Just a Prank? Or something more sinister?

If you are ever invited to a baby shower in Tampa, Florida, be sure these fire fighters are not the ones throwing it!  When one of their co-workers was unable to attend a baby shower, seven firemen from Fire Station 14 decided to teach him a lesson.

It started out innocently enough, with the plan just to go and toilet paper his house, but when they arrived at his residence, they found that the front door was unlocked, and instead of just trashing his yard, they decided to trash his entire house, including wrapping paper towels around his television set, throwing clothes out of the closets, and stuffing some sort of plastic wrap or trash bag into his toilet.  Along with all the destruction in the house, they powdered his front lawn with dishwasher soap.

The victim in this case, Miguel Ruiz, has not brought criminal charges at this time, but since his “friends” entered his house without permission, he is certainly able to sue if he sees fit.  The fire department, however, is not liable for the behavior because the men were not on duty at the time of the incident.

One of the men, Captain E.J. Fernandez, is facing disciplinary action, and the other six men have all been transferred from Station 14 due to the fact that Mr. Ruiz has said he is no longer able to work with them.  The six men involved, Fabian Fernandez, Ryan Tolley, Marlon Jones, Stan Hyat, Jason Turk, and Robert Goer feel terrible about the incident and say it was just a prank that got out of control, and have all received informal counseling about their behavior.