A San Jose Fire Department captain has been demoted following an investigation into a video that showed a woman in a bikini walking out of a fire truck and into a strip club.
The video was recorded and posted on social media in October of 2022. It shows a woman coming out of fire engine No. 4 , with its emergency lights on, and walking into the Pink Poodle strip club.
It was revealed Thursday that the shift captain was punished, but the punishment is raising new questions.
“It's unfortunate it's taking a long time and a lot of confusion. When the story first came out by you, about the incident at the Pink Poodle,” said retired fire Captain Richard Santos, who’s been critical of the handling of the Pink Poodle investigation
In April, the fire chief apologized while releasing the results of his investigation, and said that disciplinary action was taken. But he refused to say what that action was or who was disciplined.
He did reveal that night, the fire crew drove an unauthorized man to work at the Pink Poodle.
Then, according to the chief, a woman requested a ride along, which the crew first denied. But the report says the woman persisted and was driven around the block.
Santos is upset that it took eight months for all the information to come out.
“This has taken too long and it's still very vague in what really took place. It’s a shame cause those men and women do a really good job every day,” said Santos. “The dragging on doesn’t make it look good. It's just a real shame. I’m sorry to learn that it took so long.”
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The city confirmed that no other disciplinary action was taken.
In a statement, Mayor Matt Mahan said, "The former fire captain violated public trust — and I believe his demotion held him accountable,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. “I know that if we had been able to share this information with the public immediately, it would have assured our residents that no matter your title, actions have consequences. When the public asks, we need to answer. I will continue to push for greater transparency from City Hall.”
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo released the following statement Thursday:
“This episode reflects the reality we have a dysfunctional governmental structure under the San Jose city charter, under which the one person directly accountable to all residents—the mayor—has no authority to direct any senior staff to take any action, nor to hire/fire department directors."
