Massachusetts firefighter charged with assault after violently beating homeless man

A Massachusetts firefighter is facing assault charges after allegedly beating up a homeless man for taking too long to order food.

The two men were waiting in line at Anna’s Taqueria in Brookline, Ma. Sunday night and started arguing after local firefighter Joseph Ward asked the homeless man to hurry up. According to witnesses, Ward followed the man outside, yelled expletives at him, punched him five to seven times, pushed him over, threw food and a bottle at him, and kicked him while he was down.

“It was like he was in a zone and he wasn’t going to stop,” one witness told WCVB5. “I was afraid he was going to kill him.”

The victim was taken to a hospital to treat a cut on his eyebrow. Town officials told the station that Ward, 37, had been placed on administrative leave.