San Jose fire captain demoted after ‘Pink Poodle’ strip club incident
By KTVU staff
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Jose's mayor on Friday confirmed that a fire captain involved in a strip club incident caught on video last year has been demoted.
"The former captain violated public trust," Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement. "And I believe his demotion held him accountable."
Mahan said he would have liked to share this information publicly sooner and he will "continue to push for greater transparency from City Hall."
The Bay Area News Group first broke the news about the demotion and sued the city for the information, citing the release was too slow.
The video in question, which was posted on social media in October of the previous year, depicted a woman in a bikini exiting from a San Jose fire truck and entering the Pink Poodle strip club.
While the fire chief refrained from providing specific details, he acknowledged that firefighters had dropped off an unauthorized male passenger from the fire station at the club.
He also said that the woman jumped into the fire truck and wouldn't leave until she had a ride-along.
The release of the video clip sparked public scrutiny and prompted an internal investigation into the incident.
