Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Deputy suspended for romance

He is penalized with 10 days without pay after an investigation finds that he and a co-worker pursued an affair while on duty.

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published April 19, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - A Hernando County deputy violated Sheriff's Office policies by carrying on a romantic relationship with a telecommunications operator while the two were on duty, according to an internal affairs investigation released Tuesday.

Deputy Peter Pruett received a 10-day suspension without pay for acting in a manner unbecoming of an officer and using the Sheriff's Office's instant messaging system unprofessionally. The same allegations were sustained against telecommunications operator Amy Reed, although she resigned before disciplinary action was taken.

On several occasions while on duty this winter, Pruett drove out of his assigned patrol zone to meet Reed, according to the internal affairs report. Communications employees complained that Reed was taking extra long breaks to rendezvous with Pruett, and Pruett's wife called to complain that her husband didn't come home after one shift.

Pruett and Reed also pursued their relationship via the Sheriff's Office instant messaging system, which can be operated from patrol cruisers and the communications center. They exchanged personal messages and arranged places to meet during and after work. In one case, the report said, Reed told Pruett to act busy because there was a call pending in the communications center, and he would be stuck handling it if he appeared available.

Reed resigned March 29; she had worked at the Sheriff's Office since September 2000. Pruett has been a Hernando deputy since March 2003. Allegations that Pruett and Reed did not obey or execute orders of superiors were not sustained.

Pruett has seven days to appeal the report.

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:58:13]