Deputy fire chief resigns after rape allegations

By Milton Valencia, Globe Staff

Boston Deputy Fire Chief Peter Pearson, held in jail since his arrest last month on charges he raped women at gunpoint in Brockton, resigned from his post, effective 5 p.m. today.

Pearson initially asked for a four-month leave of absence, but Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser rejected the request, said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Fire Department.

After the denial, Pearson sent a letter of resignation, MacDonald said.

“He is no longer a member of the Boston Fire Department,” MacDonald said.

Pearson, 51, faces charges that he attacked six women after posing as a police officer in Brockton. He was first arrested Aug. 18 and is being held without bail under the state’s dangerousness statute.

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