2 Pittsburgh Firefighters Facing Criminal Charges In Separate Incidents

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Two city firefighters are facing criminal charges, one is accused of stealing from a business and the other is accused in a hit-and-run accident.

Pittsburgh firefighter John Farah, 32, of Carrick, was arraigned in City Court Thursday night on a burglary charge.

Farah is accused of stealing $1,000 from a safe at a social club.

He was seen on surveillance video from the social club entering the club after hours. The club owner says he recognized Farah immediately when he saw that money was missing from the safe.

It's the second time Farah has been arrested in a year. He was charged last October with fighting with a security guard at Heinz Field.

Meanwhile, just last month, another Pittsburgh firefighter Harry Kitchta, 31, was charged with DUI after a hit-and-run accident, in which the car he struck was totaled.

Reacting to the two arrests, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Thursday night, "These isolated incidents tend to bring down everyone [in the Fire Bureau], and they shouldn't."

Peduto said because of their unions, he does not have the ability to fire a police officer or a fireman because it's up to an arbitrator to make that final decision on their job status.

"What we can do is find these isolated case and determine if they are one-time problems, or if there is a deeper problem [with the individual involved] which we are not addressing," Peduto said.

Farah has a court hearing on his burglary charge next Wednesday.

Kitchta's hearing on the DUI charge is set for Tuesday.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter