Update:
Muncie Police Department officer Jason Wentz is on a three-day leave after photographs on Facebook revealed the officer using his cellphone while behind the wheel of his squad car.
MPD Chief Steve Stewart issued Wentz a letter informing him of the suspension on Nov. 18.
“What you should have done was ignore the call, pull over into a parking lot, stop the car and return the call,” the chief wrote in the letter. “In not doing so, you have put our department and all its officers in a negative light.”
While the chief said there were no indications Wentz was texting while driving, Stewart cited Muncie Police Department policy that with the exception of emergency situations, all cellphone calls “shall be made from a stationary position.”
According to the Star Press, Stewart said Wentz was “very apologetic and feels horrible about the whole situation.”
Earlier:
An on-duty Muncie Police Department officer caught using his phone while driving is going viral on Facebook.
Angela Bye Schlosser posted photos of an officer in his patrol car while he was looking down at his phone on Nov. 15.
The Portland woman wrote in her post that she and her husband were driving on East McGalliard Road on Nov. 14 when they saw the officer “looking down at his phone.”
“Whatever he was looking at was so amusing that he didn’t realize the light turned green, [he] almost hit a curb, and did not see us taking pictures of him,” Schlosser said.
The posting has drawn 2,107 shares on the online social network as of the morning on Nov. 17.
The investigation on the patrolman is ongoing, and MPD Chief Steve Stewart told the Muncie Star Press he was "very disappointed" in what the three photos apparently showed.
Under Indiana law, texting and driving in a moving vehicle is against the law, and carries a fine of up to $500.
While texting is prohibited under state law, many other uses of a smart phone by a motorist is not, unless the driver is under 21 years old.
Stewart has declined to publicly identify the officer until a decision is made on what disciplinary action, if any, is appropriate.
Yesterday in Muncie we were driving alongside a police car and my husband noticed him looking down at his phone....
Posted by Angela Bye Schlosser on Sunday, November 15, 2015
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