LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC — The Columbia firefighter arrested last month in a Lexington County road rage incident has been suspended, the fire department’s chief said in a statement released Monday.

Jason Alan Grande, 27, was charged with assault, larceny and possession of a controlled substance following a fight at an intersection west of West Columbia where another man’s leg was broken, according to a Lexington County Sheriff’s Department incident report.

Grande is accused of beating another driver who pulled in front of Grande’s car while he was driving on Maple Road. Once the two cars reached the road’s intersection with Mineral Springs Road, Grande got out of his vehicle and approached the other driver. The driver told Grande that he was filming their exchange with a cell phone. Grande punched the man through the window and took the phone. Grande continued to strike the man as he got out of the vehicle, and the two traded blows in the roadway.

The other man was lying on the ground when deputies arrived and was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that his left leg was broken in two places.

Grande, who has worked for the Columbia-Richland Fire Department since March 2011, has been placed on investigatory suspension pending the outcome of the charges.

R. Darren Price