FDNY EMT Arrested For Drunk Driving Head-Butts NYPD Officer

Staten Island, NY – A Fire Department of New York (FDNY) EMT head-butted a police officer after he was arrested for drunk driving on Staten Island early on Tuesday morning.

New York Police Department (NYPD) officers in the 122nd Precinct responded to a single-vehicle crash at about 1 a.m. on May 31 near Giffords Lane and Dewey Avenue, SILive.com reported.

Sources said that when NYPD officers arrived on the scene, FDNY EMT Nicholas McGowan was standing outside his wrecked vehicle.

Police said McGowan was unsteady on his feet and slurred his words, according to the New York Daily News.

He also had bloodshot eyes and stank of booze, according to police sources.

McGowan told officers that he was on his way home from work in the Bronx when he crashed.

Police said McGowan refused to take a breath test and was taken into custody, the New York Daily News reported.

Officers took him to the 120th Precinct in St. George for booking, SILive.com reported.

Once there, police said McGowan head-butted an officer who was processing him.

The EMT was charged with assault on a police officer, operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of .08, driving while ability impaired by alcohol, and refusal to take a breath test, SILive.com reported.

McGowan joined FDNY in 2020 and works in the Bronx out of Station 55, the New York Daily News reported.

This was not the first time that he has been charged with assaulting a police officer.

Police sources told the New York Daily News that McGowan was arrested after he punched a cop at the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2015.

An FDNY spokesman said the department had launched an investigation into the incident and that McGowan was facing suspension after he is arraigned on the latest charges.