An off-duty firefighter in Florida is accused of lewd and lascivious behavior after witnesses said he was caught having oral sex in the middle of a Gulfport street and intercourse on the hood of a vehicle Tuesday, WFTS reported.
According to an arrest affidavit, Thomas Edward Lewis, 58, a veteran of the St. Petersburg Fire Department since 1984, was arrested near a public park in Gulfport, WTSP reported. Penny Marie Snoots, 56, also was arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior and also faces one count of marijuana possession.
"Driving down in front of my residence and noticed a couple out here having oral sex in the middle of the road," witness Arthur Shirley, who called 911, told BayNews9. "I had to go around them to pull in my alley to get into my driveway and it didn't seem to bother them at all."
When officers arrived, Lewis pulled up his pants and buttoned them, according to the arrest affidavit. Detectives said Snoots walked away from Lewis and pulled up her pants, WFLA reported.
“That needs to be in the bedroom,” Shirley told BayNews9. “Not out in the public for everybody to see.”
In a statement, St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue said the alleged actions of Lewis “goes against our very character of public service.”
“There is a higher standard that which we are held, on and off duty," St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue said in its statement. "Actions such as those noted in the arrest report are unacceptable by any member of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, especially by a person in a long-held position of leadership as in this case.”
Lewis, who is on paid administrative leave, was released from the Pinellas County Jail on a $150 bond Wednesday, while Snoots was released on a $300 bond.
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