Two New York City firefighters have been arrested on charges of riot and assault related to a brawl outside a bar when they were off-duty.
Ryan Warnock and Michael Reilly surrendered early Thursday to authorities. A third man was released without being charged.
They are expected to be arraigned later today. Their lawyer didn't return a call seeking comment.
Four men claim they were badly roughed up by rowdy firefighters on Jan. 30 at the Salty Dog in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn.
The victims' lawyer, Joe Tacopina, says they plan to sue, but the firefighters say they were defending themselves.
About a dozen active and retired firefighters could face felony charges following the vicious bar brawl.
The melee at the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge began when one of the customers accidentally spilled a drink on a firefighter. Some 24 of New York's Bravest reportedly jumped into the ensuing fight, The New York Post reported.
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Among the damning evidence is a shocking surveillance video.
"I've seen a lot of fights, and this had to have been the worst," bar patron Larry Johnson, 27, told the Post.
The police probe is focused on current and past members of Engine Co. 310 and Ladder Co. 174 on Snyder Avenue in East Flatbush.
The civilians inside -- two of them 35, one 39 and the fourth 21 are all first cousins, according to Tacopina, who also represented State Senator Hiram Monserrate in his assault case last year.
The Salty Dog brawl started at about 2 a.m. After everyone in the bar was good and sloshed, one of the cousins accidentally spilled part of his drink on one of the partying firefighters, the Post report said.
"It looked like he was saying, 'I'm sorry,' and the firefighter started yelling and screaming, and one of his buddies came around and punched him the face," Johnson said.
The bar quickly erupted in chaos with the FDNY allegedly jumping on the cousins. Bouncers tried to muscle in to stop the fight.
"The guy who spilled the drink was with three other people," Johnson said. "I saw four or five people get pulverized. They were kicking this guy's ass bad."
One of the 35-year-olds was dragged into a bathroom and mercilessly beaten by firefighters, the Post said. He later fled the bar and went to Staten Island University Hospital, where he was treated for a broken eye orbit bone, and a broken collarbone and shoulder.
