Crime & Safety

DC Firefighter Charged With Hate Crime In Pennsylvania: Report

A road-rage incident, involving a DC firefighter and an African-American couple, occurred last summer in Pennsylvania: media report.

WASHINGTON, DC — A DC firefighter is facing criminal charges in Pennsylvania stemming from a road-rage incident last summer involving an African-American couple, according to a media report. Adam Kraus, 32, is on leave from DC Fire and EMS after being charged in Cumberland County, Pa., with ethnic intimidation, a felony, as well as misdemeanor counts of simple assault and making terroristic threats, radio station WTOP reported.

The incident occurred on June 30, when Kraus was off duty and driving his pickup truck near Harrisburg, WTOP reported. Prosecutors in Pennsylvania say that Kraus was driving behind an African-American couple in a car when he flashed his high beams and honked his horn.

The two vehicles then stopped at an intersection. Kraus waved a handgun and yelled racial slurs at the couple, say prosecutors.

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He also is accused of threatening to kill the driver and hang him from a tree, WTOP reported.

The couple gave the pickup truck's license plate number to police and identified Kraus in a photo lineup, WTOP reported. He was arrested and released on bond.

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