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twitterFirefighter jailed for kicking teen boy after basketball game
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 | 11:54 a.m.
Johnnie Williams
A Clark County firefighter will spend Christmas behind bars after a judge today sentenced him to 30 days in the county jail on a felony charge for kicking a teenage boy in the head after a pickup basketball game earlier this year.
Johnnie Williams, 45, who has been employed with the Clark County Fire Department since 1999, pleaded guilty in July to attempted battery with substantial bodily harm for kicking 19-year-old Satcha Hooten in the head at a Summerlin gym.
Under the plea agreement, it was up to the discretion of the judge whether to classify the crime as a gross misdemeanor or a felony. Judge Michael Villani today sentenced him to the felony charge.
Williams received a suspended jail sentence of 19 to 48 months. He will serve a fixed term of three years of probation, starting with 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation.
Williams also is required to submit to random drug and alcohol testing, complete impulse control classes and pay $8,767.80 in restitution to the victim. Additionally, he is also forbidden from entering the fitness center where the incident happened and from having contact with the victim or his family.
“I want to apologize to Satcha and his family for the crimes I committed against him … I hope that one day they can forgive me,” Williams told the judge.
Fire department spokesman Scott Allison said Williams had been disciplined by the fire chief after the incident and would face further disciplinary action if sentenced as a felon, but wouldn’t elaborate, citing personnel issues.
According to court documents, after Hooten missed a two-point shot near the end of the game on April 28 at 24 Hour Fitness, 2090 Village Center Circle, Williams and Hooten got into a verbal altercation.
As Hooten sat on the floor with his cell phone, Williams kicked him in head, as confirmed by video played Tuesday in court by prosecutor Richard Scow. Hooten didn’t retaliate.
Scow said Williams tried to mitigate the incident by saying it was an accident – Williams told police he “wanted to kick the wall above his head to teach him a lesson,” Scow said, reading from Williams’ statement to investigators.
“These are not the actions of a firefighter, these are the actions of a street fighter or a thug,” Scow said. He criticized Williams, a trained paramedic, for not rendering aid after kicking Hooten.
In asking for the gross misdemeanor instead of the felony, Williams’ lawyer, Jay Siegel, credited his client for admitting to the crime starting with his first interview with police. He said Williams opted for the deal instead of going to trial because he didn’t want his family or the victim’s family to deal with the issue.
Williams initially was scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 24 but the hearing was continued until today.
Hooten addressed the court last week. He said he is still suffering from injuries caused by the blow.
“There are so many things that I’m upset about over this whole incident,” he said. “I’ve seen Mr. Williams' behavior at the gym on several occasions; he is a loose cannon. People are afraid of him.”
Hooten said the kick left him with five broken bones in his face, balance issues and permanent damage to his jaw.
“I was the one who acted like an adult – Mr. Williams acted like a schoolyard bully,” he said.
Cheryl Hooten, Satcha’s mother, also addressed the court last week, calling Williams “an embarrassment” to his profession.
“Mr. Williams, you need to grow up. You’re a 45-year-old man who bullies people and acts like a thug instead of a professional. You took an oath to help the sick and injured; instead you kicked a young man in the head. You caused severe injury,” she said.
In handing down his sentence, Villani said he didn’t believe Williams was fully accepting responsibility.
“I think a blind man can see you intended to kick … you intended to hit him,” he said.
After the hearing, Scow said the felony was appropriate in this case.
“Firefighters are charged with protecting people, especially young people. Mr. Williams did exactly the opposite and we can’t tolerate that,” he said.
Williams was off duty at the time of the incident. He was taken into custody in the courtroom and will be booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
Discussion: 32 comments so far…
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Funny how they say teen boy, but if it was the 19 year old charged they would have said adult man.
Only 30 days in the county jail and $8767.80 in restitution! Is Williams still an employee of the Clark County Fire Dept. and collecting vacation pay and benefits?
Our hero?
What you're paying to this fellow to be a two bit union thug.
Base Salary $76,908.23
Benefits $19,801.65
Overtime $29,477.14
Cost to Taxpayers $126,187.02
At least they put him on unpaid leave pending the investigation. I think Mr. Williams needs to have the ultimate penalty, make him a private citizen just like the rest of us who have to actually rely upon our wits and skills to survive the gauntlet of government control and taxation to survive.
And here is how much he made last year as reported by transparentnevada.net $194,684.74.
He should be terminated immediately.
Thanks Just and I apologize for my redundant use of the word survive.
Usually, if a defendant has no prior record, an attorney can get the case treated as a Gross Misdemeanor. Jay "Chip" Siegel failed to convince the Judge that his client should not get a felony. Good. Judge Villani did the right thing here in treating it as a Felony. Sounds like this guy has a history of bullying people. He can try his bullying with some real street thugs in CCDC and see how it turns out when he gets hit or kicked back.
Las Vegas's finest right there. He was probably getting paid when he did it to.
Maybe the boy was on fire
What's the bigger crime, that he kicked the kid or made almost 200k as a firefighter in one year?
Another representative of Firefighters Local 1908. Maybe his buddies can backfill his shifts so they get premium pay.
Our fire department at its finest. Way to go Ryan Beaman!! You da man!!
Time for a parade. Quick, close the strip.
Johnnie: its just a game.
If he must attend drug counseling why wasn't he released from the Fire Department long ago. This department just ignores its problems and the unions brotherhood covers for all.
ahhhhh,
another 6-figure "hero" shows his true colors.
Should not keep his job under any circumstances. Getting angry over a game of pick up and kicking somebody? This idiot needs to grow up. He can do it on the unemployment line.
You guys are haters. I mean yeah the guy is a scumbag, but most of your comments are just b.s. basically saying of firefighters make too much money. Fine next time when your house is burning down or your elderly mother is having a heartattack, don't call 911 and you try being the hero.
Sounds like a bunch of bitter losers who got their applications turned down or laid off from their crappy job
Guy looks like a freakin crackhead.
Nice job of pizzing away a damn near 200k a year cush job, moron.
Another opportunity for the whiners to complain about firefighters. YEA! This is not a story about how much money someone makes, you jealous goofballs! It's a story about a guy with anger issues. He's going to lose his gig, he's gonna have a felony on his record, he's going to jail, he must make restitution. He's going to fall ALL THE WAY DOWN. What else do you want?
Steven how many house fires are there in this town...very few..how many high rise fires...very few. So basically these scumbags are paid just as good as NYFD and the Chicago fire departments to stand around the occasional car wreck and play xbox at the firehouse. $200k is absolutely ridiculous, there is no way to justify that amount of money especially when we can only pay our teachers $30k/yr and they are actually educated.
Gmag we just want him to have to undergo the same justice process that the rest of us would. Not some phony probation period where he can do what others have done like break into the paramedic truck and steal morphine. I guess wanting equal justice is just too great a concept for you to grasp.
For someone making as much bank as he does he should have the common sense to realize he is a role model for a lot of people. I for one do not have any patience for public servants who beat up taxpayers. If he was a real world employee he'd have been out on his keester within 24 hours of the incident.
lv702 - actually these local "heroes" make MORE than the real firefighter heroes in places like chicago, new york, etc. where they ACTUALLY have to go into burning high rise buildings that are 50 or 80 years old and were built BEFORE modern fire suppression and sprinkler systems, like ALL the buildings in Vegas have.
$200k is more than ridiculous to pay an uneducated hoodlum like this guy. it's criminal.
gmag, you wrote -
"He's going to lose his gig, he's gonna have a felony on his record, he's going to jail, he must make restitution. He's going to fall ALL THE WAY DOWN. What else do you want?"
actually the article says NOTHING about him losing his job. just a vague reference to "discipline" from his chief.
you ask what more do we want? we DO want this hoodlum to lose his overpaid cushy government job. is that clear enough for you?
Hey Joe...
How's that average thing workin' out for ya?
$194k to be a fire fighter ???? Where do I sign up???
gmag,
working out pretty darn well, good to see common sense and facts have still not managed to change your ultraliberal stance.
I guess we can count on that, just like counting on the sun to rise!
btw - don't even YOU think this guy DESERVES to lose his $200k taxpayer job? he's nothing but a common hoodlum.
So , $8,767.80 is the going rate for getting hit in the head by someone's foot,huh? Sounds like he got off awfully cheap. I know if that was me,and I have to take a month of to go to jail,I would not have a job waiting for me when I got out. Epecially one that pays almlst $200k with a pension..
yep, gotta be a member of the very politically connected firefighters union if you wanna assault people and still keep your 200k taxpayer supported position.
I doubt one would find a clause in the union contract that requires termination of employment for someone being convicted of a felony, DUI or a whole host of other "job ending" behaviors most others in non-public positions would be faced with. We have public servants negotiating contracts for other public servants and the nature of the beast is that they take care of one another as they share the common goal of getting the most out of the taxpayers as possible, (one only needs to look at the retirement packages these public servants receive and the budget problems that exist to see this). Once the smoke clears on this, and it will as it always does, we should expect and therefore not be surprised, to see Mr. Williams serve a short time in the dog house while still at the fire house prior to getting his next promotion into an obscure administrative position. When you can't get rid of the bad apples promoting them is the next best option in public service. I also doubt there are any requirements for mandatory annual background checks on these public servants after they are employed to make sure the public's safety is not being compromised by those that may go astray after they secure these public positions. Maybe such a requirement with the threat of job loss if they do not remain "clean" would help purge such bad apples and restore the public's confidence in their public servants. Nah, wishful thinking.
affirmative action at its finest.