Gas and tolls must've already been killing him when Paterson officials this week fired a city fire captain who they said was commuting to work from a Pennsylvania prison.
Paterson fire Capt. Thomas Alala was serving a year for drunken driving when city officials discovered that he was commuting roughly 160 miles roundtrip for what essentially was his work release program at the Northampton County Prison in Easton, Pa.
Alala worked two 24-hour shifts a week at the department. You gotta figure the gas and tolls alone were killin' him.
Guess he needed the job.
He apparently was returning home from a music festival in Bethlehem, Pa., when, records show, he lost controlof his motorcycle on Route 78. Blood-alcohol tests registered at 0.18, authorities said.
He never told his department about the conviction -- his third for driving while intoxicated -- and the work-release arrangement was stopped.
A retired New Jersey judge serving as a disciplinary hearing officer ruled that Alala should be terminated for "conduct unbecoming a public employee." City officials weren't of a mind to disagree.
Comments
In the real world, he should lose his pension too. But this is a government job, so he'll kick back for life on our dime!
Hey Renna, he went into fires first and saved people and knows the job well, do you think you could do it? doubt it. He has a sickness, alcholism.
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