The Republican Herald in Pottsville, Penn., reports on a nasty confrontation between Walker Township’s fire chief and a freelance photographer at the scene of a car accident. Normally fire department personnel are more equanimous and don’t get into scuffles like this, but freelance photographer Lawrence Neff, 61, seems to have caught Fire Chief David J. Duffy, 51, at his breaking point.

Now both have them have been cited for harassment. Each accused the other of being “overly aggressive.”

Neff said Duffy “snapped, cursing him and pushing him, and that Duffy ‘grabbed me by the throat, threw me two lanes across the highway and into a rocky area.'” Duffy, 51, claimed Neff was sticking his camera in his face, even after he told him to get back. And he said Neff overplayed the incident, saying he “did this very dramatic backpedal across the road, set his camera down, then laid in the grass complaining.”

The two apparently have a history and have sparred before. Neff claims Duffy treats him like a child; Duffy says other emergency personnel have had problems with the overzealous Neff. (If this sounds a little crazy to you, you’re not alone.)

Neff claims to have video of the incident and is planning to file a lawsuit.

Article from the Republican Herald