The son of a high-ranking FDNY chief is under fire for driving an ambulance that crashed into a Brooklyn school bus carrying 16 boys.
Emergency Medical Technician Robert Gala — son of FDNY Chief of Personnel Michael Gala — was racing through the intersection of Fort Hamilton Parkway and 51st Street at about 9 p.m. on Feb. 9 when the FDNY ambulance collided with a bus filled with students of Yeshiva Machzikei Hadas, skidded onto the sidewalk and smashed into a tree.
The teens were taken to hospitals, but none was seriously injured, officials said. Bus driver Aron Biegeleison suffered a broken collarbone, according to a claim he filed against Gala and the city.
Gala, 21, and fellow EMT Nicole Zanatta were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Biegeleison told cops at the scene that the ambulance, which had its emergency lights on, ran the red light, according to an NYPD accident report.
Gala, however, claimed that the bus was speeding.
Biegeleison’s lawyer, Herbert Subin, contended that the police report is “unusually favorable” to Gala, possibly because he’s “related to high-up brass.”
Subin said he doubts Gala was on an official run: “If he was on a true call, he would have had his sirens on.”
FDNY spokesmen did not answer questions about the incident, including whether the crash was investigated.
Gala did not return an e-mail and call for comment.