FIGHTING, NO FIRES
Yonkers smoke eaters caught on video brawling
Two Yonkers firefighters were caught on tape doling out two beatings — one at a popular bar and the other outside a strip club in the Westchester County city, authorities said.
Yonkers Fire Lt. Christopher Mitchell, 41, and former firefighter Bogdan Kosilov, 25 were locked up for the two brawls on June 11, but the city just released videos of the violence.
The first clip, inside Rory Dolan’s Restaurant and Bar on McLean Ave., shows a shoving match, that ended with a stool being smashed over a man’s head just before 1 a.m.
A second video, recorded two hours later outside the City Lights gentlemen’s club on Yonkers Ave. shows a man walking down the sidewalk, then backtracking, to approach a group of men. That man — which lohud.com reports is Pennsylvania resident Keith Lowell — confronts a firefighter, who knocks him out cold.
Lowell was sprawled out on pavement for five minutes before anyone helped him, the footage shows. He was later rushed to a hospital with head and brain trauma.
Mitchell and Kosilov face assault charges, according to the state court system.
Mitchell has been a firefighter since 2003, while Kosilov, hired in September of last year, was still on probation and fired after his arrest.
Lowell’s lawyer filed a claim against the city and the Yonkers Fire Department last week alleging he was harassed and assaulted by Mitchell, Kosilov and two other fire department members. Lowell says the city was negligent in supervising its employees.
“The alleged criminal conduct that the firefighter and lieutenant engaged in occurred while they were off duty; therefore the city of Yonkers has no liability in this circumstance and we are confident that our position will prevail in court,” Yonkers spokesman Vincent Parise told The News.
“The city of Yonkers will not defend and indemnify either individual in any civil action brought on by the alleged victims,” Parise added. “The probationary Firefighter was terminated and the disciplinary process against the Lieutenant is moving forward.”