A Delaware County judge found a former assistant fire chief guilty of ethnic intimidation after he yelled racial slurs at a woman in 2024, according to the District Attorney’s Office. John Romano, a 48-year-old Delaware County resident who worked for the fencing company J P Fencing, was loadi ng trees onto his forklift while blocking traffic on the road on Nov. 21, 2024. At the same time, a woman was driving her blue Chevy Camaro in the area. The woman said she then got caught in a line of traffic that Romano was causing. The woman told investigators she became impatient and beeped when she saw Romano’s forklift in the way. Romano then told the woman, “Who the f*** are you beeping at? Shut up b****.” The woman – who is Black – said she then tried to drive her car around the forklift. Romano – who is white – then jumped out of the forklift and called her a “monkey” while saying he would find out where she lived and where she was from. Romano also told the woman, “You know what n*****, go get a f****** banana. I am not dealing with you today, plain and simple.” The woman said Romano took a picture of her license plate to find out where she lived and threatened to make a call to get her cited and her vehicle towed. She also said Romano threatened to physically attack her while repeatedly calling her a “porch monkey.” He also claimed he didn’t care if she called police because he was “protected.” The woman called police who responded to the incident. While being recorded by police body camera video, Romano admitted to calling the woman the N word. He then told one of the officers, “I’ll tell ya what I said, I’ll say it again, it’s my belief, they’re all animals. I’m tired of dealing with them.” When the officer told Romano about the possible repercussions he could face, Romano allegedly asked, “So I can’t call a n***** a n*****?” Police said Romano then claimed the woman had threatened to kill him. He then retracted his previous statement about him calling her a racial slur. “I didn’t call her a n*****,” Romano then told the officer. “I said, ‘Go get a banana, you monkey.’ That’s what I said. So, how’s that racist? She is a wild animal.” Romano was arrested and charged with ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways. On Aug. 24, 2026, Romano was found guilty of the charges by a judge during a bench trial. Romano is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28. ...read more read less