Freeport mayor suspends fire chief over sex object

Freeport's mayor suspended the village's fire chief for 30 days after he failed to obey a directive to have a plastic version of a sexually explicit object removed from a fire truck, officials said Tuesday.

The blue plastic item was removed from the back of the truck but was later found dangling from the truck's visor, officials said.

Village attorney Howard E. Colton told Newsday that Chief Daniel K. Fee was suspended Nov. 24 because the chief took no action against the deputy chief or the company captain directly responsible for the truck in question. Village officials are not accusing Fee of placing the item on the rig or of knowing it had been put on the visor.

Mayor Andrew Hardwick, in a prepared statement, called the incident "offensive, insensitive and unprofessional."

The attorney representing Fee, William Chimeri, of Freeport, did not immediately return calls.

Hardwick was not available for comment Tuesday. Village officials said he was traveling and could not be reached.

A Freeport resident reported the item on the truck sometime "around mid-August" and said it was inappropriate and offensive, Colton said. Hardwick asked Fee to have it removed, and Fee later told Hardwick it had been taken off, Colton said.

But about two weeks ago, a caller said the item had been moved from the rear of the rig to the cab - and was now hanging from a visor.

Colton said Hardwick immediately went to the firehouse and saw the replica of a body part in the cab. He called in Fee and asked him to take it down, and Fee removed it, Colton said.

Fee became chief in April.

Hardwick said in a prepared statement Tuesday that residents have the right to "expect better."