Drunk FF Steals Firetruck

[vwwh1 0]

Cops: Drunk Firefighter Steals Fire Truck

(CBS) CLOSTER, N.J. A firefighter from Rockland County has been charged with DWI after he reportedly stole a fire truck and drove it to a fire in New Jersey.

The firefighter, Ray Oprey, was reportedly drunk when he said he heard fire sirens in Rockleigh and headed to the firehouse to help.

When he found out the fire was in Closter, N.J., he reportedly broke into the Rockleigh firehouse and drove one of their trucks to New Jersey sometime around midnight.

When he arrived in Closter to help fight the blaze, police said they determined he was intoxicated and arrested him.

He refused to take a breathalizer test.

Oprey, 33, lives in Palisades, N.Y., on the New Jersey border.

He was charged with burglary and unlawful taking of means of conveyance.

[res6cue 67]

Palisades man charged with DWI responding to N.J. fire

By GERALD MCKINSTRY

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: September 22, 2006)

A Palisades man was charged with DWI in New Jersey last night when he pulled up to a fire in a Rocleigh (N.J.) fire department truck.

Raymond Oprey, of 33 Hornetooke Road, was arrested when he responded to a three-alarm fire just south of the New York border in Closter, N.J., Closter police said today.

The 33-year old arrived alone in a fire truck at approximately 11:50 p.m., about 45 minutes after the fire was first reported, said Sgt. James Winters of the Closter Police Department.

Winters said police noticed that he had been driving erratically and later determined he was intoxicated.

Oprey, who police said identified himself as a member of the New York City Fire Department, is charged with driving while intoxicated, refusing a breathalyzer and three moving traffic violations.

Northvale police are investigating whether Oprey was a member of the Rockleigh Volunteer Fire Department and whether he was authorized to take a truck to a fire.

What a moron.

[Guest]

[attachmentid=1233]

CBS

http://wcbstv.com/video

Sep 22, 2006 1:06 pm US/Eastern

Cops: Drunk Firefighter Steals Fire Truck

(CBS) CLOSTER, N.J.

A firefighter from Rockland County was charged with DWI after he reportedly stole a fire truck and drove it to a fire in New Jersey.

Police say Raymond Oprey was determined to battle a blaze at a shopping center in Closter, N.J.

So Oprey, who says he's a firefighter with an FDNY ladder company in the Bronx, allegedly stole a fire truck from the Rockleigh Fire Department near his home and headed to the scene, using the radio inside the truck several times.

According to Northvale Police Captain Vincent St. Angelo, "I believe he made three transmissions on his way down, as far as, 'I'm on the way' -- something to do with 'I have the agua.'"

The problem is that Rockleigh wasn't called for mutual aid, so police at the scene became suspicious, especially when he pulled up with the fire truck headlights off and right onto the grass.

"They detected an odor of alcoholic beverage, and just the way he was talking," said St. Angelo.

Oprey, 33, was taken into custody and this was the only explanation he gave to police.

"Basically, he said he wanted to help Closter. He wanted to know if they needed help," St. Angelo said.

The small town of Rockleigh only has two fire trucks. They are grateful that the truck was returned intact.

Oprey lives in Palisades, N.Y., on the New Jersey border.

He was charged with burglary and unlawful taking of means of conveyance. He faces three to five years if convicted of the charges against him.

Edited September 22, 2006 by hoss

[e92l44 0]

As someone who works with this idiot, I can attest:

He is an A-Hole!

This is great for the firehouse to get rid of this guy.

[mikelouf2 0]

THIS GUY HAS NO BRAINS I HOPE THEY KICK THIS A HOLE OUT OF THE NYFD

Edited September 22, 2006 by mikelouf2

[Guest WolfEMT]

Seriously, how many of these articles do we have to post here? In the last two months, I can count as many as 4 or 5 seperate incidents that have gained notoriety from the press, all of which involving fire fighters. In short, every single time some dumbass gets drunk and causes embarassment to the uniformed emergency services, it ends up as cannon fodder for the TV and print news media.

However, my question is this: If we are all on this board in order to discuss issues in the emergency services so that we may educate ourselves and strive for excellence, then why do articles and incidents like this constantly proliferate themselves here? Whenever some moron gets drunk he causes the service a severe embarassment and he denigrates what it is that we train to do, whether it is on a career or volunteer basis. On the other hand, whenever we post articles here that basically point out some of the idiots who are walking among us, we're no better than they are and we are actually embarassing ourselves.

It all comes down to judgment and how we exersize it; if we started using it better, then we wouldn't have as many articles like this posted here and we wouldn't have as many incidents like this occurring on the outside.

[res6cue 67]

...whenever we post articles here that basically point out some of the idiots who are walking among us, we're no better than they are and we are actually embarassing ourselves.

We are? Sorry, I could not disagree with that statement more. Besides, you basically answered your own question right above that...

...we are all on this board in order to discuss issues in the emergency services so that we may educate ourselves and strive for excellence...

There you go, in your own words. If just a few guys and gals that read the posts here see us discussing these types of incidents, maybe they'll learn from it. Maybe it will deter them and make them strive to be better than the chuckleheads and scumbags that are the subject of these articles. We're not embarrassing ourselves by posting and discussing, we all know these morons are out there among us. What WOULD be embarrassing, however, is if we buried our heads in the sand and pretended stuff like this didn't happen and wasn't a problem.

[RocklandFires 44]

He's a Member of E.89/L.50

A Real Cuckoo !

[Guest]

Here's my 2, no, make it 5 cents:

WolfEMT, while I understand your frustration with these repeated DWI incidents and love your posts, I've got to agree with res6cue on this one.

We know that FFs being human there will be 1 in a 1000 who will commit an act staining the image of the fire service. This person will DWI on a call, steal a vehicle, commit arson, rape someone, commit burglary, assault a civilian or/and be a pedophile. Our behavior as FFs is always under scrutiny by the media and public, whether we're wearing the uniform or not. The faster a FF understands this golden rule, the less likely are the other 999 good guys to be embarrassed by his/her actions.

It's important to occasionally post incidents where a FF conducted himself like a moron,criminal or plain unprofessional. When a true negative story, not a rumor, is posted on this Forum is just may serve as a deterrent to any one of us who may be tempted to do something assinine.

What I personally, and others have posted re: negative FF behavior is only a tiny sample of what goes on across the country. If you don't believe me, search Google News under "firefighter". Sadly, you'll see that many still have a long road to travel on the way to "Professional".

Stay safe everyone,

Henry Gregorio

Edited September 23, 2006 by hoss

[JBE 328]

There you go, in your own words. If just a few guys and gals that read the posts here see us discussing these types of incidents, maybe they'll learn from it. Maybe it will deter them and make them strive to be better than the chuckleheads and scumbags that are the subject of these articles. We're not embarrassing ourselves by posting and discussing, we all know these morons are out there among us. What WOULD be embarrassing, however, is if we buried our heads in the sand and pretended stuff like this didn't happen and wasn't a problem.

←

AMEN!!!

Learn from others mistakes, and for the love of all that's holy, don't do anything stupid that will make you end up in the papers.

[res6cue 67]

Photofires, please let's not insult a whole FDNY House by using their motto to refer to the FF in the story.

I'm quite sure Brian didn't mean it as an insult to the rest of the house, but you do have to admit the coincidence of him just happening to be from that particular house probably couldn't be scripted any better. Besides which, he knows this guy anyway.

[Guest]

res6cue, I see your point and have edited my post. Brian, sorry, I admit I overeacted and apologize.

[AFS1970 504]

Regardless of how positive or negative this issue is, it is an issue within the Fire Service. I first heard about this incident on another fire service website, which also has forums. So far, in the short time I have been posting here, the discussions have been better and usually less hostile, so this is where I look for further information.

If we didn't discuss these difficult issues here, then they would get discussed elsewhere and that would be very helpful to this site. Like others have said, we have discussed firefighter arson here also, but for whatever reason firefighter DWI has recently become a bigger topic, and we have seen more incidents in the past few years. At least this incident didn't lead to a death or injury.

If some reads this and decides not to do this themselves, the we have by not brushing this away, contributed to the overall professionalism of the Fire Service. I personally would like to see these discussions be more generic about the actions than about the individuals simply because people who post here do sometimes know the person, and we should be able to learn from others mistakes, just like we do our own.

[IzzyEng4 427]

And what is bad about it, he has been confirmed by FDNY as a member of their department for three years. Not good, another black eye for NYC.

Courtesy of WABC-TV

Eyewitness News has learned the fire burned through a spa in the Closter Commons, a strip mall on Piermont Road, just after 11:45 p.m.

When he heard of the blaze, the off-duty suspect rushed to the the Rockleigh Fire Station in Rockleigh, N.J. and swiped a fire truck.

Police say 33-year-old Raymond Oprey, of Palisades, N.Y., then drove the fire truck to respond to the Closter blaze.

Apparently when he arrived, Oprey was clearly intoxicated and refused a breathalizer test. He was charged with driving under the influence.

Oprey was arraigned this morning in municipal court and posted $25,000 bail.

The suspect has been a member of the FDNY for the past three years. He is assigned to Ladder 50 in the Bronx. The FDNY would only say the matter is under investigation.

Copyright 2006 WABC-TV.

Edited September 24, 2006 by IzzyEng4

[RocklandFires 44]

res6cue, I see your point and have edited my post. Brian, sorry, I admit I overeacted and apologize.

←

I personally know F.F. Ray Oprey. I played soccer with him for years and I am also a fellow classmate of his in 7th & 8th grade, so I can asure you he was always a cuckoo. I meant in no way to affend anyone from that fire house, it was just an ironic thing that I noticed and was trying to make some humor out of a bad situation.

[gpdexplorer 46]

I know that this guy is FDNY, but is he a vollie as well?

[EXDC203 38]

Reality people.... does the fact that he a firefighter, paid or vollie matter? The issue here is DWI. Look at the past few days papers......drunk cop kills drunk cop.

The media brings his occupation into it, all it has to say is drunk man steals firetruck. The lesson to be learned here should be about DWI, not ones job.

[ytpastchief99-00 6]

Reality people.... does the fact that he a firefighter, paid or vollie matter?  The issue here is DWI.  Look at the past few days papers......drunk cop kills drunk cop.

The media brings his occupation into it, all it has to say is drunk  man steals firetruck.  The lesson to be learned here should be about DWI, not ones job.

←

SO TRUE

You are held to a much higher standard.

It is an epidemic all over.