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Charges Of Attempted Rape, Harassment After Investigation Into Harford Co. Fire Company

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Their mission is to serve and protect, but three firefighters and one former member of Fallston Volunteer Fire Company are accused of breaking that oath, and the law.

They are facing a range of charges after two incidents that police say involved the attempted rape of a teenager.

Fire chief Will Rosenberg says he's disgusted. He alerted the Harford County Sheriff's Department after learning about ongoing bad behavior in his company that allegedly began in June and lasted through last month.

The investigation was launched Dec. 3, and criminal charges ranging from harassment to attempted first degree rape have now been filed.

The alleged victim was a 17-year-old member of the company.

"I'm really surprised and it kind of hurts your heart because you know the firefighters are supposed to be somebody you can call for help and to think that they're out there doing stuff like that is kind of crazy," says county resident Theresa Jackson.

"Never heard about anything like that around here before," says Harry Plack. "It's kind of surprising."

It's shaken the community those firefighters serve all the way up to the top ranks of their own department.

In a statement to WJZ, Rosenberg wrote:

"It simply won't be tolerated, everyone is accountable. Personally, I am both angry and disgusted by the assertions as the alleged behavior is not acceptable by any standard, particularly the highly principled threshold we demand among our members.

The active members were immediately suspended from all company activities and prohibited from accessing company property or resources, the statement says.

The details of the allegations have not been released. Once the warrants and criminal summons are served, the sheriff's office says it will release the names of the accused.

"I do actually know some firefighters and they're good guys and I'm not going to, like, county everybody out because of some bad apples," Jackson says. "So hopefully they get to the bottom of it."

Harford County deputies say the fire department has fully cooperated with their investigation.

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