ST. PETE BEACH -- Lt. Crist Fellman, the city firefighter accused of accessing Internet pornography while on duty, plans to appeal the decision to fire him.

Fellman, whose 20th anniversary with the Fire Department would have been Tuesday, was fired after fellow firefighters complained that he looked at pornographic images online and brought sexually explicit magazines and stories to work.

Fellman said Wednesday he was considering options for appealing the city's decision and that he hoped to be reinstated.

After an internal investigation by St. Pete Beach police Capt. Todd Kirchgraber, fire Chief Fred Golliner recommended Fellman's termination. Acting City Manager Chris Brimo formally fired Fellman on Tuesday.

Kirchgraber's interviews with firefighters revealed that pornography was at one time part of the firehouse culture.

Kirchgraber and Golliner maintain that such behavior was curbed by a September memo from Golliner, in which the chief announced what he called a "zero tolerance" policy toward sexually explicit materials in the city's two fire stations.

Man shot in post-midnight robbery at laundry

ST. PETERSBURG -- A 20-year-old Gulfport man was shot in the back of the head early Wednesday during a robbery at a St. Petersburg laundry.

David Christopher Russell was shot just after midnight inside a laundry at 840 49th St. N, police said. He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center, where he was in stable condition later Wednesday.

"Fortunately, the bullet lodged in the bone of the skull and did not penetrate the brain," said police spokesman George Kajtsa.

Two attackers beat Russell up and shot him once, police said.

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