California EMT Facing Dismissal

Sep. 12--San Francisco's fire chief wants the city's fire commission to dismiss a Fairfield emergency medical technician whose multiple arrests on charges of lewd behavior and civil stalking cases were highlighted in a Bee investigative series on troubled rescuers.

Timothy Lee Gutierrez, 39, should be fired because his conduct has been inappropriate, unprofessional and detrimental to the department's good name, Chief Joanne Hayes-White says in letters to the fire commission.

The move emerged as state senators on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve Assembly Bill 941, which calls for the introduction of mandatory criminal background checks for all EMTs in California. The bill also provides for the creation of a statewide registry of EMTs and disciplinary records.

An amended version of the bill was sent to the Assembly for approval. It has been declared an urgency bill, meaning it would become law immediately if it passes and the governor signs it.

The legislation and the move to fire Gutierrez seek to close loopholes in the state's licensing system for EMTs, which The Bee found allowed people with arrests and criminal records to hold jobs that put them into contact with vulnerable citizens.

The San Francisco Fire Commission is to meet Thursday to review two sets of professional misconduct charges that Hayes-White filed against Gutierrez in letters on July 27 and Sept. 4.

Gutierrez had kept his job as an EMT-firefighter for San Francisco Fire despite accusations of stalking and arrests on suspicion of child sexual abuse, indecent exposure, spouse battering and vandalism and a prosecutor's 2006 warning that he was "a very serious risk" to the community.

San Francisco Fire, which had known about his off-duty arrests and charges for over a year, said it was powerless because Solano County had issued his EMT certificate. Under current law, EMTs licensed in one county can practice in another. After The Bee ran its May story, Solano County officials took steps to permanently revoke his credentials.

Hayes-White's complaint cites as reasons Gutierrez's multiple arrests, his loss of an EMT certification and his absence from work between June 2 and July 27 without permission as reasons.

Denis A. Honeychurch, a Fairfield attorney for Gutierrez, did not return phone calls but has previously said Gutierrez denies wrongdoing in his criminal cases.

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