Casselberry police officer punished for text message to supervisor

CASSELBERRY, Fla. — There is another text messaging scandal inside the Casselberry Police Department.
 
After the former chief resigned following a Channel 9 investigation, Karla Ray has learned that an officer is accused of sending a text with a racial slur to his supervisor.
 
The text message, reportedly also sent to three other officers, had a version of the N-word that ends in "a."

Slideshow: Casselberry officer's text message

Ray has been covering the Casselberry Police Department since her reports led to the resignation of former chief Bill McNeil.
 
Matthew Blunt, the officer at the center of the latest controversy, reportedly sent the message on his personal phone to the city-owned phone of his supervisor Kristine Pamatian.
 
Screenshots of the group message Blunt was said to have sent, while bragging about winning $32 through the lottery, include a cartoon with an expletive and the offensive word.
           
Word of the message had some Casselberry residents upset.
 
"They're there to enforce peace and bring peace to the community, not to be doing that garbage. It shows that they're immature," resident Celeste Lopez said.
 
"You are a grown man. You know your responsibilities. You know somebody is going to see that. You should think before you send something. He's a higher figure," resident Cassie Daughenbaugh said.  
 
Interim police chief David Del Rosso told Ray that "The officer took full responsibility, acknowledging his actions" and that "The city has sent a strong message that this behavior is not acceptable.'
 
Blunt's punishment was one 10-hour shift without pay.
 
"It's scary because if I need a policeman, now it's like, 'Well, is he a good one or a bad one?' It's like a terrible mindset," Lopez said.
 
Blunt has been with Casselberry Police Department since 2010 and has no other discipline on his record, according to city officials.

Channel 9's Karla Ray will have details on this story on Eyewitness News at 5:30.

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