Moran was put on paid administrative leave after being accused of sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on false pretenses.
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.Updates a story posted Monday at 4:43 p.m.
HOLYOKE – 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, charging him with making a false call to his own department.
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 after being accused of sending an engine company to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside on June 15 on false pretenses.
During the response, one driver failed to pull over for the fire truck and created a four-car accident on Homestead Avenue and Pynchon Road. The driver was treated and released at Holyoke Medical Center; others were not injured.
According to the criminal complaint, Moran, a deputy fire chief and a firefighter were having lunch at a restaurant at the small strip mall at the corner of Homestead Avenue and Westfield Road when they saw two firefighters from the neighboring station on Homestead Avenue walk by and go into another establishment to pick up lunch, according to a written statement from Mastroianni.
Shortly after the firefighters walked into the store, Moran called the Holyoke Fire Department on his cell phone and asked a dispatcher to send a truck from the Homestead Avenue fire station to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside for an investigation. Firefighters respond to an investigation call by using emergency lights and sirens, the statement said.
“There was no need for investigation services at the Holyoke Mall and Chief Moran’s call was completely fictitious in nature,” Mastroianni said in the statement.
When the call came over the radio, Moran told his lunch companions to watch for the firefighters running back to the station. Instead a truck stopped in the strip mall and picked up the firefighters. The accident occurred a few minutes later.
Mastroianni said he did not know what Moran’s motives were for allegedly making the false report.
Moran’s lawyer, Jeffrey Morneau, said he had no comment on the complaints, but said they will continue through the court process.
Both charges are misdemeanors. Moran will be informed of the complaint application and a Holyoke 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 convicted, the charge of communication of false information could carry a maximum sentence of 2 ½ years in prison or a fine of $1,000. The law also requires the defendant make restitution to the emergency response services provider for any costs, damages or loses.
Moran, a 27-year veteran whose brother served as Mayor Elaine A. Pluta’s election campaign manager two years ago, has had a series of discipline problems. Moran also served as
a volunteer on the campaign, but had no decision-making roles.
“It is really something out of the blue. It is not something you deal with every day,” Pluta said.
She said the Fire Commission will deal with the new criminal complaint.
“I’m very confident the Fire Commission will be able to handle this and make the best judgment for the Fire Department,” she said.
The three-member commission, appointed by Pluta, has the sole authority to hire and fire employees and to take any disciplinary action, said Lisa A. Ball, the city solicitor. Its chairwoman, Priscilla F. Chesky, did not return calls for comment on Monday.
“It is completely their decision how they handle this,” Ball said of the three members.
The Fire Commission held an emergency meeting about Moran on Friday. Members revealed they took a unanimous vote but would not say what the issue was about.
Staff reporter Buffy Spencer contributed to this story.