Fort Worth fires community center employee charged with arson and drug possession
A city of Fort Worth employee was fired Tuesday after being arrested for arson and drug possession.
An investigation by the city’s fire department pointed to Frederick Lamond Harris as being responsible for lighting a car on fire outside an apartment complex in southwest Fort Worth, according to a city news release.
The statement did not specify where the fire was started.
Fort Worth police officers also found “drugs packaged for sale” on Harris when he was arrested Tuesday, according to the news release.
Harris, who’d worked for the parks department at the Southwest Community Center for the past five months, was fired after his arrest.
He’s been charged with felony arson and state and federal drug possession charges.
“In Fort Worth, we take using fire as a weapon very seriously,” Fort Worth Fire Chief, Jim Davis said in the city’s statement, adding the department prosecutes such cases to the fullest extent of the law.
The parks department is filled with employees who do the right thing everyday, but Harris didn’t live up to that standard, the city’s statement said.
“The Park & Recreation department will continue to hold employees accountable who do not meet the standards expected of a Fort Worth employee, and in doing so, we will continue to be transparent and open with our community,” the city said.
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