Firefighters involved in Normal Heights altercation plead guilty to misdemeanor battery

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The three San Diego firefighters who got into a fight with two brothers at a Normal Heights bar while off-duty pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor battery and were sentenced to probation and 100 hours of volunteer work.

Vadid Cisneros, 40, Andrew Brennen, 33, and Gregory Econie, 29, were also each fined $655 by Judge Michael Smyth.

"This case has gone on for a long time,” the judge said. "I think you’ve reached a good, just conclusion.”

Initially, the three firefighters were charged with robbery, trying to dissuade a witness and making threats in connection with the Feb. 26, 2012 run-in involving Luis and Willie Martinez. 

According to attorneys on the case, the judge ordered the defendants to stay away from Luis Martinez during their three years on probation. His brother has since died.

In 2012, Econie testified that he, his co-defendants and two female friends were coming out of the Old Soda Bar on Adams Avenue around 2 a.m. when one of the women started kissing a man on a nearby bench.

According to Econie, Luis Martinez walked up and starting taking pictures of the couple and commenting on how much money he could make by posting them on Facebook. 

That’s when a fight ensued between the three firefighters and Luis and Willie Martinez.

Brennen’s attorney, Gretchen von Helms reminded the judge that the fight happened while the firefighters were off duty and they haven’t been in any trouble since.

According to Helms, Econie has been promoted to engineer, Cisneros recently fell through the roof of a burning building and Brennen and his partner saved a woman from a fire.