CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The city Monday revealed the names of and charges against

involving the former fire chief's photograph and bar urinals.

According to letters sent to each accused firefighter and dated Nov. 18, a photograph of former Chief Darryl McGinnis was taken from the Fire Training Academy and placed in urinals at two Kamm's Corners bars at an Aug. 16 party for newly graduated cadets.

The prank continued until, according to the charging letters, Capt. Roy Ziganti Jr., used his cell phone to take a photograph of McGinnis' photo resting in the urinal and sent it to a female friend of a new cadet. Ziganti told the woman to send the photo to McGinnis and Lt. William Lipke, and even gave her the men's personal cell phone numbers to do so, the letters said.

The woman followed the request, and three months later, the 12 firefighters could lose their jobs if disciplinary hearings with Interim Chief Patrick Kelley and Safety Director Martin Flask confirm the charges, cleveland.com reported Friday.

The letters charge Ziganti with violating rules of conduct including: neglect of duty; conduct unbecoming of an employee in the public service; offensive conduct or language toward fellow employees, supervisors or the public; and failure of good behavior which is detrimental to the service.

Others charged were: captains Patrick T. Corrigan, John Whalen and Louis Hahn; lieutenants Lipke and Bruce Ryan; firefighters Mark Edwards, Louis Ruggiero, Robert Disanto, Brian Webb, Daniel Sunyak and James Papcke.

Each accused firefighter can file a written response to the charges after meeting with Local 93 representatives, the letter said.

The party in question happened two days after McGinnis announced his retirement. He had been pulled from his supervisory duty for failing to meet training requirements just shy of eight months into his tenure as chief.



Weeks earlier, McGinnis received a verbal reprimand for threatening to stab a firefighter in the neck for violating dress code.