A teenage boy, whom Eilers did not know, was outside the door. Jay put on his shoes, and went outside. Eilers noticed Jay was angry and followed him outside. Another teenage boy, whom Eilers recognized as Mike Spiker, was in the front yard. A car with other teenagers inside was parked in the street. Jay and Spiker exchanged a few words and appeared to be getting ready to fight each other. Eilers stepped between and separated them. The boy who had rung the doorbell, Chuck Lemley, yelled to "Let them fight." Using profanity, Eilers ordered Lemley out of the yard. When Lemley did not obey, Eilers grabbed his arm and escorted him to the street. Eilers then returned to Jay and Spiker and said, "Do you want tofight?" Jay then punched Spiker and a fight ensued. Eilers shouted "Don't stop now" at one point during the fight. Lemley also came back into the yard during the fight. Eilers believed Lemley was going to join the fight so he swung his arm and struck Lemley. Lemley tried to kick Eilers and the two went to the ground fighting. Jay and Spiker then stopped their fight and separated Lemley and Eilers. Spiker and Lemley left in the car.
The next afternoon Lemley and his mother reported the incident to the Burlington police, and filed a complaint against Eilers. Eilers did not work on July 27 but tried unsuccessfully to reach Police Chief Wendall Patton by phone to inform him of the incident. When Eilers returned to work on