Firefighter, Wife Face Charges After Fight At Green Tree Church
GREEN TREE (KDKA) – A local firefighter is facing charges after his involvement in a fight at a church over the weekend.
Police say the firefighter and his wife got out of hand after some teenagers made comments on social media.
It took sheriff's deputies, Green Tree Police and volunteers to calm him down.
John Giancola was then arrested and his wife will also face charges.
It happened Friday night at the St. Margaret of Scotland church in Green Tree.
Police say witnesses saw a pregnant woman go after a teenage girl.
"She grabbed a 13-year-old girl by the neck area," said Green Tree Police Chief Robert Downey. "And when another parent tried to intervene … the mother struck her in the face."
Police say that's when Giancola got involved – the pregnant woman was his wife.
"He got very volatile, very loud, very threatening," Downey said. "And he had to be placed under arrest. And he started to yell at people that he was going to kill them, he was at one point – I believe he told somebody he was going to rip their head off and it just got out of hand."
Police say the fight was prompted by an exchange between Giancola's daughter and another girl on Facebook and Twitter. Police say the parents got involved, promising to resolve it one way or another.
"When these young kids were tweeting and putting Facebook comments on, it go to the point where it was causing them aggravation and the parents got involved and that's when everything escalated," Downey said.
Downey says there's a lesson here.
Watch Kym Gable's report:
"Maybe parents should be monitoring what their kids are writing and then if things look like they're getting out of line, parents should step in with their own children," he said.
The firefighter's wife is facing two counts.
RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Police News
More From Marty Griffin
