The Plymouth firefighter accused of making secret video recordings of his ex-girlfriend in the nude has resigned after being given a choice — step down or face a disciplinary hearing, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Richard Pimental had been on paid leave since last November — collecting his $100,000 annual pay – after two co-workers alleged he secretly made videos of them in the nude.
He quit his firefighting job in August, according to town payroll records.
Town officials have said they were required to keep paying him while his criminal case was pending.
But after outside investigators reviewed the allegations, the town finally gave Pimental the ultimatum. Had he not resigned, the town would have held a disciplinary hearing to argue that it had “just cause” to terminate him, according to a second person briefed on the action. Both did not want to be named because they were not authorized to speak about the situation.
Pimental, 31, did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Town officials declined to comment on Pimental, except to confirm his resignation. His lawyer and a firefighters union official also did not return requests for comment.
Pimental pleaded not guilty to charges related to the video recordings at his arraignment in Plymouth District Court in January. Since then, the case has been delayed several times. His lawyer is now seeking to have alleged evidence retrieved from Pimental’s cellphone thrown out, arguing the seizure of his phone by investigators was illegal. A hearing on his motion to suppress is scheduled for Dec. 4.
Even before the alleged spying incidents, Pimental had legal troubles.
He was criminally charged in incidents that took place both before and after he was hired by the town. But he was able to land — and keep — the job despite those run-ins with the law.
Two years before he went to work as a firefighter in 2018, Pimental was charged with speeding, and driving without insurance and a suspended license, court records show.
And 10 months after he was hired and while still in his probationary period, Pimental was arrested for alleged drunk driving, according to police reports.
On Oct. 7, 2018, at 2:50 a.m. a Bourne state trooper found Pimental asleep at the wheel in the breakdown lane of Route 3 north in Plymouth.
He agreed to take breathalyzer tests, which registered readings of .107 percent and .114 percent. The legal limit in Massachusetts is .08 percent.
After automatically losing his license for 30 days, he was facing likely termination from his firefighting job. Instead, he resigned, according to former Plymouth Fire Chief Ed Bradley, who was running the department when Pimental was hired.
But Pimental, a US Army veteran, was able to invoke a state law called the Brave Act. It allows veterans accused of certain crimes, including drunk driving, to have the charges against them dismissed.
Under the law, the veteran must have a “clinically diagnosed traumatic brain injury, mental illness or substance abuse disorder” directly linked to his military service.
At a court hearing, Pimental was described as being classified 50 percent disabled by the Veterans Administration and eligible for Brave Act relief.
A month after he was arrested, the case was dismissed, and he got his driver’s license back.
Pimental took another civil service test and as with any disabled veteran, his name automatically shot to the top of the list.
Even though the town could have chosen someone else, Bradley said there was no discussion of bypassing him for another candidate.
Bradley called him “a good firefighter.”
Pimental, who made $97,987 in fiscal year 2024 and was assigned to the Manomet fire station, now faces two counts of disseminating photos of an unsuspecting person in the nude and two counts of illegal wiretapping. A conviction could carry up to 10 years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
The case began when one of the victims, who had lived with Pimental until they broke up as a couple in February 2023, discovered a camera hidden in a new alarm clock on a bedside table in early October, police reports said.
She searched other rooms in her home and found a new “plug wall charger with USB options” that also appeared to have a camera in its face, police wrote in their report.
The woman, who is not identified in court documents, also found a “suspicious device” on a dresser in a basement bedroom, police said.
On Nov. 21, 2023, fire chief Neil Foley alerted Plymouth police that he was investigating “a situation” that he believed could implicate a firefighter in criminal conduct.
Plymouth Police Detective Sean Johnson responded to the Manomet fire station, where the two alleged victims reported being secretly videotaped by Pimental.
While out on leave, he was seriously injured after crashing his motorcycle into a utility pole at the intersection of Oak and Summer streets, according to a police report.
He broke several ribs and his collar bone in the July 19 accident, his father, also named Richard, said at the time.
He was cited for “negligent operation” of a motor vehicle in that incident.
Andre Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.