UPDATE: Capt. Barry R. "Ricky" Arnold Jr. has been dismissed from the fire department, pending appeal, according to Bret Bell, city spokesman.





From earlier:

A former Savannah Firefighter of the Year is facing misdemeanor charges after witnesses say he shouted racial slurs in an Applebee's restaurant and pointed a gun at a patron.

Capt. Barry R. "Ricky" Arnold Jr. was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, and pointing a gun at another last week when witnesses say he pointed a handgun at a black couple in the restaurant parking lot, according to police reports.

Arnold began making racial comments to his wife about a restaurant waitress when another patron asked him to calm down, the report states.

Intoxicated, Arnold began making the same comments to the patron, a black male, and the two began fighting. After the black male and his wife left the restaurant, Arnold followed them to the parking lot where he retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and pointed it at the couple, according to police reports.

Arnold has been put on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated, said Mark Keller, Savannah Fire and Emergency Services spokesman.

The Unity Political Action Committee, however, says misdemeanor charges are too light of a punishment for Arnold.

The Rev. Leonard Small said during a press conference Thursday afternoon that Arnold should be charged with felony charges such as aggravated assault and making terroristic threats.

"If this man is a firefighter working for the city of Savannah, with our taxpayers dollars and he is brandishing the 'N-word,' we want him off that job now," he said. "Not after a while. Fire him like you fire others who do such things. For the police officer to charge with him with three misdemeanor charges is a loss of fidelity to the people in the African-American community, because we want one rule for everybody, what we call justice for all."