MILLVILLE, Del. - Two ex-firefighter for the Millville Volunteer Fire Company have been charged with hate crimes after investigators say they harassed a fellow employee in a racially motivated incident in 2024. CoastTV spoke with the victim of the hate crime on Thursday.
On Thursday, CoastTV called the victim to ask if he would be interested in an interview. He was polite however he referred all questions to Gary Caunitis, the public information officer for the Millville Volunteer Fire Company.
The Millville Volunteer Fire Company says the victim came forward on his own. The fire department says the victim didn't report this immediately in 2024 with the thoughts of "societal attacks" and the hope that the racist hate crime would go away on its own.
According to court documents exclusively obtained by CoastTV, Jay Droney approached the victim and was swinging a rope tied as a noose while the victim was grilling food and said "come here boy."
Court documents say Droney chased the victim with the noose, and was laughing while the victim ran away.
According to court documents, after that, the victim says Droney has called him a racial slur multiple times and would talk about cotton fields in front of him.
According to court documents, Jordan Hastings filmed the incident on snapchat.
A detective says when they interviewed Hastings, he said it was a joke and the rope was a fireman's knot.
According to the detective who signed off on the affidavit, the video clearly showed Droney carrying a noose.
Both men are now facing felony charges. Droney joined the La Plata Volunteer Fire Department on April 7, 2025. The fire department released a statement sharing that "Droney has been suspended from all department activities effective immediately, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, in accordance with the department's policies and procedures."
Hastings works at the Mid-Sussex Rescue Squad. CoastTV contacted them on Thursday to reach out to their public information officer. We left our contact information and asked again if there was contact information for the public information officer. We were not told yes or no, we were only told that our information would be passed along.
The Mid-Sussex Rescue Squad did not reach out to CoastTV on Thursday. We asked if Hastings was still employed there and we were told that can't be discussed and we would have to contact the public information officer.
The fire department declined to interview with us Thursday but told us this is the behavior of two rogue individuals and says the racist hate crime was dealt with within hours after fire officials were notified.