BOSTON -- Boston police say a firefighter has been arrested after officers found him with marijuana in his department vehicle.
Police said 47-year-old Anthony Gaston was arrested Friday afternoon along with two other men in his car, 43-year-old Richard Jackson and 41-year-old Andre Knox. All face arraignment on Monday on a drug possession charge.
Fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald said Gaston, a fire prevention inspector, has been with the department since 1982. He's been placed on administrative leave with pay.
Mandatory drug and alcohol testing is an issue in contract talks between the city and the firefighters union, which says it isn't opposed but wants a pay raise in exchange. Autopsies of two firefighters killed on duty last summer reportedly showed one had alcohol and the other had cocaine in his system.
Union president Ed Kelly declined to comment on Gaston's case, saying he wanted to review the facts. There was no answer at a telephone listing for Gaston.
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