A suburban Philadelphia fire chief has been suspended after he was arrested and charged with throwing his infant daughter so hard he fractured her skull.
Brian Salt served as chief of the Falls Township Fire Company until his suspension. He was also placed on administrative leave from his post as a firefighter and emergency medical technician with Northampton Township, WPVI reports.
Police were called to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on March 12 when the 3-month-old girl was brought in.
“Largely based around a skull fracture on the right side of the rear of the head,” Falls Township Police Det. Dennis O’Connell said. “They mentioned there was some unexplained bleeding in and around the eye and some bruising on the child’s legs.”
Police said the baby’s parents provided no explanation for the child’s injuries.
“The story was there was no story. Both parents were drawing a blank as far as any type of mechanism or how the injury could have occurred,” said O’Connell.
But when they were brought back for another interview, Salt told investigators that the baby had colic and wouldn’t stop crying that day, while her mother was at work.
“In his own words, he just kind of lost control. Lost his cool. And in the process of actually picking her up from a swing, he took her out of the swing and then threw her to the ground,” said O’Connell.
Salt was arrested.
The baby has since been released from the hospital, officials said. Salt is being held on a $500,000 bond.
