who were on duty: Michael Berwald, Michael Campbell
and Michael Layton.
An investigation showed
that two strippers, one employed at Thee Dollhouse Lounge, posed at the station
in bikinis with a fire hose, in firefighter pants with suspenders over their
bare breasts, and naked, flashing their genitals.
Investigators recorded
their interviews with the men. In the taped statements released Thursday, four
of the men accused Suarez of urging them to keep silent about the photographs
or face retribution.
Johnson and
Both Settecasi
and Walker were union officials when Suarez led Local 754 of the International
Association of Fire Fighters.
``Frank said, `You can't
tell 'em everything. You can't tell 'em everything. Just take a hit.' ...
He said you're stupid if you tell the truth,'' Johnson said on a tape. ``He
said the truth don't mean nothing.''
The fire department's
personnel chief, Todd Spear, conducted the inquiry. He said Thursday that
officials had not decided what to do about Settecasi
and Walker.
Neither could be reached
for comment Thursday.
The investigation began
in December after the fire department received an anonymous phone call from a
man saying that his son had been playing basketball near Fire Station 13 at
Suarez worked at Station
13. Berwald is assigned there, although he fills in
at Station 21 at
On a tape, Suarez said it
was more likely that ``some of my enemies'' had called in the tip.
``By looking at the
pictures, you couldn't tell where these pictures were from,'' Suarez said.
``When we did take the pictures ... we made every precaution not to embarrass
the city. I made sure there's no identifiable markers, no numbers, no `21'
there, no ID numbers, everything.''
Politically connected,
Suarez supported Mayor Pam Iorio's election campaign.
Iorio, former Mayor Dick Greco and Jones were among
guests at Suarez's Nov. 6 wedding.
Those involved in the
investigation at first denied any knowledge of the photographs in Jan. 7
interviews with Spear.
After Johnson came
forward Jan. 26, Suarez left a message on the fire chief's voice mail, saying
he wanted to ``step up and face the music.''
That Night
Suarez was off duty the
night of the photo shoot. He said on a tape that he met the strippers and two
unidentified male photographers at a Chili's. He led them to the station
because they needed directions, he said. The women later danced at his bachelor
party.
``It's amazing to me what
I was thinking, how I even initially thought about even agreeing with it,'' he
said. ``I have no explanation.''
Suarez said he asked Berwald and Campbell to cover the windows with plastic bags
that night ``as a precaution,'' even though he thought the pictures would be ``innocent.''
Spear pointed out that
perhaps Suarez had ``some idea there would be some embarrassing scenes'' if he
thought to cover the windows.
Suarez later said the
pictures could be described as graphic, depending upon who looked at them.
``But they were just, you know, posing with the truck.'' Suarez accused Berwald, who works part time at Thee Dollhouse Lounge, of
arranging the photo shoot.
Berwald said Suarez was responsible. Berwald joined Tampa Fire Rescue in June 2003 and told Suarez,
his supervisor, about his job at the club. Afterward, he said, Suarez nagged
him about meeting a dancer for his bachelor party.
``It was a lot of
harassment. Months of it, to be honest with you,'' Berwald
said on a tape. Suarez also threatened to evaluate him poorly on the job if he
did not introduce him, he said.
Berwald,
Johnson Reacts
Johnson said Suarez had
told him some friends of his wanted to take pictures of the trucks, but he had
no idea the photos involved nudity until he went out to tell
But Johnson recalled
telling Suarez that night, ``What the crap are you
doing? You know this isn't legal.'' He said Suarez said: ``Relax. I take full
responsibility. Chill out.''
Johnson said he came
forward because Suarez, Walker and Settecasi had been
calling him several times a day, saying he would be fired. ``I didn't want to
live with that anymore,'' he said. ``I'm not going to take the fall for him.
I've got a wife and kids to think about.''
On a tape, Suarez denied
pressuring anyone. He said he called the others often to discuss what they
should do. One call occurred while Johnson was being interviewed Jan. 26. On
the tapes, Johnson notes Suarez has called his cell phone and then plays his
message. ``Hey, Steve, it's Big Al,'' the message said. ``I just wanted to call
and see what information you got from your attorney and just whatever you want
to do, man, just let us know, man. Give us a buzz.''
Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at
(813) 259-7800.
This story can be found at: http://news.tbo.com/news/MGB4WIBXR4E.html