SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego firefighter was placed on unpaid leave today following his arrest for allegedly having sex with a minor.
Justin Curtis Price, 35, was taken into custody Monday and booked into county jail on suspicion of oral copulation with a person under age 18, according to the San Diego Police Department.
An SDPD spokesman said he could release no details on the alleged crime.
Price, a fire engineer-paramedic who has been with the city public- safety agency for 10 years, was released on bail late Monday night, a jail clerk said.
In a prepared statement, San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said he ``strongly condemn(s) the alleged behavior and will not tolerate any actions that compromise the high standards required of all fire-department employees.''
``These men and women will continue to uphold the paramount principles of safety and security for all San Diegans and will do so with the integrity expected of all city of San Diego employees,'' Stowell said.
Price will remain suspended ``pending the completion of an internal investigation,'' according to the chief.
The suspect is the nephew of Mark Raymond Price, an ex-Coronado firefighter sentenced in Hawaii last month to 10 years in prison for molesting a girl who considered him a grandfather figure, NBC7 reported. The 56-year-old former La Mesa resident faces similar charges involving the same victim in San Diego County, according to the news station.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokeswoman Monica Munoz declined to comment on the reported familial connection between the two men.
``We provided all the information that we can provide,'' she said.