Former Wantagh fire medic settles claims 2 department officers raped her

A volunteer medic with the Wantagh Fire Department who accused a fire chief and a captain of plying her with alcohol and raping her at a firehouse party has settled a lawsuit, court records show.

The financial terms of the settlement are not listed in public court papers.

After Newsday requested the settlement agreement from the fire department under the state’s public records law, the two men went to court to bar the release, arguing the negotiated deal had promised them confidentiality.

A Nassau Supreme Court judge in July barred the fire department from providing Newsday a copy of the agreement pending a determination on the men's requests.

Newsday asked the judge, Anna Grimaldi, to order the fire department to turn over the agreement under the state’s public records law, citing the potential use of taxpayer money to settle claims. The judge gave no time frame for her decision.

The men have not been charged with a crime. Newsday is not publishing their names.

The woman reported the alleged assault to the department, according to the lawsuit. Her attorney said she never filed a police report. Newsday is not disclosing her name because she's the victim of an alleged sexual assault.

A spokeswoman for the Nassau District Attorney’s Office said they never received a complaint.

The settlement ends yearslong litigation that made public the sexual assault allegations that had led the fire department to "remove" the two as volunteer firefighters after they failed to cooperate with its investigation.

An attorney for the Wantagh Fire Department, Cali Chandiramani, declined to comment on the settlement and Wantagh Fire District Superintendent Brendan Narell did not return an email. The Wantagh Fire District has an $8.6 million budget funded by taxpayers. 

The men denied the claims in court papers and accused the former volunteer medic of libel and slander. They dropped those claims as part of the settlement, wrote one of their attorneys, Michael Cassell, in a recent court filing.

"Unlike other defendants, [the men] did not financially contribute to the settlement," he wrote.

Cassell and attorney Thomas Foley, who represents the other accused firefighter, both said by email, "The matter has been resolved," and declined to comment further. The two men are "not current active members" of the fire department, district secretary Kevin Regan confirmed by email.

The woman’s attorney, Vess Mitev, confirmed Cassell’s representation of the agreement — that the men did not contribute to the financial settlement — and declined to discuss the arrangement any further, citing a confidentiality agreement.

It's unknown if the fire district admitted any liability in the settlement.

Mitev said the woman, now in her early 30s, no longer volunteers with the Wantagh Fire Department.

She sued in 2023 claiming the two men planned to get her so intoxicated they could "take advantage of her impaired state and sexually assault her." The birthday party occurred in January 2022.

According to the lawsuit, she repeatedly rebuffed the captain’s sexual advances. The woman repeatedly said "no" and "this is a bad idea," according to court records. She said she was too intoxicated to leave and the men led her into the bathroom where they raped her as she slipped in and out of consciousness, the lawsuit said.

The captain allegedly continued the assault in a different room after the chief left, according to the lawsuit.

A text message purportedly from the chief to the woman the next day read, "Had fun last night. But remember that’s between you me and [ ...] only forever."

They reached a settlement in September after mediation.

By Jim Baumbach

jim.baumbach@newsday.com

Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.