9 Investigates: Altamonte Springs police officer allowed to retire following internal investigation

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — An Altamonte Springs officer accused of lying about a crash in his patrol car, while off-duty, was paid for weeks and then allowed to retire even though he was told he would be terminated.

Investigative reporter Karla Ray first broke the story in February, after Kenneth Schlimmer was given a citation for the October 2016 crash on Red Bug Lake Road in Casselberry.

The internal investigation proved he cued up video of the crash to make it look like he wasn’t at fault when a responding officer from Casselberry came to the scene.

A week before Eyewitness News first got its hands on the dash camera video showing Schlimmer’s car colliding with a moving truck, the 19-year veteran officer was already notified he would be fired. Schlimmer was notified on Jan. 31 that a discipline board recommended termination for lying about how the crash happened and improper use of his take-home car.

The internal investigation showed Schlimmer may have been en route to visit his wife in the hospital while off duty, which is not an approved use under the city’s vehicle policy.

According to the internal report, Schlimmer was already on demotion probation for carelessness, lack of judgement and poor decision making.

Schlimmer was allowed to take paid leave for a month until his paid time off ran out, and was subsequently allowed to retire instead of being fired.

City leaders are still calculating the amount of money he will be given from a pension account.

Cox Media Group