Boston firefighter arrested after marijuana allegedly found in department vehicle
By Donovan Slack and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff
A Boston firefighter was arrested and charged with drug possession today after police said they found him smoking marijuana in his Boston Fire Department vehicle in Dorchester, according to Boston Police.
Anthony Gaston, who was in uniform, was parked in front of a fire hydrant near the corner of Dunlap and Washington streets at about 3 p.m. when passing police officers saw him smoking what they believed to be marijuana, according to three government officials briefed on the arrest.
The officers saw Gaston suspiciously throw away whatever he was smoking, and when they approached the car, they detected a strong smell of marijuana and initiated a search of the car, the officials said. They found two bags of marijuana on the front passenger seat and another on the back seat, they said.
Two other men in the car were also arrested. Their names were not immediately available.
Gaston has been a Boston firefighter since 1982 and is currently working as a fire inspector assigned to the department's Fire Prevention Division, a job for which he is assigned a department vehicle, department spokesman Steve MacDonald said. Gaston specializes in hazardous materials inspections, ensuring the safety of sites such as oil tanks, he said.
MacDonald said Gaston was supposed to be off-duty yesterday and should not have been driving his Fire Department car. MacDonald said he did not know why he was in uniform or if he was performing inspections. The department immediately placed Gaston on administrative leave with pay and he is expected to undergo a drug test tonight, MacDonald said.
The arrest came one day after representatives of the firefighters union stormed out of a state labor panel in a dispute over Boston firefighters contract negotiations, in which mandatory drug and alcohol testing has become a major sticking point. The city has been demanding random testing since autopsy results indicated two firefighters were under the influence of drugs and alcohol when they died fighting a West Roxbury restaurant fire Aug. 27.
Union officials have said they are not opposed to testing, but want a salary increase in return.
The president of Boston firefighters Local 718, Edward Kelly, declined to comment after today's arrest, saying he wants to review all the facts before saying anything.
"We do not know all the facts of the case; he deserves his day in court," Kelly said."However, if the charges are proven true, there is no room for that behavior on the Boston Fire Department."
