A dozen active and retired firefighters could face felony charges following a vicious bar brawl that left four bar patrons severely injured -- one with multiple broken bones, a report said today.
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 jumped into the ensuing fight, The New York Post reported.
The brutal assault is being investigated by the NYPD, which expects to charge up to a dozen of the participants with felonies, sources told the Post.
Among the damning evidence is a shocking surveillance video of Friday's beating, the Post said.
An FDNY captain and lieutenant were allegedly in the bar at the time.
"I've seen a lot of fights, and this had to have been the worst," 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.
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The civilians inside -- two of them 35, one 39 and the fourth 21 are all first cousins, according to their lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, who was hired for a possible lawsuit. Tacopina represented State Sen. Hiram Monserrate in the politician's 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.
