Fire Chief Jack Grant fired Joseph Fasano, 30, from the Milton (Mass.) Fire Department for insubordination and conduct unbecoming of a firefighter. But it wasn’t a typical case for the career- and union-based department. Instead, it was fueled by a road-rage incident where Fasano was shot in the stomach that then escalated after police found a bag of cocaine and cash in the Jeep he was driving.

“It came to light that there was cocaine in the vehicle,” Grant said. “So we felt we had, at that point, reasonable suspicion.”

Grant said the incident attracted a lot of media attention. In fact, the media dug up Fasano’s previous arrests for domestic violence and threatening an officer responding to the incident — which he failed to inform the department of when he was hired in 2005. In addition, he refused to cooperate with the department’s internal investigations following the shooting.

“So we filed the insubordination charge for refusing to release information to us, then there also was two counts of conduct unbecoming a firefighter from the two arrests,” he said

A firefighter in Massachusetts who is suspended for five days has a right to a hearing, and the fire chief has the right to conduct that hearing, Grant said. But because of the circumstances, he brought in the town administrator and then an outside hearing officer to preside over a disciplinary hearing and make recommendations to town officials.

“On something of this scope, I wanted to make sure we held an impartial, third-party hearing,” he said.

The hearing officer found in favor of the town on all counts because the department had strong evidence against Fasano, including detailed records that showed the use of progressive discipline. Grant said the documentation helped the department defend its decision to dismiss Fasano for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a firefighter.

“If you have issues, you have to make sure they get documented and that the paperwork is impeccable,” he said.

An appeal is expected but no paperwork has been filed yet, Grant said.