DeLAND, Fla. – A DeLand police officer has resigned and two more have been fired by Police Chief William Ridgway after he says they were found hanging out with each other for hours, instead of doing their jobs.
Officers Grant Faustich and Charles Fillinger, along with their boss, Sgt. William Luongo, were captured on surveillance video socializing at a 7-Eleven.
It was a fellow officer who reported his concerns about his coworkers late last year.
In the internal investigation report, Ridgway said the officers spent an excessive amount of time being unproductive while on the clock.
The report states they would play cards and spend hours at a time in stationary positions at several locations around town.
Lt. Chris Jaques spent two weeks gathering video evidence, testimony of other officers and GPS monitoring of the officers' patrol cars.
"In contrast to policy, there was evidence that supported that these officers intentionally delayed their responses to citizen-generated calls for service," Ridgway wrote in a Friday release. "They also failed to provide backup to fellow officers in a timely manner."
He went on to say what the officers did was egregious and a betrayal of the public's trust.
Luongo resigned Feb. 2. Local 6 is checking to see if the two officers can appeal their firing with the city.