Hampden DA Mark Mastroianni has instructed the State Police to apply for a criminal complaint to charge Moran with 2 misdemeanors.
Holyoke provisional Fire Chief William P. Moran faces criminal charges related to making a false emergency call and sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15.SPRINGFIELD - Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni said he has instructed the State Police to apply for a criminal complaint against Acting Holyoke Fire Chief William P. Moran.
The complaint application charges him with two misdemeanors. One is communicating false information to an emergency response facility. The other is being a disorderly person.
Moran was put on paid administrative leave two weeks ago by the city’s fire commission after being accused of making a false emergency call and sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15.
During the response, one driver failed to pull over for the fire truck and created a multiple-car accident on Homestead Avenue and Pynchon Road. The driver was treated and released at Holyoke Medical Center.
The Holyoke Fire Commission also held an emergency meeting about Moran. Members revealed they took a unanimous vote but would not say what the issue was about, which is legal because it is a personal matter.
Moran, a 27-year fire department veteran who worked on Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s election campaign, has had a series of discipline problems and was demoted to captain by former mayor Michael J. Sullivan. That decision was reversed a year ago and shortly after that he was named acting fire chief.
Both charges are misdemeanors. Moran will be informed of the complaint application and a District Court clerk-magistrate will schedule a show cause hearing. Parties will appear before a clerk-magistrate, who will decide whether or not to issue the complaint, Mastroianni said.
If the complaint is issued an arraignment date will be set.
Mastroianni said the call was not for a fire, but for an “investigation.” But an investigation call triggers an emergency response, causing a response with lights and sirens.
The disorderly person complaint application is because the behavior caused a public annoyance or hazard, because the response with lights and sirens caused traffic to be disrupted, Mastroianni said.
MassLive.com will update as more information becomes available.