Montgomery County Firefighters Charged Flooding Baseball Field Amid Dispute

Two Montgomery County, Maryland firefighters, Captain Christopher Reilly and firefighter Alan Barnes, have been criminally charged with misdemeanors for intentionally flooding a baseball field at Montgomery Blair High School, which is adjacent to their fire station. The flooding, caused by spraying thousands of gallons of water from a fire truck hose, was reportedly in retaliation for baseballs frequently hitting personal vehicles in the fire station parking lot, leading to a long-running dispute with local baseball players. The incident, which resulted in the cancellation of a Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League game involving the Silver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts, caused financial loss and disruption to the team and fans. Both firefighters face two counts of malicious destruction of property and one count of disorderly conduct and have been removed from operational duties pending an internal investigation. Defense attorney Richard Finci argued the watering might have been beneficial during a drought, but the fire captain admitted to deliberately flooding the field to get the players' attention. Authorities are treating the matter seriously, with possible penalties including up to three years in prison for malicious destruction of property.