Pittsburgh-area firefighter charged after video appears to show him attacking teen at crash scene

A volunteer firefighter in Indiana County was charged after a video appeared to show him attacking a teenager when he responded to the scene of a crash

Wilbur Fry, 78, was charged with harassment in connection with the incident earlier this month, according to online court documents. Fry pleaded guilty last week. He is accused of shoving the teenager, who got into a crash on March 9 on Route 56 at Route 22 in Armagh Borough.

"Me and my friends were going out to dinner and we're just driving down the road cruising, wasn't even on the gas, and a car ran a stop sign coming off an off ramp. It was a last-second thing, so swerving, it didn't work too well, and I still hit the car," Ace Vavrek told KDKA.

Shortly after the crash, the 19-year-old said volunteers with the Armagh/East Wheatfield Volunteer Fire Company, including Fry, responded to the scene to provide assistance.

"They were trying to get the hood open on my truck, to disconnect the battery, and they were cutting stuff apart to get it open. I stayed alongside the berm, on the side of the road, like I was told to. And I just tried to tell them to press the button up to open the hood. And I said it a couple times, and then they still told me just stay alongside the road, and then the fire chief came over and started yelling at me and got in my face and grabbed me and threw me to the ground," Vavrek said.

Vavrek said one of his passengers recorded the entire incident on his phone. In the video, it appears that other firefighters yelled at the volunteer after he shoved Vavrek to the ground.

"He got in my face and grabbed me and threw me to the ground, which is a surprise to me because I wasn't doing anything wrong. I stayed alongside the road like I was supposed to," Vavrek said.

Vavrek's father, Jody Vavrek, told KDKA-TV that his son hadn't been checked by EMS for injuries yet and said the firefighter's actions could have made matters even worse.

"That's a scary thought, because he could have caused serious, even life-threatening injuries had that gone a different way," Jody Vavrek said.

Jody Vavrek told KDKA-TV that he wants Fry to resign, saying as a first responder, he's supposed to be held to a higher standard.

"To throw him on the rocks like that, it's just totally unacceptable and just unbelievable that somebody in that situation would do that," Jody Vavrek said.

"If I did that to someone else, I would be in trouble for it," Ace Vavrek added.

KDKA-TV reached out to the Armagh Volunteer Fire Department, which said, "The department has the matter under investigation and we have no comment at this time."

According to its website, Fry is considered an active and lifetime member of the department.